Our impressions on Laos

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Laos is a beautiful country, with lovely people, but we think we missed out because of the bad weather. We wish we stayed longer so we could have stayed longer in the north and explored the south of the country. We had planned to go to Vang Vieng, renowned for caves and tubing down the river, but we didn't go because the weather wasn't nice. Instead, we went up north to Nong Khiaw, which we don't regret!
Visiting the villages in the north was an amazing experience. Seeing people going about their daily lives in the village was kind of life-changing - it really puts everything back into perspective. We saw children working in the fields and make fire to cook their own lunch. They were so happy and grateful when we gave them biscuits we had bought for the occasion (they usually ask for pens - but we didn't have any).
The whole country is beautiful, green and hilly, with amazing viewpoints everywhere.
In terms of food, Shaun really wanted to try the watercress salad - but he didn't! The food was very similar to other countries. We had a barbecue experience where we had to cook our own meat, including buffalo meat, which was quite nice. Shaun got offered some rice whisky while he went to buy a bottle of water - I missed out on that!

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Photos

Laos from up there!
Picture taken in the tiny plane bringing us from Laos to Vietnam