Vang Vieng, Laos: The Adventure Paradise
From hot-air-ballooning, rock climbing and zip-lining to caving, kayaking, and trekking, the menu of adrenaline-fueled experiences in Vang Vieng are lengthy.
I woke up around 7am-ish and signed up for a day tour including caving, followed by zip-lining in the jungle and kayaking along the Nam Song river. A quite ambitious plan, I thought at first.

However, I had no idea that all activities were in such close proximity to Vang Vieng and to each other. Our first stop was the Tham Nam cave (the Water cave), a magical combination between a cave, an underwater river, and beautiful scenery. We took an inner tube from the shore, jumped into the water, grabbed the rope and pulled ourselves hand-over-hand up the stream for 500 meters through complete darkness. Even the screams of the many echoing throughout couldn’t ruin this exciting and fun 20-minute experience. Next, we went to the Elephant cave, a sacred place named after an elephant-shaped stone at the entrance. Besides the Buddha statues, there isn’t much to see.

After a delicious meal under the shades close to the Nam Song river, it was finally zip-lining time. Terrified of heights, I was (kind of) ready to fly through the forest canopies, 45 meters above the ground. The first go was nerve-racking. Ten tracks, 120-meters of ziplines or one and a half hour later, I felt like the king of the jungle — enjoying the sense of freedom, the scenery, and the wind, spraying my curly hair in all directions. It was a thrilling once-in-a-lifetime experience.


We finished with a 2-hour kayaking trip down the Nam Song river. Even though I couldn’t enjoy the surroundings much as the river was flooded with kayakers and tubers, it was quite fun. We were splashing water at each other and racing with the other tour groups.

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