LaosStory

It's amazing how people change through travel. At the beginning it is just following "the book", the plan, and the path. But after awhile you begin to realize what it is you want to see, what it is you want to feel, and where it is you want to be. We knew we found everything we were looking for once we arrived in Laos.

Vietnam was an incredible experience, a real chance to see a country that we have seen so much of in American movies and learned about in class rooms but actually known so little about. Vietnam was a chance to see recent history up close and in person. It is amazing to see how time can change things so quickly but at the same time, keep so many things the same way they have been for thousands of years.

We left Hanoi on an amazing journey to Laos. Due to border constrictions and the huge amount of land that needed to be transversed we knowingly boarded a 28 hour bus ride from the capital of Vietnam to the capital of Laos. The journey started off easy enough with a quick 8 hour trip to Vinh, where we switched to another bus. We had, once again, been promised a "really nice" first class A/C bus. It was actually a nice bus but of course - one hour into our trip - the A/C shutdown. And, as you might expect, the driver could no longer understand English thereby ignoring all the complaints being tossed at him.

What can you do?

We reached the Laos border around 6:00AM and spent 2 hours killing time waiting for it to open. Once it finally did we spent another hour trying to get past all of the hassle. The next bus we were moved to, a dilapidated rusting hunk of steel, reminiscent of something left over from the late '50s. Filled with bags of rice, fruit and a dozen Vietnamese, we boarded. We were nothing but over-priced bags of luggage just hitching a ride on a cargo truck. We bounced along hour after hour watching the country side slip by. About 5 hours into Laos we got pulled over by the Police for the first time. A few armed men stuck there head in, looked at the bags and asked the driver to step off. There seemed to be a problem of sorts by the tone of discussion. Things were finally settled when our driver simply handed over a huge stack of virtually worthless bills and we moved on. About 20 minutes went by and we got stopped again...a few words were exchanged and again we dropped off money. We got stopped a third, forth, fifth time...dropping off stacks of bills as we progressed down the road. It didn't take long for us to figure out that we were not just carrying fruits and rice but instead dropping off some sort of "merchandise" everytime we pulled into a small village. After a frustating 30 hours over unpaved roads we finally rumbled into the beautiful city of Vientiane.

The first thing we noticed is that it was quiet...even peaceful. No horns, no shouting, no yelling, nobody trying to scam you...were we still in SE Asia?

We were just getting to a place that was a little slower, a little more relaxed, and a whole lot more chill. We explored the capital a few days...a delightful place. We caught up on missed sleep, window shopped all of the tourist gift shops and had sunset drinks (we had to test the famous "Lao Beer") on the sandy banks of the Mekong River. It was so nice to simply enjoy the silence after such a loud place like Vietnam.

We learned though, that the US made its "world power" status known here. Laos was another target while the US was present in SE Asia for the Vietnam War. In fact, between 1964 and 1973 the USA used Laos as a second battle ground to try and block the flow of Viet Cong supplies (the US had cut off much of the North/South route in Vietnam). America dropped an average of one plane load of bombs every eight minutes for nine years earning it the title of the most bombed country in the history of warfare.

Ashtray's were made from cluster bomb shells and the front of homes were held up with dark green bomb casings with the US stamp proudly displayed. One of the great parts of traveling is learning about the world around you and the effect your country has on it, both positive and negative. To expand your mind, because you choose to, about the world around you. It was sad to see The War's lethal impact it had on this beautiful country.

After a few days we caught a bus to Vang Vieng. The "Backpacker Trail" has made it's impact on this quaint viliage. By looking around it seems that it has happened recently...the home stays, cafes and simple bars seem to be only a few months old. They play really crappy versions of B-grade movies and the drinks are about a quarter a piece. One of the highlights of the town is that it is perfectly located in the bottom of a valley smothered by jungle and cut by a fast moving river that you can go tubing on. You pay about $1 US and they take care of the rest. You hop aboard a tuk tuk that takes you about 10Km up stream and then dumps you off with a patched up innertube in a tiny tiny village. We wandered through the village to the stream, watching the pigs roll and the children play. Once we reached the water we saw that we weren't the only ones seeking the cool refreshment. There were about 30 naked boys jumping around us...splashing, singing songs, and having fun. We floated down the river watching water buffalo getting a break from the relentless sun, villagers drying river-catfish, and sundrenched women washing their worn clothes against the bolders on the river's edge. The vibe of Vang Vieng is intoxicating, you could simply get into the groove and never leave...just enjoying life that moves in 3/4 time.    Reluctantly we boarded another run-down bus and continued north to Luang Prubang.

This bustling town is filled with amazing Buddhist Wats. They are covered in shiny gold pieces that give the effect of thousands of mirrors. The monks who live at these temples live a simple life. They make huge sacrifices to better understand the belief that they have made life long commitment to. Luang Prubang was also the end of the line for "decent" roads. Everything north was considerably harder travel. We found a safe place to leave our big packs and brought only our day packs...packing only the essentials for the next two weeks.

The travel north was rough going. We boarded a truck with long benches in the back, covered with a worn canvas top. These vehicles move with slow certainty and maneuver up, over and around giant bolders and deep pot-holes. The road is covered in dark red mud that had been forced down by the quick and extremely intense rainstorms that occur many times a day.

We were heading to Muang Sing where an annual Buddhist Festival was getting ready to take place. We bounced along for 12 hours through the dense jungle, occasionally getting great views of the never ending mountain ranges which surrounded us in all directions. We arrived a few days early which turned out to be an excellent treat...feeling the energy level rise as one truck after another pulled in packed with every person within a 200 mile radius. The local rock-n-roll bands were testing their oversized speakers for hours: "test-1-2-3, test 1-2-3".

