Lao: The jewel of Indochina

Sabaidee! Hope you are ready for this - it is fair to warn you that I loved Lao, so brace yourself for a bit of a love-in!

Lao; the land of a million elephants, as the tag-line goes. I'm sure that is not true anymore, but the land of a million smiles may be an appropriate replacement. In fact, with a population of about 6,500,000, a million smiles is an understatement.

All the people I met in Lao were very friendly and there is a pride and open love for their country that I think is rare. Everybody you meet on the street greets you with "Sabaidee!" (hello) and a smile - a marked difference to Vietnam. All the shops fly both the communist hammer and sickle and the national flags. Lao is a one party communist state, but from the conversations I had with people, there is no disquiet and around 30% of the people are a member of the socialist party. I don't think it has always been like this, but in the last twenty years or so there has been more economic freedom and people can run their own businesses and own land. As a consequence, the economy is growing, although average income is still only $1,300 per annum and 90% of the population still work in agriculture. The big growth areas are tourism (especially since Luang Prabang was made a world heritage site and Vang Vieng became a hedonist's Mecca) and hydro-electric power, with Lao a surprising (to me) net exporter of electricity to China, Vietnam and Thailand. Healthcare and education are still in need of improvement, but through organisations like doctors without borders and international aid, it is slowly getting better.

The landscape is a tapestry of different villages (and different tribes) and as we travelled across the country, apart from the cities where we stopped, all the populated areas were small hamlets, rather than towns. The roads on the route we took were some of the best of the entire trip, which for the poorest country was a surprise at first. However, we learnt that the Chinese had provided the investment to upgrade the main infrastructure and, for a country with the natural resources of Lao, you wonder at what cost. So boys and girls, if you too want to see Lao before the forests disappear and the local villages with their own character and charm are replaced with built-up identikit towns and shops packed to the rafters with "Made in China" products, I think you should come sooner rather than later.

On arrival

We crossed the border into Lao at Nam Phao and two minutes later, the rain stopped and the sun came out, revealing the lush tree-covered mountain slopes. (Actually, the journey through northwest Vietnam was also through green mountains, but the rain spoilt the view somewhat.) After a full day travelling, we arrived in Lac Sao just in time to see the sun set behind the limestone mountains that pierce the skyline.

Lac Sao really is a one-horse town, with not much to do except admire the scenery. We had a basic dinner at the town's only restaurant (appropriately named, "Only One") before another early start and the drive to Vientiane.

Luckily, however, our visit coincided with Lac Sao's annual festival, so after dinner we headed out to the grounds of a local high school to join in. The place was packed and, again, we were the only westerners there so became a bit of an attraction ourselves, alongside the fairground stalls and snack bars selling fried chicken feet and the like. The feature event, though, was the beauty pageant with a Lao pop star providing the musical entertainment. It was rather surreal to be sat in the Lao mountains, drinking the local brew, watching a dozen young women in traditional costumes parading up and down a stage - not an experience I expected to have, but fun nonetheless.

Vientiane

The journey down to the capital was through some of the most impressive scenery of the trip; jagged limestone mountains rising up from green forests on the low-lying slopes or swaying tall grasses that cover the plateaus. We stopped at a couple of places for photos or snacks and the thing you most noticed at each stop was just how tranquil the land was.

I hadn't really noticed the rain or lower temperature in northern Vietnam, as neither really spoilt any of the sightseeing too much (perhaps apart from the mist in Halong Bay), but in Lao the sun has been shining and it has been much warmer.

Vientiane is on the Mekong river, which marks the boundary with Thailand, so our drive basically took us across the country from the Vietnam border. Vientiane is possibly the most laid-back capital in the world, with hardly any traffic and a slowly, slowly attitude that the Zanzibaris would be proud of. The city has over 700 temples, so you could easily spend a week or more here, but we only had a couple of days, so focussed on the highlights. There are so few tourists in the city, that even at the main attractions like the golden stupa, the independence gate (an Arc de Triomphe look-a-like) and the Buddhist temples by the palace, you could wander around and see everything you wanted without having to push through crowds.

In the evening, we had dinner in the grounds of a Buddhist temple (which, surprisingly, served alcohol) before a couple of drinks in one of the many modern Lao-meets-West type bars that are scattered throughout the streets. The local (and almost only) beer, Beerlao, is made from rice, apparently, but is actually one of the best beers I have tasted.

Vang Vieng

After Vientiane, we made our way north to Vang Vieng, halfway between the capital and Luang Prabang. Originally nothing more than a staging post on the journey, Vang Vieng has become a destination in its own right, albeit one that is very different to the rest of the country.

The longer I live and the more I see, the younger I get, but my reversal of the ageing process has its limits and Vang Vieng is definitely targeting younger travellers. We did have a good night out, moving along the bars that line the streets, before ending up in (another) bucket bar watching the fire dancers and drinking the local firewater (Lao Lao). But, the endless re-runs of Friends - in 2011! - in the majority of the bars is something I could have done without (the only other show that was on was Family Guy, which was much better!), and despite our merry band drinking solidly for several hours, we were definitely the most sober around.

In the daytime, the atmosphere is generally a little more sedate (in most places). We went up into the surrounding hills and, sat in a tube (an inflatable ring) explored the caves under the mountains. Following that, and a quick visit to the local Buddha temple which was set in another cave (the locals didn't have enough money to make a proper temple), we went kayaking down the river Nam Song. After about 7km, a group of us swapped our kayaks for the inflatable tubes again.

