Smile Beach V.V.

After a morning exploring Vang Vieng's temples, we had already seen nearly everything that there is to see in town. After all, Vang Vieng isn't famous for its town; it's the Nam Song River and the surrounding mountains that make it so special and famous.

the path to the river

Vang Vieng is best known for its caves, the "Blue Lagoon", and tubing down the Nam Song River. Those three activities are the big draws for visitors to visit Vang Vieng. However, it's the monsoon season, which seems to hit rural and rugged Laos more heavily than elsewhere in Southeast Asia. The caves can flood quickly (like what happened a few months ago in Chiang Rai, just across the border in Thailand), the Blue Lagoon turns an unappealing brown, and the river can become a bit too fast, rough, and dangerous. None of this stops people from joining in these activities, but after you've been an expat in SEA for a few years, you hear enough stories to really make you think twice about taking any sorts of risks like that.

across the river

Besides, we aren't really the type of people to go in for that sort of adventure. Instead, a quiet afternoon relaxing by the river is more up our alley. After visiting two temples in Vang Vieng, Pinky and I walked through the tiny town and across a rickety wooden bridge.

wooden bridge

A short path through the jungle - quiet, except for the sounds of insects and birds, and not another person to be seen - brought us to our destination: Smile Beach.

walking through the jungle

Smile Beach is an open-air lounge/restaurant/bar located along the banks of the Nam Song River. It's one of the few bars to survive the big Vang Vieng "purge", when the government cracked down on all the unsavory nightlife in the town. That's because Smile Beach isn't a party place. It's just a relaxing place to hang out on a quiet Laotian afternoon.

choosing the best cabana along the river

We were the only ones there. Besides the fact that it's the rainy season and few visitors come to Laos at this time of year, Vang Vieng has lost a good portion of its tourism after the government crackdown. It's a complicated issue. On the one hand, it encourages businesses to focus on eco-tourism and to preserve Vang Vieng's natural and cultural atmosphere. It also encourages businesses to run in a legal and safe way. On the other hand, the local people in one of the world's poorest countries have lost their main source of income. Like I said, it's complicated. For me, though, this Vang Vieng is a million times better than what I had heard it used to be like. I'm not into partying at all.

But I am into hammocks!

relaxing by the river

Smile Beach has several riverfront cabanas where you can sit and relax for however long you want. The river just in front of the cabanas is the final stop on the tubing route, and it was fun to watch the tourists tubing down the river, and the Smile Bar employees running out to throw them a line and pull them in.

a perfect afternoon

Even though the sun was quite hot as we were walking through town, as soon as we got to the riverside, the cool breeze made us feel immediately comfortable. In fact, at one point while we were there, it began to rain. While it was pouring, we were nice and dry under the palm roof of our cabana, but the wind became downright chilly!

watching the river

I've taken a few days off from teaching while we are getting settled in Laos. The main part of our travels in Laos will be spent in Luang Prabang, the country's ancient royal capital. It's just sort of a trek to get to, so we are taking a few days in Vang Vieng as we make our way up there.

Smile Beach

I'm enjoying the time off, since I've been teaching several classes a day for the past few weeks without a day off. It's so nice to spend a little time just relaxing in some beautiful nature.

sabaai (comfortable)

We wanted to stay until at least 6:00 in the evening. As the sun goes down, they light a bonfire at a fire pit. It gets dark early here, and once it's dark, it can actually be a little cold! A few of the last group of tubers sat around the fire for a few minutes before going back to their hostels. After they left, Pinky and I sat around for a few minutes before heading back ourselves.

bonfire