Laos: Vientien, Vang Vieng, Luang Prabong

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Happy Holidays!
Things are beginning to wind down here as I have recently returned from a two week excursion in north-central Laos. As with everywhere I've traveled, I was uncertain of how my Lao experience would size up to my experience in other SE Asian countries. Tourism is a relatively new phenomonon in Laos. As a result, much of the countryside is untouched by Westerners, and there is even a small population of travelers in the main cities. The transportation system in Laos is not quite as advanced as in other SE Asian countries. Therefore, it's a bit more difficult to get from point a, to b, but those or are willing to withstand the undesirable ride and travel frustrations, seem to have the same rewarding experience that I did.
A few weeks ago the entirety of Thailand celebrated King Rama IV 80th birthday. I celebrated with a few friends in Chiang Mai. Then it was back to Bangkok for final exams. Following my tests, the majority of the other students in my program left. I packed up my belonings and moved out of my apartment, and cruised north on a night train with a friend from Chicago. We arrived in Nong Khai early in the morning, walked across the Friendship Bridge Border into Vientien, Laos. A friend from my university had arranged for us to meet with one of his Laotian friends. This was really the first exposure and interaction I had with a Lao. His name was Hua. He picked us up at the main bus station and treated us to breakfast. We ate the classic Pho. I really enjoy it as a meal, but just not for breakfast. It is rice noodle soup with veggies and pork. It tastes good, better than Vietnamese Pho, but I still struggle with the lack of a proper western breakfast. After we ate, Hua took us to find some accomodation nearby the mighty Mekong River. After we were settled we walked around the downtown of the city. Vientien is known as the most chilled out capitol city in the world. There are no skyscrapers, little traffic, and just a relaxed atmosphere in general. As far as sight seeing went, we walked through a few temples and the Lao National History Museum. The temples were very similar to those found in Thailand: Therevada Style. The History museum was informative. It was especially interesting to see how the people of a country like Lao perceived Western countries occupation and imperialistic attitudes towards Laos. Laos is also known as the most bombed country in the world. It seems like up until about 35 years ago, the country was more or less at the disposal of whatever western power thought it was fit to occupy. The country was originally a French Indochina colony. This has certainly influenced Laos. Yet today, baguettes and coffee are found everywhere, and all of the city names remain French. The French resigned all of it's Indochinese occupancy after the defeat to the Vietnamese in Dien Bien Phu in 1954 (Which I wrote a bit about in the Vietnamese Blog!) Thus Laos was left a vunerable country, and at severly threatened by domino theory of the spread of communism. The country was quickly invaded by the communist northern Vietnamese.
During the Vietnamese war, the country was heavily bombed, much done by the United States. Following the war a strong communist influence remained in the country. Laos was completely dependent upon Vietnam politically, and economically dependent on Thailand. This is still apparent today as there is an inconsistency between the lack of political freedom, but the free market economy in the country. Evenually in the 1980's collectivization was banned but communism still plays a big rold in the political lives of the country, although, it is not supposed to interfere with the lives of Laotians.
Thats the history of the country in a nutshell. I really think one of the reasons traveling through this part of the world is so great is because you can read and learn about this history, culture, and lifestyle, but it's difficult to get a good grasp of it, until you actually experience it first hand. Then it all seems to come together, and it's quite intriguing to see.
Anyway, our Vientien experience was exhausted in about one day. That night we met up with our Lao friend Hua and went out for drinks. He insisted on buying the rounds but we wouldn't allow him. I believe this is an omen of out generous and kind the Lao people were to us. A Lao adult makes an average of 300$US per year. The majority of families live in nothing more than simple one room huts, yet their still always smiling, always in good spirits, and looking to enjoy life. It's been really great trying to meet people from the countries I've traveled too. Often the language barrier has been so large that it's very difficult, but Hua had extensive knowledge of English. In honesty it was a bit of a disappointing night. Hua, also a big Liverpool fan and I watched Liverpool's lackluster loss to Manchester United. We were both down after the loss, but didn't let it get in the way of the night.
