Laos at a glance

I am back. I stayed away, as usual, from drugs and mostly alcohol, too. Firstly, where the heck is Laos actually? Laos shares borders with Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, Thailand to the west, and Myanmar and China to the north. Laos is nice. Beyond doubt, mountains, untouched nature, picturesque waterfalls, exotic dressed and friendly people of different ethnical groups let a visit here become an experience. However, Laos is poor. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), is one of the poorest nations in South-East Asia. The life is simple. Seventy-two of a total of 142 districts are officially numbered as poor, forty-seven of them as extremely poor.

I traveled with some of my friends. My travel buddies were Joscha, Yann and Hisar; one of the new German “unemployed” volunteers. We changed our plans and headed directly, for 17 $, from Ha Noi to the Lao capital. The border crossing was simple and without any difficulties for the visa upon arrival. We arrived in Vientiane after a total bus journey of 23-hours. A clean guesthouse for 2€ was just fine enough for us. Yeah, this is budget travelling again. Long time no do. We took it easy in Vientiane and followed the Lao lifestyle. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Lao PDR, or by some people called “Lao Please Don’t Rush”. We had Lao and Western food in rotation. I emphasize especially to the “Swedish Bakery” on this occasion. Sightseeing by day and the evenings ended mostly early and unspectacular.

We hit the road to Vang Vieng on the third day. Vang Vieng is a little town, which developed to the top backpacker’s destination in Laos. (Do I really want to be there then?) At this place tour operators supply activities like “Tubing”, “Caving”, “Climbing”, “Trekking”…“Canoeing”. We settled in a hotel five minutes apart the town. However, it was favorable and in order to our needs adequate. We spent the first evening in one of the countless restaurants. The specialty of these bars is that they show exclusively the TV-series “Friends”. The guests sit comfortable on mattresses, enjoy the show and nip on their glasses. Almost as good as in their own living rooms. Well, I’ve got the impression that some people come to Laos just because of that…

Vang Vieng is famous for tubing! It is quite simple. You insert yourself into a tractor inner tube and float down the river. There are dozens of bars along the riverside. Anytime you want, you can stop at these bars by giving the friendly helpers at the shore a sign. They are pleased to catch you. You will have a great time with them and all the other tubers. You can drink, dance, play volleyball or swing on the incredibly high rope swings and zip lines into the river! Tubing was great fun for us. We went to bed rather early that evening, thus exhausted and evidently drunken.

The following day we had to work hard. We cycled the whole blessed day and explored the amazing scenery and small minority villages. The caves were awesome, too! Hundreds of them are waiting to be discovered. It is advised to tourists to investigate the caves with a guide. We didn’t and possessed only one lamp. I begrudged the others for their hiking boots. I owned only my flip flops and slipped off dangerously from the slimy, cliffy, stony path and rocks. The cave was huge, though sometimes narrow and we had to creep. It was frightening dark. I escaped by the skin of my teeth. Gosh, I should have been dead. My feet were bloody and littered with cuts after ending of the tour. Accordingly the wounds burnt like hell linking up swimming in the lagoons. So the next day was relaxation day for me and the others went tubing again. We took the night coach to Luang Prabang later on.

We arrived in the early morning. The sun rose scarcely and the monks marched their everyday begging walk. A couple of residents contributed food or money to the monks. A Tuk-Tuk drove us to the desired Guesthouse. Up to midday we remained in our rooms and slept. Local buses aren’t that convenient in Laos. Then we met up with Liana and Mark, two Ex-VPV-Volunteers, and chatted for the good old times. We visited a gigantic waterfall on Yann’s and Hisar’s last day. The way to the waterfall was lined by terraces all over filled with water. A perfect backdrop for having a refreshing bath. Well, unfortunately full of leeches waiting for their victims to come. I had three of the beasts firmly bitten between my toes in no time. They enjoyed sucking my sweet blood. We stayed two more nights in Luang Prabang, checked out farther places of interests and informed us about a bus to Phonsavan, our ongoing destination.

We got up early to catch the coach. The eight hours bus ride was very nice. I could hardly refrain from looking and being fascinated by the mountains, small laid back villages and the primeval forest. Phonsavan is located on a high plateau. The pleasant climate and the vegetation are crushing. Not far from the Vietnamese border, unfortunately, also a violently bombed stripe. In Laos, although it was not officially involved at all in the war, more bombs were thrown down during the Vietnam War than in the Second World War in Europe. Nowadays many people lose their limbs and lives by unexploded ordnance devices (UXO). Field work or the collecting of war scrap (metal for resale) is the most frequent cause of the accidents. For further information you can browse through this organizations website.

Joscha and I cycled around the town the whole day. The plain is also known for its mysterious jars. Some about two meters high and centuries old. Their origin and purpose is still unknown.

Unfortunately, on account of the bad street conditions, there was no straight bus connection to the south of the country. Therefore we had to accept a long detour via Vientiane. We stopped in Pak Kadding and walked through the village towards the Nam Kadding River. But there was no picturesque shore for bathing, promised in our guidebook, so we went on to Savannakhet. However, the 24 hours in bus made us really tired and we had a tight sleep in our guesthouse then. The border town to Thailand, Mukdahan on the other Mekong riverbank, is basically a vantage point for tours to the surroundings. We were spoiled by raining the whole three days and we couldn’t see much of southern Laos. As a result, we enjoyed sauna and massage, tested the drinking capability of the fellow Lao men and returned wasted to Viet Nam.

We took the night coach and crossed the border almost trouble free. The voyage lasted seventeen hours. Yann picked us up in Đà Nẵng. He showed us around his city. We envy him a little bit. His project is classy and he lives only five minutes off the beach. The children in his orphanage are friendly and cute. Playing and spending time with them is great fun. We remained four days in Đà Nẵng. We have had enough of the long lasting bus rides; we took the plane back home.

We had wonderful three weeks apart Ha Noi. Laos is much quieter and more relaxed than Viet Nam. The people are calm and don’t annoy me permanently buying stupid things. Despite the fact that Laos is more expensive than Viet Nam, bargaining at the market is delightful and discounts are (still) easy to get. Laos is definitely worth it to visit again. I want to travel there alone next time to get to know clearer the Lao mentality.

~ by buudien on September 27, 2008.