Laos is a country I had never really heard of until about a year ago. It's nestled between the more well known countries of Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and China, but perhaps because it is landlocked it hasn't earned the same reputation among tourists looking for beaches. In the last few years, however, more and more tourists have been making their way across Laos by bus or river boat (the only real options for traveling aside from flying) to experience the relatively unspoiled culture. Compared to the busy and crowded cities of its neighbors, Laos is a breath of fresh air. It's also a communist country, but that fact seems to have little impact on most tourists (as long as they aren't trying to do or smuggle drugs).
In the middle of our winter holiday travels, we opted to spend a week making our way north from the capital of Vientiane to the village of Vang Vieng, and then onward to Luang Prabang (a world heritage site). Each place felt very unique, but they were all equally sleepy and relaxed. Vientiane is a rather small capital city, and is best known for its riverfront eateries and sunsets. Vang Vieng is a village of one major street (and no traffic stops) that caters purely to the tourists who find themselves there. The main street is comprised of restaurant after restaurant, serving everything from pizza to french toast (one of the remaining influences of the French colonization of Laos). Even more odd was that each restaurant had at least one giant flat screen tv mounted to the wall playing dvds of Friends, Family Guy and the Simpsons on repeat. If it weren't for the fact that you are sitting on pillows rather than chairs, you could easily drift into thinking you were not in the middle of Laos, but in Canada. This town is also known for its views, as it sits between the mountains, and beside the Mekong river. Many visitors take to the river on rubber tubes. Luang Prabang is the most northern city, known for its European influence in architecture and way of life, which likely had a hand in why I fell in love with this city immediately. I even had thoughts of returning to work with one of the many NGOs that are based there.
Unfortunately, I got a little sick at this point in the trip, which has tainted my image of the city. Plus, I'm not sure I'm ready to move somewhere that requires me to take daily malaria pills. Or that can only be reached by more than a day on a bus through the mountains. Although, you could also fly in on Lao Airlines, the airline with a less than stellar safety record. When we were ready to head back to the north of Thailand, we found ourselves on one of their planes. It wasn't all that bad, but I had my hands firmly gripped onto the arm rests for the entire one hour flight. After a week of hours long bus rides and lazy days, it seemed a much too short ride back to the more modern world.