It was amazing to be immersed in the Laos culture. The opportunity to see the people interact with one another in a huge celebration was magical. They had games for children and adults. Under the yellow light of the lanterns you could fire a sling shot and knock over a pack of smokes, do the wheel-of-fortune for laundry powder, or guess the winning floating duck for spicy pepper sauce. We watched people throwing back shots of rice wine and dancing intensly to the harsh music that was blaring all night long. After the second night everyone awakes and the holy day begins.

The entire town begins the 10km walk to the hill that is capped with a beautiful Wat. The rain made the final muddy half hour climb treacherous. Old Men struggling up hill as top-less hill tribe women pass them with gracious ease while balancing pots, live chickens, and cases of beer on their heads. All this while carrying two little babies on there backs.

Once on the hill, people had everything set up for a grand party...you could snack on deep fried chicken feet or fried pork skins that are about 2 feet wide and 4 feet long. Wealthy families had prepared their offerings for the celebration. Small bills, toothpaste, pens and pencils and soap were among many of the useful things hung from small little trees (items the monks could use)...the bigger the offering the more respect the family held within the community and the more money the family had. The family walks as one and circles the stoopa in a slow meditative state. After the day long celebration people walk/stumble back to the village for one last night of heavy drinking and wild dancing to ear-splitting rock-n-roll music.

This city is located in the heart of "The Golden Triangle", the intersection of Laos, Burma and China. Also home to most of the world's supply of opium. The poppy plant, which opium is derived from, has been cultivated and transported from these hills for thousands of years. In fact, during the early 1970's the CIA made some extra money to support it's war effort by using American helicopters and planes to help distribute much of the raw opium and refined heroine that was produced in this area (which, some believe, helped heroin extend it's grasp globally). Today, even though the government is trying to persuade the hill tribes to earn income by a different method, it is still readily available. The Akha women, dressed in brightly covered clothes and covered with silver and beads, focused on the busy crowd first trying to sell cheap necklaces and bracelets but then moving quickly to their drug stash. While walking or while sitting and eating, you could here them whispering in scratchy voices, "Ganja, Ganja...Opium Opium".

Our next stop was not too far if you measured by the way the crow flies but a hell of a long way by bus. The direct route was a 1/2 day journey but we had to go through China and this was not possible for non-locals along this section of the Laos/China border. So, instead we had to back track to the center of the country to the transit town of Udomxai. Located at a major highway intersection, this is a favorite overnight spot for the Chinese truckers hauling knock-off merchandise to Bangkok. We found a cheap place, tossed our day packs in the room, and then went out for an early dinner. When we came back we were surprised to see that our quiet little guest house had transformed into a full on party. Music was blarring out of cheap speakers and bright neon lights stained the dirt road red and blue. The "ladies of the night" were dressed in their very best to impress the possible clients that were wandering around in a whisky induced haze. Deciding that spending the night in a brothel was not going to provide for a good-night sleep we packed our things and found a more appropriate place to rest for the night.

By the next evening we had reached the mountain town of Phongsali. It is located on the spine of a magnificant mountain range. As you walk down the main road the earth seems to drop for several thousand feet on both sides of you. The town is quite simple. You are startled awake when the rooster crows around 5-ish and then call it a day after a light rice dinner and a few games of cards by candle light in the evening. By making the effort to visit these towns that are farther out of the way you get to view local life without the heavy influence of massive tourism. Women and children laugh, giggle, point, and wave at us as we wander through the different villages. Groups of children just follow you around wander why we came to visit their simple place.

We had reached the end of our road travel in Laos, we were now going to rely on the extensive maze of rivers, one of the easiest and most popular means of travel. We worked our way down to the Nam Ou River and opted to take the speed boat to our first town. These things are amazing, you become like a water bug. Each speed boat is about 15 feet long, 4 feet wide, has a huge outboard engine mounted on the back and holds about 10 terrified passengers.   When you board you plop your helmet on your head, your legs are bent so your knees are in your face, and you hold on for dear life. They are so fast that they just skip along the surface of the violent water. The brown muddy water beneath you is bubbling and hissing, there are huge whirlpools trying to suck you down and floating trees trying to knock the boat over. In fact, we had to stop in one small riverside village for the night (the river can not be navigated in the dark) and saw how powerful the river actually was. One boat, heading up the violent river, flipped, taking the lives of all aboard. Locals raced around looking for survivors but with such a strong undercurrent there was just no hope.

The next day we reached Muang Khua, another town that had realized that there was a great amount of money to be made from the new influx of backpackers looking to explore remote places. Everything is set-up for us funny looking Westerners...the river-bank has a series of family run huts, each with a nice bamboo deck. You do not have to do anything in this place. Just roll out of bed, grab an empty hammock and just be. Each guest house has it's own restaurant and provides a prime location to watch the sun retire at the end of the day. Usually with a cold BeerLao in hand. They also sell huge bags of smoke to the travelers for a dollar - as you might expect, everyone just chatters away the day with red eyes in one blurred eating frenzy.

It was time to get moving, our one month visa was coming to a close. We made our way back to Luang Prabang and were happy to find that our packs were just how we had left them. We shuffled the gear around and then made our way to the shore of the Mekong River. We tested our patience on a slow moving cargo ship that was picking up supplies at the Laos/Thailand border. Once again feeling like expensive bags of rice, we watched the jungle and admired the Laos people going about there business on the banks of the river. After two extremely long days we made it to Huay Xai and crossed back into Thailand. We were now ready for our hard earned vacation. A little rest and relaxation back on the beautiful Thai islands in the emerald green waters of the Indian Ocean.

Next Adventure: Island Life: Our Vacation From Traveling In Thailand