The following morning, my friend Chris and I took a bus north to Vang Vieng. It's difficult for me to describe this city. I have to say, it's been my favorite place in SE Asia after four months of travel in six different countries. I hadn't planned on it, but I sort of got stuck in the city, finding it difficult to leave. The city is nestled in a mountain valley, with impressive peaks surrounding the city. At the base of the mountains a clear water river flows slowly which the city revolves around. The weather was beautiful every day. In the 80's and sunny. Hard to believe this is winter weather.
We arrived in the city in the mid afternoon, and settled in a riverside bungalow. The city still had the chilled out feel of Vientien, but not nearly as large, very little development, and even fewer people. I think was inpressed me most was how welcomed we were by the locals. In many other cities I've visited in SE Asia, the locals have seemed to percieve Westerner more as money signs than people. Tourist exploitation has been rampant, but I didn't see any of it in Laos. The locals smiled as they walked past, said hello (Sabai di: Lao is a very similar Language to Thai, in fact, How are you in Thai, means Hello in Lao. It was kind of confusing, but we got used to it quickly. The numbers are also the same in both languages). Peddlers were few and far between, but very respecful. The Laos were always willing to do business with tourists, but by no means pushy or persistent. I soaked this atmosphere up, as It's been difficult to find for the last four months.
Vang Vieng is famous amongst travelers for it's tubing. I had heard stories of it from other travelers, but wasn't really sure what to expect. Everyone I had talked to spoke very highly of their tubing experience. On our second day in Vang Vieng we opted to go tubing. There was a flat rate of 5$US (50,000kip) for tube rental. We rode in a packed tuk-tuk about 4km up stream to the river. We hopped in out tubes and had a relaxing float. This experience sounds great, and it is, but it's only enhanced by the people you meet on the float. Everyone tends to stick together. On both sides of the river, for the majority of the float, there are bamboo bars about ever 100 meters. People would congregate at the bars, and move down river at a slow rate together. Every bar sold Beer Lao for 1$US (10,000kip). The beer is good, it's really the only beer found in Lao, but I like it better than the Thai beers. Just when you think it can't get much better, it does. Every bar has either a humungous rope swing or a zip line going into the river. I had the time of my life on these. My friend and I would constantly go. It was great, but we didn't realize the toll it was taking on our bodies until the next day. When you spend an entire day getting violently thrown off a zip line, or flying into the water from 25-30 feet from a rope swing it begins to hurt. It's only water right! No, it only feels like water when you enter strait, but with strong pressure coming from others at the bar, you begin trying foolish things like backflips and dives. These would often go awry, then we would feel the wrath of the water. One of my Australian friends actually had a bruise all along the side of his stomach from a backflip gone bad the previous day. Painful nonetheless, but I don't think I've ever had this much fun in my life. Every bar was a little bit different. Different music, sand volleyball, ping-pong, takraw (a SE Asian game similar to volleyball but played with a wicker ball only using the feet and head), and fires. By the end of the day we were exhausted, but certainly up for another day the following. Pure and genuine fun. We had another great experience the next day. The same river float and bars, but different people, yet equally cheery. There was really only one thing you had to keep in mind on the river, and that was to leave the Last Stop Bar, by about 4:30. If we didn't leave the bar by this time, the sun would drop behind the peaks and the remainder of the float would be pretty chili. There were tuk-tuks all along the remainder of the river, offering rides to stragglers who didn't want to finish the float. I pride myself in finishing every float though, regardless of how cold it was😊
My friend and I decided to be a bit more productive the third day. So, it was back to the motobikes. We rented basic kick-shift scooters from our guest house, and biked to the northern city Luang Prabong. The city was nice, but the ride was the best part. Equivalent to the beauty of my ride in Vietnam, but paved two-lane roads. It was a full day of riding, about 250 km one way. The landscape was similar to that of northern Vietnam, and I suppose this makes sense, as geographically, it's actually not that far away.
Luang Prabong was also a great city. A little more of a tourist feel, but the locals still showed much respect to westerners. We found an excellent guesthouse near the Mekong River. A younger woman who spoke fluent English ran the guesthouse. She arranged us with a budget room, and cooked us the best Lao dinner. We ate bamboo past, Lao steak, friend Lao Veggies, and Mekong Seaweed. It was tremendous. The entire meal was very reasonable. It just makes so much sense to eat local food. It tastes incredible, and is cheap. Whereas, Western food is not so good, and expensive.
