Here is the last review I can make on any Asian country since it is the last country I visited in this area of the world before I headed back to Europe. I must admit that among the 3 countries I visited, Laos is my favourite - and I will try to explain you why.
First of all, I cams to Laos because of Thailands Visa policy - if you are not willing to pay a decent amount of money to the officials in Thailand, also called bribe or corruption you have to get out of it to and stay for a day or before you go back. I came to Vientiane, which is the Capital - and stayed a couple of days here.
I soon recognized that there are very few tourists around, and first and foremost the people were extremely different from their neighbours in the south. This people are much more calm, not as greedy - and despite the language problems, you figure out to communicate with them not needing to show them money.
After having sorted out the Visa, I left for the bus station heading for a small city in the Golden triangle called Luang Prabang. This city is in the middle of the Jungle was, and are one of the best cities I have ever visited. I arrived after a 12 hours journey with bus, and you should expect it to be a very long distance - but it is not. The journey itself was not more than 300 km, but the road was extremely bad - I am happy I came there alive.
Arriving there in the morning was magic with the Munks doing their daily ritual going around barefoot collecting food, and other stuff from the inhabitants. This is a city which has international food, since the French people came here years ago and probably was tired of eating rice every day - therefore you can find the best baguettes in the world here. Fresh and crispy, just as you like it.
Additional to this they have a very interesting street food market here where everything costed 1 USD - as far as I remembered. The old town closes for traffic in the middle of the day, and opens up for another street market - very fascinating indeed. The city is very peaceful and have several of temples, and you can even jump on a boat travel upwards the river for visiting a cave designed as a temple where you could see Buddha figures which was several of hundred years old.
I rented a moped and visited a national park 10 - 20 km outside Luang Prabang that had the most beautiful waterfall I have ever seen. It is called Kuang Si falls, and this is something you only can see in your dreams as this is mother nature at her best. Last thing i have to mention is how to get there without having to do that crazy bus trip. Take the slowboat from Luang Prabang to Houay Xai as it is one of the most fascinating journey I have ever done. It is a 2 day trip on the Mekong River in the middle of the rain forest.
Conclusion:
Laos is my favourite country in south east Asia. When you get out of Vientiane and head for Luang Prabang you will get out of the stress, and to be honest with you - this city in the Jungle is on my top 3 list of cities in the world. If you are not able to get out stress the time you spend in this area, you will never be able to get out of it. Luang Prabang also have some international restaurants, and you can get bread here - which is quite a challenge to find when you get out of tourist areas. It is worth taking a lunch on a Restaurant watching firshermens doing what they done for generations having a good meal.
PS - the first book ever written in the Lao language was written 30 years ago, so this is definitly people living in the moment. Carpe diem.
