Loving Laos, finally

Laos, the missing jigsaw piece

I first visited Southeast Asia way back in 1994. I can scarcely believe this is now almost 30 years ago. How young and naive I must have been. Over the years, hopefully a little bit wiser, and definitely older, I have been back numerous times. 

And yet, there was always a piece of the jigsaw missing. A piece that I could never seem to find no matter how hard I tried. With this in mind, as we embarked on our big travel sabbatical, I knew that this was my opportunity to complete my Southeast Asian jigsaw. This time I was going to Laos. 

The Peoples Democratic Republic of Laos

The Peoples Democratic Republic of Laos is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. Bordered by Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam. I had travelled fairly extensively through all these neighbouring countries and never once ventured into Laos. How remiss of me.

As our small propeller plane from Bangkok had wheels down in Vientiane there was a slight sense of relief and a smile on my face. I was finally in Laos and in the 49th country that I have travelled to in my wanderlust years. 

The capital, Vientiane, is described as sleepy. I would say this is an understatement. Walking from our hotel, that first morning, and into town I could count the number of travellers on one hand. Where is everyone, I thought. And why are the streets so quiet. Possibly the quietest capital city I have ever been to. I had expected a buzz. Busy cafes. Street side tour operators selling you bus and flight tickets, much like you see almost everywhere in Southeast Asia. 

Yet, there was none of this. We strolled to the river front, taking in the views of nearby Thailand across the river. Ambling along the river it felt as though the town was deserted. What were we going to do for the next couple of days?

Finding excellent craft beer in Vientiane

When you travel you find that life finds its rhythm. Wherever you are you adapt. And so it was in Vientiane. We slowed down and mirrored the pace of life. We did find an excellent brewery. Incongruously situated quite a long walk from the centre of town, on a main road, and amongst a strip of run down shops. Following the blue dot on Google Maps I did think there must be a mistake, but eventually, set back from the road, we found it. 

Core Beer is a very new, very modern building that houses a brewery. A brewery much like the excellent ones we are blessed with in Western Australia. A cavernous place, and yet we were the only customers. Ordering two, excellent pale ales, I mused at how the young man working there filled his day. Much like everyone else in Southeast Asia, it turned out. Glued to his mobile phone. The beer was excellent and priced accordingly. Much more expensive than our new local drink, BeerLao, which cost about 11,000 kip each. Which equates to approx 97 cents, or 54 pence.

Our days in Vientiane were brightened up by food. We afforded ourselves a well earned break from the monotony of rice every day. Whilst in Vientiane, our dinners were an excellent pizza, from an Italian chef, and on the second night a tasty Indian curry, that cost us pennies. Finding good food for dinner becomes a mission after you have experienced the hotel breakfasts in Asia. Some are a lot worse than others and the one at S2 Modern Hotel in Vientiane left a lot to be desired. 

Not tubing in Vang Vieng

Moving on from Vientiane we headed to Vang Vieng by minibus. On a trip that used to take many hours, the new Laos-China expressway reduces this considerably. Less than two hours after leaving the capital we had arrived and were trundling our bags to Jasmine hotel. When you are travelling on a budget, the Jasmine hotel is the sort of hotel you end up at. 

On the way to the hotel my spirits immediately lifted. Vang Vieng had the vibe that was missing in Vientiane. Lots of travellers wandering about. Cafes full of digital nomads on their laptops, and first time travellers updating their travel journals. It did appear that the demographic was about 30 years younger than me. If you can’t beat them, join them. Due to a scheduling issue, which I’ll touch on later, we were only here for two nights but would have happily extended. The Jasmine hotel was friendly, and if we look past the free breakfast, the balcony that provided us with amazing sunset views would have been enough to keep us in town.

Vang Vieng gained notoriety for the “tubing” activities that backpackers flocked here for. After a few deaths, and many near misses, the government clamped down heavily on this in 2012. Plying young people with alcohol and sending them down a fast flowing river on an inner tube suddenly seemed like a very bad idea. 

Diversification followed and now Vang Vieng is a hub for many activities such as hot air ballooning. Cycling. Rock climbing. Kayaking. And still a bit of tubing, of the more sober variety. The tourist numbers that dwindled after the 2012 tubing clampdown have started climbing again and once more there are new hotels being built to accommodate them. 

