Hotels & Horses in Vang Vieng, Laos

Details

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  Description

  We are excited to offer travelers a destination for workaway volunteering!
  
  We are a Lao-Australian family owner -operating hospitality venues Hotels, Villas, Ponies, Cafes & Yoga in Vang Vieng and Vientiane. Predominantly our workaway venues are located on the Song River by the mountains in the heart of Vang Vieng, Lao PDR! 


  
  Volunteer in our ventures and have a great time meeting local people, getting your hands dirty, creating new visions, using your skills to enhance our local team and our facilities, caring for animals, building, cleaning and contributing to our environment to service tourists. We practice ethical tourism initiatives, always with efforts towards caring for the environment and sustainable livelihoods. Currently operating with a team of 49 local staff across all businesses who appreciate interaction to improve their English and technical/servicing practices.
  
  We are looking for nature lovers, professional skills, energetic people from all around the world to support our staff with maintenance, gardening, service & website updates, social media / marketing, event management, IT/management systems, video content, pony husbandry care. We also have 3 dogs that are kind and need lots of attention. We look forward to new team members and hope we can do great things together! 


  
  Before applying please make sure you read the whole profile and that your travel plans and skills meet our volunteer availabilities.
  
  We require a minimum of 3 weeks and prefer people to stay longer unto 3 months, so please ONLY write to us if you can commit to this. 

  
  Please also understand that we do receive a lot of applications and therefore can only answer to those who match our requirements. Thanks!


  
  We need help in the following areas:


  
  #Pony farm: We need experienced equine instructors to support our local staff on the pony farm, trekking, carriage rides, giving lessons and pony camps. Our 8 ponies are for Children's trekking, lessons and camps. We have one horse who needs regular training and riding for experienced riders only. Tack care, maintenance around the farm is inclusive. On our farm we maintain a recycling waste system from our restaurants for composting, raising poultry, and dry season vegetable gardens. We focus on growing our own vegetables to supplement our restaurants and contribute to a 'garden to plate' concept. Our aim is to reduce our carbon footprint by growing our own food and sourcing our produce locally.
  
  #Restaurant/Bar: Always looking to improve our staff's knowledge on waitering and bartending. If you can contribute to improving practices and systems, cleaning, sanitation, servicing and more our local team are willing to learn.
  
  #Maintenance: 
We are looking for someone to help with maintenance (painting, carpentry, plumbing, repairing things, etc.). Projects for reusing, recycling wood and plastics, etc, would be much appreciated! You must know how to use tools and have some carpentry experience. Please be sure you are able to change pipes, fix toilets, do woodworking, and have some electrical knowledge before applying. 


  
  #Social Media/DIGITAL Marketing/PR
: We are looking for an outgoing person to help with our PR, social media and marketing position. Posting social media pages . Keeping track of customer reviews , business promos and customers online is vitally important to maintaining and building our ventures reputation; organizational skills are a must. An asset is to possess genuine initiative and foresight, the hotels are currently spearheading new initiatives linking to other potential clients in the region, experience in business development and consultancy would be extremely valuable for this project. Written and spoken English must be to the highest standard. Bring your own laptop. 
Ability to use photoshop, photography and design is a must for this position. 


  
  #Experienced Web Developer / Graphic designer
: We are looking for an experienced Wordpress developer to help us update our websites. The sites are Wordpress powered. We have to improve and make some minor changes to our websites. 
Additionally we have many small design projects including the design of a pocket map, display booklet for tours, Yoga t-shirts, stickers and other merchandise. In order to be considered for this position you must submit your portfolio or some sample work you've done. 
Must be experienced with: Photoshop, PHP, HTML, CSS, Wordpress. 
You must have your own computer. 


  
  #Video/film producer/editor: 
We are looking for someone with experience in film/editing to record different activities & events here at our hotels and bar. We want high quality footage of particular local festivals in Vang Vieng, nature, ponies, yoga & tours and multiple tour locations. 
Volunteers applying for this position must have their own equipment (High quality camera + Laptop) to perform tasks & duties independently to a high standard. 
Please send us samples of previous works/videos.


  
  
  PLEASE READ BEFORE APPLYING

  
*️️️️️️*️️️️️️*️️️️️️This hotel means business for us and our teams work hard every day to make our guests happy, work towards being plastic free & environmentally conscious, constantly improving our services and facilities. We count on your commitment to do the same and make an impact!

  *️️️️️️*️️️️️️*️️️️️️If you are looking for a place to party, this isn't for you! We want mature people who take their tasks seriously.
*️️️️️️*️️️️️️*️️️️️️Please check availability of volunteer positions and only apply if your plans line up with our requirements. 

  *️️️️️️*️️️️️️*️️️️️️When messaging us, please provide your travel dates. We will need at least your available start date and an estimated length of stay.

