Life Along the Nam Song River

Nestled beside the Nam Song River amid stunningly beautiful limestone karst terrain, Vang Vieng provokes a mixture of responses. The area’s main attraction has always been the dramatic landscape which surrounds this small town; however the Nam Song River now plays host to travellers floating along on tractor inner tubes – a pastime so thoroughly enjoyable and popular that it has become one of the rites of passage of the Indochina backpacking circuit.

On my arrival in Vang Vieng I feared that although I may have a lot of fun I was unsure about what photographs I would be able to take, as far as first impressions go this dusty town does not instantly “wow” its visitors but once you get away from the centre you remember why it was that you came here – the beautiful scenery.

I spent a few days on the river trying to capture the fun people have here tubing, and what fun the travellers had! With numerous riverside bars to float to, rope swings to get you back into the water, zip lines to try out and music which makes even the most weary traveller dance, fun is had by all. Admittedly this scene will not be for everyone but Vang Vieng has much more than just tubing.

Although the town itself is growing at an alarming rate, just before the sun goes down the river side is a beautiful place to be. The warm light makes everything seem more relaxed and the river flowing past you is the only sound, this is Vang Vieng’s calmer side. Sadly the weather was quite bad for the majority of my stay but there was one night where the sunset was quite spectacular, and luckily I was sat waiting with my camera to capture it.

Due to the poor weather I didn’t get chance to venture further into the countryside, although I’m sure I’ll be back at some point so will have to get the missing photographs then, but for now it was time to leave Vang Vieng and head to the country’s capital, Vientiane.