A Thai German serving schnitzels in Laos

There are some great food options in Vang Vieng and over the two nights we had a good Thai meal, and a schnitzel. A very good schnitzel I might add. From a Thai gentleman who had spent time in Germany and brought the schnitzel to Laos. His “restaurant” was simply his front garden, and his “kitchen” was a simple outside stove, but the schnitzel and potatoes he cooked up were delicious. If you do find yourself in Vang Vieng be sure to look up Viman, the Thai German. 

Luang Prabang

After Vang Vieng we were off to Luang Prabang. By bus. Or so we thought. When the young man on reception at the Jasmine told us the road was unsealed and it could take up to 7 hours to get there, we agreed with him that the train would be a much better option. 

The Chinese had recently finished building a train line from Laos to China and we were going to be one of the first to try it out. I had hoped to be on the bullet train that I saw advertised everywhere. Alas, we weren’t. However, the train was still very new, very busy, and fast. We were in Luang Prabang in under 2 hours. Met outside the oversize train station (as part of the train line the Chinese had built brand new, enormous train stations) by dozens of white minivans, to transport us all the 20 minutes into Luang Prabang town. 

Luang Prabang turned out to be one of my favourite places in Southeast Asia. Small. Friendly. And full of Buddhist temples. There is a peace and serenity to the town that holds a stillness. It helped that we were in a beautiful hotel. After the S2 in Vientiane and the Jasmine in Vang Vieng we slightly increased the travel budget got a whole lot more quality. 

Parasol Blanc hotel in Luang Prabang

Parasol Blanc was welcoming. And stylish. Set in large leafy grounds with a swimming pool and a breakfast area located in the middle of a UNESCO protected lotus pond. Talking of the breakfast, it was excellent. We even had a menu of options to choose from, all freshly prepared by the Indian chef who popped out each morning to have a chat. 

In Luang Prabang we strolled along the Mekong River, having a lazy lunch whilst watching the longtail boats sail past. We visited many of the beautiful Buddhist temples. One day we hired an electric scooter, my first time riding one, and visited the Kuang Si waterfalls, having a refreshing swim in the gorgeous pools. Kuang Si waterfalls are a must visit, it is such a beautiful area. On the way back to Luang Prabang, fretting slightly over the remaining battery life of the scooter (it turns out “range anxiety” is real), we stopped for lunch at a stunning location. Set amongst rice paddie fields, and very reminiscent of Bali, we had a simple and delicious lunch.

Importantly, after a lot of travel, we had some down time. Lazing around the hotel pool and having a cool dip. Being the only ones around the pool it felt like we were in our own private villa. We swam. Read. And I took the opportunity to catch up on the travel blog. 

Trekking with elephants at MandaLao Elephant Conservation Park

However, the highlight of our stay in Luang Prabang, and quite possibly of the whole trip through Southeast Asia was the day we spent at MandaLao Elephant Conservation park. Reading about this a few weeks ago we knew we had to visit. And when we booked, the only day that was available to us meant we would have to cut short an earlier part of the trip by a day. Hence the two days only in Vang Vieng.

To say it was worth the sacrifice would be an understatement. We had a full day trekking with two beautiful elephants. MandaLao work to provide elephant friendly interactions and their elephants, they have 10, have been rescued from terrible conditions. Either from logging factories or from the very outdated, and very harmful elephant camps that still allow the practice of riding the elephants.

As we now know, this causes irreversible damage to the spines of the elephants, not to mention the emotional trauma they are surely being put through. There is no riding at MandaLao. No chains. Just freedom to roam, and hundreds of bananas. The team work hard to educate the other elephant camps in Laos but elephants are so ingrained in the culture of this small Southeast Asian country that it will take a generation or two to change the mindest.

I was sad to leave Luang Prabang and sad to be leaving Laos. The country is truly beautiful. It feels a lot more rustic than its neighbours. And even though there are a lot of travellers, the numbers are a lot lower than other places we have visited. This is good. This helps retain a little of its “undiscovered” charm. Long may Laos remain this way.

Whilst tinged with sadness at leaving Laos, we were both very excited to get back to a country we have visited previously. The Land of Smiles. And fabulous food. Thailand would soon be country 21 of our world trip.