While Viang Vieng is known to backpackers as the ultimate party destination, it is also an adventurer’s paradise–if you can stomach the crowd and the 24 hours showings of “Friends,” that is. The isolated town is in the northern mountain of Laos, and the landscape is absolutely breath-taking–with Limestone karsts jutting up from the valleys and plains like monuments to what is possible for natural beauty. Because of the abundance of limestone in the area, the mountains are simply riddled with caves and caverns of all sizes. For me, this was the main reason for going to Vang Vieng, so even though I got caught up in the party (hey, you try turning down $1 big bottles of Beer Laos and free whiskey Lao shots in the bars), I took one day to head out of town and do a little caving.

You’re pretty much going to find caves in every direction in the Vang Vieng area, but if you stop into any of the guesthouses or travel agencies, they have brochures and maps you can use to find the best of them. You can arrange a guided trip or just rent a motorbike and head out on your own. Word of advice: if you choose to tour the caves on your own, be sure to buy the motorbike before you cross the river and head out on the road. If not, you are going to get to the little village on the other side of town and realize there isn’t a motorbike shop in sight, at which point you’ll have to walk back into town or find a local and strike a “deal.”

I was in a hurry because I’d already wasted too much of the day in bed, so for me it was the latter. I found a small mechanic shop with a couple guys who were wrenching on some bikes and he rented me the junkiest motorbike I’d seen in ages for about twice the standard rate. Nice. I can’t really blame him too much for ripping me off because everyone was laughing the whole time as if they never expected me to actually do it, but I was up for an adventure, so I took it anyhow.

The motorbike was a true clunker, and some of the roads you take to get to the caves are suitable for only the rudest dirt bikes. Ruts and rocks and washed-out riverbeds that would surely be impassable in winter. But I pushed on. Got lost a few times.

At a lot of the caves, you’ll find local village boys who wait around for someone who needs a guide or a flashlight, and for about 8-10,000 kip they’ll take you on a quick tour. A lot of the guidebooks will tell you not to hire them because it encourages them not to go to school. As always in Southeast Asia, it’s purely a personal call.

I met a British couple who was lost on the same dirt track as I was, but I had a decent idea of where I might have gone wrong, so we backtracked to what looked like a dried up riverbed and cruised up it to find it turned into a road again. I left them behind to go look ahead and told them I’d wait if it was the right direction. A Laos woman was sitting on the road with her family collecting toll for a tiny bridge, so I got off my bike and played with their baby while I waited for the Brits. The woman’s young son agreed to be my guide.

We headed out afterwards and made our way up the road. The motorbike bottomed out every so many feet and the kid kept getting off because my driving was freaking him out. The tour of this particular cave was amazing. The village boy had a great time trying to scare the hell out of us. He’d flick off his flashlight and disappear around a couple corners as if he was going to leave us, and I was laughing but the English girl was getting a bit freaked out. Some of the caverns had huge holes in the floor and if you tossed a rock down them you couldn’t even hear it land.

At one point, we were on our stomachs crawling through the belly of the mountain. I wondered about our flashlights and why I hadn’t taken more batteries. The caves got so cramped I could feel the stone ceiling above me brushing against my back, and I was getting a little nervous, but I had a big grin on my face too. At this point, the British couple decided to divulge to me that they were both claustrophobic. I was moving a bit faster and they kept calling out to ask if it got bigger again. “Yeah,” I lied. “It gets a lot bigger up here. Come on. Come on.” But it only seemed to get smaller.

The girl started really panicking and hyperventilating just at the point where the cave fortunately did open up again, and I coaxed her out of the hole to stand. Then I waited for her to calm down a little bit. The village kid seemed pretty amused by the whole thing as I’m sure he slithered through the caverns every day.

After we left that cave, I think the Brits had their fill, so they went back to town and I struck out on my own again. But unfortunately, I didn’t make it far before my excuse for a motorcycle broke down. I found the same kid again, and he helped me push the bike a few kilometers to where his father was busting up rocks with a pick-axe–for whatever reason–and the man overcharged me to fix the bike. What could I do? I was in the middle of nowhere. It took hours to get the bike going again, and that’s pretty much how I spent the rest of my day.

On the way home it was dark, and the bugs in the air were so thick they stuck inside my hair and I could barely see ahead. I rode with my headlight off so as not to attract their attention, but every time I stopped I combed my fingers through my hair and came up with a handful of flying insects.

Pretty much any caves you go to around Vang Vieng are pretty cool, but be sure to check out Tham Loup, which has an underground lake that you can take a swim in. Another cave called Tham Nam, or the water cave, is explored by climbing on an intertube and pulling yourself along with a rope.

A few tips:

  • Rent your motorbike in town.
  • If you can afford it–get a dirt bike–you’ll need it.
  • Don’t go caving with claustrophobic British people.
  • Bring your own flashlight–two of them, and an extra set of batteries.
  • Bring some water because the caves get really hot and humid.

Never go caving alone, regardless of what the guidebooks say. People do get lost and never found in the Vang Vieng caves, and being on my own there was no way I was passing the village kids up on their offer.

Leave early so you can check out some of the quaint minority villages on the way and so you can get back before dark, and the bugs.

Don’t get lost or fall in a hole…Seriously though, caves are dangerous, and in this part of the world, there isn’t a lot of thought given to safety standards. See this article for some tips about what to do in the worst case scenario: http://www.wikihow.com/Survive-in-a-Cave

Caving in Vang Vieng, regardless of risks, is well worth it. So put down your mushroom shake, shake off that beerlao hangover, and head into the hills. Trust me–the party will still be there when you get back.

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