Beyond a page...: Laos

One country was continually brought up more than any others in SE Asia while traveling through Thailand and that was Laos. So, you can imagine our excitement and curiosity about going there. To get from Pai, Thailand to Luang Prabang, Laos it took two buses (4 and 6 hours each) and a two-day slow boat that included spending a night at the border and one at a riverside village within Laos (and me sharing a full-sized bed one night with a random Dutch guy I had never spoken to in my life).

Luang Prabang - Probably one of my favorite towns I have been to. Luang Prabang sits along the Mekong River and is a very religious place. Laos was colonized by the French so you quickly notice the influence in the architecture and food which was wondeful. We visited Buddhist temples and fed the monks their daily alms in the morning. While the act was fun and meaningful (they only receive what portions of food they are given in the early morning around 5:30AM by the local town people; which consists of sticky rice, bananas and crackers) the women who scammed us into buying their food put a damper on the experience. The night market, food, temples, and bowling alley (weird right?) are definitely my highlights of Luang Prabang. However, the waterfalls there are perhaps the most beautiful I have ever seen and the #1 reason I think you should visit yourself. Check out those pictures below, they're 'pretty neat'!

Vang Vieng - This is easily the most infamous place in SE Asia outside of possibly the Full Moon Party. Backpackers descend upon this quiet Laotian town to tube down the river going from bar to bar jumping off rope swings, zip-lining, and giant slides. The town itself is full of restaurants all literally serving close to 1,000 different menu items while playing Family Guy and Friends on flat screen TV's. Personally, I thought Vang Vieng was in one of the most beautiful locations I have ever seen. We are one of the few groups that actually tubed the entire river and three days there was plenty for me as it definitely got old.

Phonsavan - The capital of Laos is Vientiene and we had heard many things about it which all in all summed up to "this is the worst place in all of Asia." With that knowledge and knowing we had to get visas in advance for Vietnam, we opted out of going there and to the 4,000 islands in Southern Laos. Instead we headed back to Luang Prabang for a night and then east towards Vietnam. Along the way to Hanoi we were set to stop for a night or two in Phonsavan. I was pretty excited to go there, as this was my idea. Phonsavan is full of culture and history since it was one of the most heavily bombed places during the Vietnam War. I went to two different war memorials, the Plain of Jars, and two different museums about the active bombs surrounding the area. I learned in one of the museums that the U.S. dropped more bombs on Laos than any other country in history (2 millions tons and over 80 million bombs) and that hundreds of people still die and are injured each year from UXOs (unexploded bombs). I am not often ashamed to be an American but hearing all of this new information to me was one of those times. Feeling guilty, I bought a postcard from the gift store as my "donation" though I wish I had been able to give more. I could go on a rant with my new found knowledge on the subject but I'll refrain and you can research for yourself if you care.

In Vietnam now... more to come soon! I'll also be putting up additional photos on Facebook so check them out there if you want.