We had a long journey by bus through rural countryside to the Thailand-Laos border at Chiang Kong on Tuesday 29th January. It was a nice experience crossing the Mekong River from Thailand over to Huay Xai in Laos by boat (which only cost 20 baht per person plus 10 baht per bag) (see photo). Three minutes later, we were in Laos. The first thing we noticed was how tranquil it was compared to Thailand and there weren’t many tourists around (unless people don’t stop in Huay Xai).
Laos is the same size as Britain but it only has a population of 5.6 million people. Again Buddhism is all around us and there are plenty of templkes (although not on as grand a scale as Thailand). Our accommodation was a very basic but clean guesthouse (the Arimid Guest House) and the owner was friendly with a permanent smile on his face. The concept of sanuk-sanuk is also important in Laos. Roughly translated as “having a good time”, it reflects the local’s easy going lifestyle and it is apparently very rare for people to yell and shout and show anger. Lao people are not accustomed to people raising their voices.
On Wednesday we boarded a boat for a two day journey down the mighty Mekong River (see photo of barges above). The boat travelled at a very relaxed pace (the first day journey took 8 hours) but the scenery is spectacular (see photos). Laos stretches 950km from China to Cambodia, with the Mekong forming its westerly border with Thailand and Burma and the Annamite Range dividing it from Vietnam. From east to west, the country ranges from 150km to 500km in width, with total land area of 236,800 square km. Laos is about half the size of Vietnam and is 30% larger than Cambodia. Over 75% of the country is rugged and mountainous.
The Mekong delineates Laos’ northwest border with Myanmar and traces a good deal of the Lao border with Thailand. The Mekong traverses over a third of its length in Laos, with 2,400km of waterways. We passed a number of villages and fishing boats and we also stopped to have a look around one of the villages. Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world but in the villages you notice that people do not go hungry, as it is a culture where relatives and neighbours provide support for each other.
Laos is sparsely populated, dominated by rural and farming communities with a high proportion of hilltribes in the northern provinces.In addition to widespread bombing, in 165-166 the US Air Force dumped about 700,000 litres of herbicides on the eastern side of Laos along the Ho Chi Minh trail (those Americans again!). Despite the enormous damage, Laos is very green and retains much of its original forest and tropical rainforest.
On Wednesday evening we stopped in Pak Beng (see photo), where about 20 youngs kids ran towards our boat just before we docked. They would be our porters - ie to take our heavy bags to our guest house. Some of those kids must have been about 8 years old. Our guest house (the Sivongsack) only operates the generator from 6pm to 10pm (or 10.30pm, depending on when the generator runs out). So we rushed back from dinner to sort all our stuff out and at 10.30pm, the lights went out! I never go to bed that early but there was nothing else to do other than go to sleep (which took me a long time).
Blair (our guide) told us that Lao food is not as spicy as in Thailand but all the food I have tried here is hot and spicy (I guess if you ask for it that way). Sticky rice (as opposed to steamed rice) is the main staple of the Lao diet. Beerlao is a light lager style and is terribly cheap – 10,000 kip for a 640ml bottle (there are just under 17,000 kip to the pound, so that works out at about 66p!). For the first time in my life I am a millionaire (shame it is not in pounds).
Laos is the same size as Britain but it only has a population of 5.6 million people. Again Buddhism is all around us and there are plenty of templkes (although not on as grand a scale as Thailand). Our accommodation was a very basic but clean guesthouse (the Arimid Guest House) and the owner was friendly with a permanent smile on his face. The concept of sanuk-sanuk is also important in Laos. Roughly translated as “having a good time”, it reflects the local’s easy going lifestyle and it is apparently very rare for people to yell and shout and show anger. Lao people are not accustomed to people raising their voices.
On Wednesday we boarded a boat for a two day journey down the mighty Mekong River (see photo of barges above). The boat travelled at a very relaxed pace (the first day journey took 8 hours) but the scenery is spectacular (see photos). Laos stretches 950km from China to Cambodia, with the Mekong forming its westerly border with Thailand and Burma and the Annamite Range dividing it from Vietnam. From east to west, the country ranges from 150km to 500km in width, with total land area of 236,800 square km. Laos is about half the size of Vietnam and is 30% larger than Cambodia. Over 75% of the country is rugged and mountainous.
The Mekong delineates Laos’ northwest border with Myanmar and traces a good deal of the Lao border with Thailand. The Mekong traverses over a third of its length in Laos, with 2,400km of waterways. We passed a number of villages and fishing boats and we also stopped to have a look around one of the villages. Laos is one of the poorest countries in the world but in the villages you notice that people do not go hungry, as it is a culture where relatives and neighbours provide support for each other.
Laos is sparsely populated, dominated by rural and farming communities with a high proportion of hilltribes in the northern provinces.In addition to widespread bombing, in 165-166 the US Air Force dumped about 700,000 litres of herbicides on the eastern side of Laos along the Ho Chi Minh trail (those Americans again!). Despite the enormous damage, Laos is very green and retains much of its original forest and tropical rainforest.
On Wednesday evening we stopped in Pak Beng (see photo), where about 20 youngs kids ran towards our boat just before we docked. They would be our porters - ie to take our heavy bags to our guest house. Some of those kids must have been about 8 years old. Our guest house (the Sivongsack) only operates the generator from 6pm to 10pm (or 10.30pm, depending on when the generator runs out). So we rushed back from dinner to sort all our stuff out and at 10.30pm, the lights went out! I never go to bed that early but there was nothing else to do other than go to sleep (which took me a long time).
Blair (our guide) told us that Lao food is not as spicy as in Thailand but all the food I have tried here is hot and spicy (I guess if you ask for it that way). Sticky rice (as opposed to steamed rice) is the main staple of the Lao diet. Beerlao is a light lager style and is terribly cheap – 10,000 kip for a 640ml bottle (there are just under 17,000 kip to the pound, so that works out at about 66p!). For the first time in my life I am a millionaire (shame it is not in pounds).
1 comment:
Congratulation, you are a millionaire in Laos.
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