We walked the entirety of the city, visiting temples, and doing a bit more food tourism. But once again, it was just the atmoshpere in the city which we enjoyed so much. The markets were also nice. Right near out guesthouse there was a touristy market with the locals hand-made goods, and also a good market. We ate dinner in the market one night. Delicious, but the papaya salad just doesn't compare to Thai style. If anyone reading this ever goes to a SEAsian restaurant in the states, you have to try papaya salad. It's unlike anything else you would find back home, but quite tasty.
We woke up early on our third day to bike back to Vang Vieng. Again, the ride was amazing. I found it difficult to get comfotable temperature-wise. The sun was blazing hot at the base of the mountains, but after we climbed to the top it was a good 30 degrees chili, with a wicked wind blowing. We took our time, another 250km, and made it back to Vang Vieng around mid-afternoon. I then had to say farewell to my friend as he needed to return back to Bangkok to greet his family for Christmas. I was then left to the decision of whether I should cruise to southern Laos to Pakse and 4000 Islands, or stay in Vang Vieng. Truthfully, it wasn't a very difficult decision. I opted to stay, this place was just too great, and there was much yet to be explored. I biked around to caves and did an intensive day of rockclimbing along the sheer rock faces next to the river. The caving was fun. These caves were natural, with very little artificial light, just enough to maintain footing. My day of rockclimbing was incredible. A hobby I will definately explore back in the states. I never realized how much of a rush it was. My group had two Lao guides who were great. Very helpful, informative, and insured our safety. I can't wait to climb along the Andaman coast near Krabi in my next excursion.
By this time it was Christmas Eve. The locals didn't didn't celebrate the holiday, as they are Buddhist, but the Westerners certainly did. Everyone bought a Santa hat, and some even a full suit. I ate a delicious Indian meal for Christmas Eve. It was difficult being away from my family during the holiday, but the great company around made this much easier. Everyone was a bit bummed to be away from home, so we figured we would all stick together and celebrate. There was really no other option than to tube down the river on Christmas Day. Once again, I had another great experience. Enjoying the beautiful day on the river with people from all over the world. Everyone was wearing a Santa hat even as the floated down the river, and flew off rope swings and zip lines. The panorama was certainly different from anything I had been used to over Christmas. 90 degrees and sunny other than freezing cold with snow. Christmas 2007 ended up not being so bad after all, and Skype made it easy to talk with my family!
On boxing day I needed to start my journey back south towards Bangkok. A few Aussie friends I met tubing said they were going south aswell. They said they found a one day guided kayaking trip south to Vientiene. I figured, better than a bus ride. The kayak was alright. The river was a bit slow due to the dry season, but still better than a bus. I made it back to Vientiene by early evening, crossed the border back to Thailand, and eventually caught a night bus from Nong Kai back to Bangkok. It ended up being a long day of travel, but I was able to catch a little sleep on the bus. Now I'm back at my University north of Bangkok, avidly awaiting the arrival of a travel companion, and looking forward to traveling south to the Andaman Coast of Thailand!

I mentioned that earlier in December I celebrated the King's Birthday in Chiang Mai. I traveled north from Bangkok with a friend from Oregon and we met up with my Thai jungle friend who I mentioned in my first blog about northern Thailand. The King's birthday was a great celebration. Every Thai loves the king, he's done wonders for the Thai citizens. It was his 80th Birthday on December 5th. The entire country took a vacation from work in order to celabrate. I've never seen people so passionate about something. Long live the King!
When we were in Chiang Mai, we went on a private trek with my friend Bat. It was tremendous. We trekked through the jungle all day, shooting things with sling-shots, and hacking away with our newly purchased machetes. We stayed the night in a river village. We made a huge bamboo fire after a delicious Thai meal cooked by our friend. It was a great night, we sat and talked around the fire. My friend's English has improved significantly since I last met him.

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Photos

Rope Swing
Some of the dismounts were seriously painful if we didn't enter the water correctly

Bamboo Battle
We bought some serious machetes in Chiang Mai, which helped out in our bamboo raft construction.

Bamboo Worms
A luscious delicacy in Thailand