Comments on: Notes on Vang Vieng: The One with all the Friends Bars

By: Iain Manley

Iain Manley — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 01:48:00 +0000

I don’t think you’d want to turn any older than 21 in Vang Vieng. Perhaps ‘No [Banana Pancake] Trail for Old Men’ would have been an appropriate title.

By: Tubing Laos

Tubing Laos — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 05:17:22 +0000

Cool!!!

By: Dono

Dono — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:59:13 +0000

38 is the new 20. Please tell me that means 40 is the new 22.

By: Brook Mitchell

Brook Mitchell — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 09:47:48 +0000

38 is the new 20 I hear. Great post James, but Nirvana were never a match for Soundgarden or STP. Safe travels!

By: James Clark

James Clark — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:05:27 +0000

@Angela that’s great that you saw two versions of Vang Vieng. When you say 2002 it doesn’t sound like that long ago, but it is 8 years already!

By: Angela

Angela — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 17:54:02 +0000

Great post, James! The photos are a bit shocking to me (especially that gargantuan slide). I was first in Vang Vieng in 2002. There was not a single waterslide then, and our tubes drifted past livestock and villagers all day. By the time I returned just 2.5 years later, Friends had moved in and the change had started. So I guess while we the travelers are getting older, the towns we visit are growing up too!

By: James Clark

James Clark — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 11:35:44 +0000

@Bobby Bloggeries, good to see another BKK tweetup friend here. You timed your travels well then getting there when you did.

By: Bobby Bloggeries

Bobby Bloggeries — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 04:46:24 +0000

haha it’s true. Everyone there is very young and it is kinda like Khao San. I’m in my late 20′s but don’t look it and had the time of my life. I’m glad I went when I did b/c if you go when much older, will be a totally different experience.

Luang Prabang is a flashpackers paradise. I spent more time there than I did in Vang Vien.

By: James Clark

James Clark — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:07:12 +0000

Hi G, that’s funny. If you are travelling around the world for an extended period then by all means make the most of private bathrooms in Asia. Once you hit Australia or Europe you’re going to be in for some “sticker shock” at the price of private accommodation. I’m ok with fan rooms myself, but I have Australian desert heritage to thank for that.

By: G / Operation Backpack Asia.com

G / Operation Backpack Asia.com — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:44:34 +0000

Hey James, it’s G from the BKK tweetup! Had to comment on this one because I hear you allllll too well. Ray and I are already starting to feel this with disconcerting frequency! We want our own bathroom…we’re uncomfortable without AC…we’re getting old! (And it’s only his 28th bday – today ).

We went to the Full Moon Party the other day and I actually had to ask him, so, did we “party”? Because we had fun, but we didn’t dance to a single beat and rather spent a whole lot of time chilling in a hammock watching the world (or crazy drunkards, anyway) go by, or in Ray’s case…sleeping in the sand. And not even for too much alcohol consumption.

What have we come to, James? What have we come to?