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There’s a “revealed preference” thing going on among backpackers these days. Everybody says they want to see the unspoiled remote village, but they actually go
by jasonkester 4y ago
There’s a “revealed preference” thing going on among backpackers these days.
Everybody says they want to see the unspoiled remote village, but they actually go to Vang Vieng. The rough and ready backpacker accommodation of the past with a cheap bed and nothing else can’t compete with the place up the road with the pool and air conditioning.
There is remarkably little option to travel today like we did in the 90s. Because kids today don’t want that. You can spend £20/night on the place that would have been £20/night back then. But the £5/night place has been torn down and replaced with another £20 one.
- Markoff 4y agoTo be fair I thought days of Vang Vieng glory are gone with end of tubing or is it back? But I agree Vang Vieng was for me tourist hell, though if you get on motorbike and just ride along those karst mountains through villages and unpaved roads it was much better, the problem was the village itself mostly and tubing, I despise much more Luang Prabang full of retired package tourists everywhere you moved, that was truly much more disgusting than VV.
- mysecretaccount 4y agoThere are plenty of beds for £5 in (to use your example) Laos. I had a room not too long ago for under $5, on the Mekong. I wasn't around for the 90s, maybe cheap rooms were much easier to come by, but they're not too difficult today in that part of the world.