Laos Laos

Before leaving to travel, Laos was the country I knew least about and had the least reason to be excited for.  However, it ended up being my favourite Southeast Asian country of the four! Laos is a mixture of open beautiful scenery and small towns/cities full of character. I entered Laos at the beginning of December in the small border town of Lak Xao. I could immediately see and feel the difference between Vietnam and Laos. Compared to the busy feeling of Hanoi, Lak Xao was extremely relaxed and peaceful. The people were friendly and easy going (and didn't seem like they were always trying to sell me something!).

We spent the next few days in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. A couple of friends and I rented push bikes and drove around the city to see the sites. We went to Pha That Luang (the gold stupa and national symbol) and the National Monument/Gate (also called the vertical runway), which is a tower that was built with supplies donated by the French to build a runway. Instead, the Laotian people built the monument as a symbol of their independence. We were able to see a lot of Vientiane from the top of the tower.

From Vientiane, we went to the small town of Vang Vieng along the riverside, known for it's limestone mountains and caves. We only had a day there, but I went kayaking in the river (through rapids) and caving/swimming in one of the caves. It was dark in the cave, so they gave us little candles, which were quite impractical as I kept falling into deep water. Still, it was a lot of fun! In the afternoon, we went tubing down the river. It's a very popular spot for partying backpackers. I couldn't believe how many people there were. There are many bars along the river and they hook you in on your tube. The bars also have giant rope swings, slingshots and slides. I tried the slinghsot, but the wooden slides looked a little too unsafe/painful to me.

Our last stop was Luang Prabang. It is a small town that used to be the capital of Laos. It has many temples and Mount Phousi (mountain of monasteries) in the centre of the town. I got up at 5am to watch the monks procession down the main road near the mountain. All of the monks walk to collect food donations from the local people lined up along the street. While in Luang Prabang, we also visited an elephant centre, where we road the elephants down to the river and got to bath them. I had the most stubborn elephant, who didn't listen to any of the commands of the Mahout (trainer), which made for an even more interesting experience. She did make sure to completely drench me with a consistent blast of spray from her trunk during the bathing! Finally, we visited Kuang Si Waterfalls (a 3-tier waterfall), which we were able to swim in, jump off of, and rope swing into!

Before leaving Laos, we took a 2-day boat trip down the Mekong River to the Thai border. We rode in  a traditional junk boat owned by a local family. We saw many people and animals along the riverside. We stopped at Pak Ou - the cave of 4,000 Buddhas and stopped for the night in the small riverside town of Pak Beng.

On December 10th we arrived at the Thai border, where we left our boat for the town of Chiang Kong. I was definitely surprised with how much I enjoyed my time in Laos. I especially liked the friendly and easy going nature of the people and the relaxed atmosphere. I think I would like to return to one of the smaller areas one day as a volunteer.