Laos

I've just returned back to Bangkok after my two and a half week tour around Southeast Asia.  All told, I visited two cities in Laos, three cities in Vietnam, and two beaches in Southern Thailand.  For the sake of time, I'm going to break up the trip into three separate posts.  The first of which will be the one on Laos.

Laos is the most amazing country I've ever been to.  It's way up there on the list of most impoverished nations and really has very little in terms of quintessential major tourist sites or any sort of famous beaches, but it's unbelievably beautiful and the people are just awesome.  But before I continue my with my reasons for loving Laos and telling you about my overall impression of the country, I'll share a little bit of detail about my trip there.

I met my friends Lee and Steph at the train station to catch our 12-hour overnight train.  We were all excited to begin our two and a half week trip.  We decided to save a few bucks and just get seats on the train to the Thai-Laos border rather than sleeper berths.  It wasn't our best idea.  It was a pretty uncomfortable, cold ride and the bright lights inside the train remained on the whole time.  We definitely didn't sleep too much that night.  Nonetheless, we made it to the border in one piece around 6 in the morning on February 24th (a certain someone's birthday).  It was immediately clear how much better the relationship between Laos and Thailand is than the relationship between Cambodia and Thailand.  The border crossing into Laos was really well organized and very clean and safe while the one to Cambodia (which we had crossed the week before) was very chaotic and dirty.  So far so good for Laos in my book.

After crossing into the country, we were in the capital of Laos, Vientiane.  We had decided that Vientiane wasn't a priority for us and we had scheduled a flight to one of the oldest cities in Laos, Luang Prabang, for later that afternoon.  Before leaving Vientiane though we exchanged some money (150 USD got me 1.2 million Lao Kip) and grabbed some delicious breakfast sandwiches (impossible to find in Thailand).  So far, this country was off to a pretty great start.

We arrived in Luang Prabang around 4 in the afternoon and I was immediately blown away.  It's a little, old-time city built where the the Mekong River meets the Nam Khan River and it's completely surrounded by mountains.  It's unbelievably beautiful.  After finding a place to stay (a little guesthouse on the Nam Khan River) we set out to explore town.  We climbed the highest point in the city, the Phu Si Temple, to watch the sunset over the Mekong River.  The pictures below are my attempt at showing how awesome it was.

Luang Prabang

Coolest  City Ever

Mekong River

Mountain Temple

Sunset over the Mekong River

That night the three of us checked out the Luang Prabang night market (Steph claims it was one of her favorites and she has some serious knowledge of these things) then grabbed a delicious dinner and went out for some birthday drinks.  We had a really fun night but were thrilled to hit the sack after a very long day.

The next day Steph told us that it would be a good idea to bike 32 kms to some "local" waterfalls.  Lee and I, being lazy, felt it was a better idea to rent some motorbikes for the trip but Steph convinced us that biking would be a better experience.  I have to give her some credit here, it was pretty awesome.  I had some technical difficulties with the chain on my bike but made it to the waterfalls in one piece.  They were pretty cool and I snapped some good pictures which can be seen below.  The bike ride home was the best part though.  We passed through some amazing scenery during the trip.  The best part however, came when we rode through each of the three Laotian villages on the journey home.  Each time the kids of the village would shout at us and put out their hands for high fives.  It was a blast riding through the streets with a pack of kids running after us.  Not to mention, I felt pretty good about myself after biking 64 kms (40 miles).  I'm the next Lance Armstrong.

Paradise?

Waterfall

Local girl running after our bikes.

Steph and Lee with some local dudes.

The next day we decided to take it easy and just enjoy Luang Prabang.  We rented bikes again and rolled around town checking out the sights.  It was a great day that once again culminated in watching the sunset over the Mekong River.  That night we went to the night market again and I stocked up on some souvenirs.

Life in Laos.

There were monks everywhere.

Overall, Laos is probably the most amazing country I've ever been too.  Unlike much of Thailand, it's largely untapped by foreign tourism and as a result the natural scenery of the country is outstanding.  The people are so laid back and relaxed about everything.  It it hands down the most chilled out place I have ever been.  Perhaps my favorite thing about Laos though, was the food.  They had the best baked goods and sandwiches I've had since I left home.  Lee and I really enjoyed having baguettes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Unfortunately, the next day it was time to move on to the next stop on our tour of Southeast Asia, Vietnam.  We were all in for a shock.  If Laos is "chilled out" then Vietnam is exactly the opposite...