The tubing is what the town is famous for. Well, I say tubing, in practice most people don't get past the bars that line that stretch of the river. The bars blast out music, everybody is hammered or spaced out on mushrooms, rope swings, zip lines, ski jumps fling people into the water - three people died last year! We actually made it past the bars, although not before I was fired 20 feet into the air (before gravity kicked in), when somebody jumped on the other end of an inflatable blob. I'm sure I bruised a rib or two as I hit the water front first!

After those bars, because the rainy season had finished, the 'rapids' we were supposed to be tubing through were more like 'slows', so the trip back to the town took about two hours. But that was not such a bad thing, drifting down the river through the beautiful scenery, beer in hand, passing local fishermen working in along the banks and in the water, is not a bad way to spend a couple of hours.

The drive from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang is through the limestone mountains of northern Lao, and I think the drive is probably the most beautiful I have ever done. Small farms and little hamlets flank the winding road, rolling hills covered by green forests in the middle distance and dark sawtoothed mountains provide the backdrop. You know you are getting used to a place when you can pass by herds of cattle in the road, chickens in the street and goats roaming the roadside without a second glance.

We called in for lunch at a restaurant in the mountains, with a view to kill for and a menu full of dubious meals: anyone for deer meat soaked in liquid faeces in the intestines?! Thankfully, the menu also comes with a warning that it has a "bitter taste", so I wasn't tempted!

Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is awesome, in the proper sense of the word, rather than the watered-down, overused American version: jaw-dropping scenery, crystal clear waterfalls, friendly people, ancient temples everywhere, Buddhist monasteries buzzing with everyday chores, colourful markets bustle throughout the day and night. Luang Prabang is the unspoilt Indochina that I hoped to see on this trip. After the sullied Eden of Vang Vieng, the city helped restore my senses.

The first thing we did on arrival late afternoon, was to climb Pho Si to watch the sun set over the distant mountains. The temples at Pho Si are not that great, but the view is stunning. After the sun had sunk below the mountains, we had been invited to the home of a local family for some home cooking. It was probably the best food on the trip, although when they said local cooking, I think they went a bit easy on the chillies for us. Before we ate dinner, we took part in a traditional ceremony, where some of the old women from the family bestowed blessings on us.

Having tried out the massages in Cambodia and Vietnam, it was time to try a Lao version. Based on my expert analysis, I'd probably rank it as above the one in Vietnam but not as good as Cambodia. I just need a Thai massage now to complete the set and my research!

There was a slight change of pace after the massage, as we took a visit to the local Lao nightclub. There have been some memorable experiences on this trip, but the nightclub is one I'd like to erase from my mind as soon as possible! It was like a school disco at first, with a live band complete with casio organ grinding out some awful dirge, while a handful of the girls (and a rather seedy old westerner) performed some weird kind of formation dancing, and then the music switched seamlessly to hard core techno - Lao style. Even writing about it now makes me shudder!

The following day, we headed out into the surrounding countryside. In the morning, we took a trip to an elephant sanctuary, where they take in the elephants that have been replaced by machines in the local farms and logging businesses, because otherwise they would be left to starve as they are too costly for people to feed. An elephant ride through the forest was followed by a lunch of bananas and sugar cane (for the elephants) and a quick dip in the Nam Khan (which is the same river as the Nam Song, but rivers get given different names as they pass through different towns). Sitting on top of an elephant, while she sprays water over her head was great fun, although Janine's steed preferred the dunking approach to bathing and I think I got off lightly. As well as the riding, feeding and bathing, there was plenty of elephant farting too - much to Dennis's delight and Abby's disgust!

In the afternoon, we travelled further into the hills for the famous Kuang Si waterfall just outside the city. Climbing the steep, dilapidated stairs carved out of the mountain side was a bit arduous, but the views at the top were worth it. After clambering back down, stopping on one the ledges to have the cascading water splash over us, swimming in the pools at the bottom was too irresistible - as was the option of water buffalo on the menu at the restaurant that evening.

In between the elephants and the waterfall, we had some time to explore the town. Temples line the main street (Wat Xieng Thong was my favourite, partly because it was deserted when we went there but I also think it was the most beautiful, with mirrored mosaics covering the exterior walls of the temple, even with temple fatigue starting to kick in) and, while not on every corner, there was a liberal scattering of them around the rest of the city too.

If you get the chance to visit Lao, Luang Prabang is the place that should top your list of things to see and I could have happily spent a few more days in the city.

Mekong River

However, we had an appointment with Thailand, so we had to leave Luang Prabang for a two-day, 200 mile cruise up the Mekong River to the border crossing. Cutting through the tree covered hills, every now and again passing by small fishing villages on the shore and buffalos, cows and goats grazing on the banks, the backdrop to the cruise was fabulous. Water plays as big a part of the lives of the Laotians as it does the Vietnamese - and although it is mainly a mountainous country, two thirds of the population live within 400m of sea-level on the flood plains that spread out from the rivers that cross the country. As fabulous as the landscape was, even I can only take so many photos of the hills and rocks that flank the river before boredom sets in, so I passed the time taking money off Ed at cards.

On the cruise, we stopped at the Pak Ou caves, an important area for the Lao people as this is where they prayed to the river and sky gods in the past, and subsequently worshipped Buddha. In the caves are hundreds of Buddha statues, showing all the various poses that reflect different aspects of his (or possibly her) life.

Our last night in Lao was spent in Pak Beng, a small town where the main industry is to serve the boats that cruise up and down the Mekong. There is not very much to say about the place, but seeing the monks walking through the streets at dawn to get their food for the day, from donations offered by the local people, is a sight that you don't often see in Manchester.

When we finally made it the border, we left the long boat, took a five minute tuk-tuk ride and then boarded another boat to take us across (rather than along) the river! Having said that, the border crossing at Chiang Khong was actually quite painless and so the tour returned to the country where it had started. But that is another story...