Located on the Nam Song river, north of Ventiane, the tourism-oriented town Vang Vieng is best known for the karst hill landscape surrounding it. Even if was founded around 1353, it knew a significant expansion only during the 1964-73 Vietnam War, when the US developed an Air Force base and runway that was used by Air America. In more recent times, the town has grown due to the influx of backpackers attracted by the opportunities for adventure tourism in a limestone karst landscape. But tourism isn't only positive for the community, because, as Brett Dakin wrote, "each time a young Australian woman strolls down the street in a bikini, a bearded American smokes a joint on a guesthouse terrace, or a group of Koreans tumbles drunkenly out of a restaurant, it saps a little more of the essence of a town like Vang Vieng."
About the stamps
The first stamp is part of the series The Jars of Alcohol, about which I wrote here. The following two are part of a series dedicat to the temple Wat Simuang, about which I wrote also here.
References
Vang Vieng - Wikipedia
Sender: Xu Wei (direct swap)
Sent from Wattay Airport (Vientiane Prefecture / Laos), on 10.04.2013
Photo: Jatuporn Rutnin
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