BACKPACKER TRAIL
Vang Vieng has been a fixture on the Southeast Asia backpacker trail since Laos’ secretive communist rulers opened the country to tourism decades ago.
The town was once synonymous with backpackers behaving badly at jungle parties and has since re-branded as an eco-tourism destination.
“I heard the news but everything is normal here,” Michael, a Vietnamese manager at Vangvieng Rock Backpacker Rooftop Hostel told AFP, asking to use only one name.
“The high season is about to start so we are welcoming more tourists every day.”
“There are still many tourists in town, and they go partying,” a receptionist at Vang Vieng Chill House Hostel told AFP.
Bowles and Jones, both aged 19 and from Melbourne, became unwell while staying at Vang Vieng’s Nana Backpackers Hostel last week, Australian media reported.
The women drank at the hostel’s bar before they went out for the evening, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.
They failed to check out on Nov 13, when hostel staff rushed the pair to the hospital.
The Vietnamese manager of the Nana Backpackers Hostel has been detained for questioning, the Laos tourist police told AFP.
No charges have been made as police are still “investigating”, an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Alcohol tainted with methanol is suspected to be the cause of death.