  *️️️️️️*️️️️️️*️️️️️️We require a 3 week minimum stay. To ensure we are a good fit, volunteers will need to be aware of our requirements and abide by general hotel house rules.
  
*️️️️️️*️️️️️️*️️️️️️ We take your commitment very seriously. Volunteers that DO NOT SHOW will be given a negative review. So if your plans change and you decided you are not coming please let us know.

We are looking forward to receiving your application!
Happy traveling! 


  
  
#Accommodations: 
Simple bedrooms with bathroom inside, fan, AC (please use frugally) . Depending on the number of volunteers during your stay, you will be sharing a room with 1-3 other volunteers.
 We prefer non-smokers and definitely DO NOT accept party goers or any use of illegal substances.
  
  *️️️️️️*️️️️️️Please note that while Vang Vieng is a popular destination, it is still a developing tourist town so fresh water and electrical conservation are very important for us. Fresh public water system is sourced from mountains and a shortage is evident in the peak season our dry season.
  
  

What else ...
Vang Vieng is a small town on the main northern highway road 13. For travellers pre covid, Vang Vieng was a stopover for those traveling to or from Luang Phabang, it is also a weekend getaway just 1.5 hrs drive from Vientiane City capital for locals & international weekenders such as Thai, Singaporean, Korean tourists that want to experience some nature. There's lots to do in & around Vang Vieng including Zip Lining, Trekking, Rock Climbing, Tubing, Ballooning, view point hikes and chilling in cave streams, lagoons or kayaking. There are numerous caves systems only few are open & run by communities newly introduced to tourism. 
Our volunteers enjoy each others' company. You will make lifelong friends with us!


  
  How to get to Vang Vieng:
  *️️️️️️ The train is bestrode of transport from Luang Phabang. Don't take the train from Vientiane as the station is too far from town. A minivan is easy from Vientiane northern bus station or from city centre in front of Cultural Centre
  *️️️️️️ Once you arrive in Vang Vieng from Vientiane you can walk from the bus stop to our hotels; from Luang Phabang you will need to pay 30-50,000kip from Train station in a shared tuktuk. 



  
  We look forward to hearing from you!

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  Types of help and learning opportunities

  Charity Work

  Art Projects

  Language practice

  Help with Eco Projects

  Teaching

  Gardening

  DIY and building projects

  Animal Care

  Farmstay help

  Creating/ Cooking family meals

  Help around the house

  Hospitality/Tourism

  General Maintenance

  Help with Computers/ Internet
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  Cultural exchange and learning opportunities

  Travellers will be working closely with local people in a professional working environment and in a rural lifestyle setting. They have the opportunity to exchange language and learn local traditions. Volunteers together meet amazing people and make new friends!

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  Help

  Volunteers can help in any areas with suit their skills and support Lao staff from working with horses, ponies, gardening, farming, IT, social media, design & marketing, charity activities, painting, maintenance, cleaning, designing, language exchange, quality service delivery.....
  
  A minimum stay of 3 weeks up to 3 months. We prefer volunteers who are committed for longer periods. Travel insurance is required to show on application. We discourage volunteers who enjoy the party scene or use recreational drugs. We prefer non- smokers!

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  Languages

  Languages spoken
  English: Fluent
  Lao: Fluent
  Thai: Fluent

  This host offers a language exchange
  Korean, Chinese, Russian, Spanish are all languages we would love to improve!
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  Accommodation

  A shared room for 2-3 persons with AC, fan, inside bathroom. Self servicing and access to laundry and cleaning equipment.

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  What else ...

  As an eco tourism destination there are many sights to discovery around the area.
  
  Once little more than a bus stop on the long journey between Vientiane at the Thai border and the World Heritage Site of Luang Prabang, Vang Vieng has managed to become a destination in its own right – and rightfully so. While the town still isn't much more than three streets and a bus & train station however its density is growing rapidly. The stunning scenery of river and rock formations surrounding this place will keep you dreaming of Laos long after you've settled back into real life. If you aren't into the rowdy party scene that seems to dominate this town's image, try to come in the off-season (Apr–Jun, Sep-Oct) and you'll have this place almost entirely to yourself.

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  A little more information

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    Internet access

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    Limited internet access

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    We have pets

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    We are smokers

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    Can host families

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  Can host digital nomads

  We have several spaces for use of the internet and generally its quite good. We do recommend that you pick up an internet sim card for less than a dollar!

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  Space for parking camper vans

  Yes you can park on our farm!!!

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  Can possibly accept pets

  Never had workawayers with pets however we would consider highly as we love our own pets!

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  How many Workawayers can stay?

  More than two

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  Hours expected

  Min 5 hours a day, 5 days a week

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