Laos
Area: 236,800 km2 (2.37 % of Canada, 66.33 % of Germany, 9,157 x Luxembourg)
Population: 6,800,000 (19.58 % of Canada, 8.31 % of Germany, 1,328 x Luxembourg)
Capital: Vientiane
Currency: Lao Kip (LAK)
Time travelled: 25 days
Distance travelled: 1,846 km (overland by bus, 0 km by train and plane)
Highlights in chronological order:
- Lao-style Massage & Herbal massage
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French pastries & food in Vientiane
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Singing Christmas carols in the choir at Christmas mass
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Kayaking around Vang Vieng
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Visiting various palaces and temples (Wats) in Luang Prabang
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Wondering the streets of Luang Prabang
The People’s Democratic Republic of Laos, also known as Lao PDR is commonly associated with the motto: “Laos – Please Don’t Rush” or “Please Do Relax”. The people are indeed very laid-back and this is seen in all aspects of life. Another popular saying about Southeast Asia is that:
“The Vietnamese plant the rice,
The Cambodians watch it grow and
The Lao listen to the rice grow.”
It sounded funny when we heard this at first, but after having been to all 3 countries concerned, we can attest to the fact that it’s true.
People: Sabaidee (Hello). We had been told that the Lao people are friendly. They are friendly and they are smiling, but unfortunately we couldn’t communicate much with them due to their lack of English and our lack of Lao. The people are very laid-back, maybe a bit too much for our liking. But it is part of their Buddhist culture, where you have to control extreme emotions. They believe that if you can’t control your own emotions, what can you control? Everything is slow and people don’t worry about tomorrow, taking one day at a time. People love kids and there are loads of them everywhere. Kawp chai lai lai (Thank you very much).
Culture: The culture, along with the people, is very relaxed. It is very different from the go-go culture we have in the West and it takes time getting used to. We also found they were not so much focused on learning, with schools only teaching 3 hours a day and many kids not pursuing education beyond elementary school. There are very many minorities (about 132 diverse ethnic groups), but from what we could see they didn’t really wear traditional costumes (except in the North). These hill tribe people usually have an animist culture, believing in spirits, but Lao are generally Buddhists. Sometimes they practice a mix of the 2, venerating Buddha as well as their ancestors. Lao men are not considered “ripe” until they have completed a spiritual term as a monk, which explains why there are so many temples and monks everywhere. The language as well as the culture has strong similarities with Thai.
History: Laos has existed since the 14th century and was once called the “Land of a Million Elephants” (Lane Xang). It reached its peak during the 17th century, before falling to the Siamese (today’s Thailand). Later it fell to the French before gaining independence in 1953. During the Indochina War, it was heavily bombed by the US, who was dropping bombs on Laos because it was close to the Ho Chi Minh Trail used by the Viet Cong. The US also trained the Hmong from Vietnam and Laos as a “secret army” to fight the Vietnamese. After the Vietnamese won and the communists came to power in Laos, this hill tribe people suffered the most from discrimination and a large group fled to neighbouring Thailand and overseas. To this day there are many unexploded mines in Laos, so it is not advisable to wonder off the beaten track. This is also one of the reasons the country is still so poor, as it has not yet recovered from that time. It became communist under the Pathet Lao Party in 1975 and has been so since.
Economy: Laos is a very poor country. There is no infrastructure, and also no industry, except for Beer Lao. There are rubber tree plantations in the North, which are being exploited by the Chinese. The majority of Lao people, especially hill tribes, practice slash & burn agriculture to grow their rice. The Lao economy is being “invaded” by the Chinese. Because the Lao do not make anything themselves, the Chinese have volunteered to “help” them out. In exchange for economic help, roads and products, they are plundering Laos’ natural resources and destroying their nature. Corruption is very big in Laos, so the government officials are pocketing the money, leaving the population in poverty. The country is heavily reliant on foreign aid, but for how long is this sustainable?
Transportation & Landscape: The infrastructure is definitely not the best. Most roads are really bad and bumpy and the buses are old. With a poor country like this, it is not surprising. The mountainous region in the North is also not the easiest to build new roads in and with the monsoon season causing landslides every year, it is difficult for them to keep up. Some roads in the North are good however, since they are built by the Chinese. It is kind of sad that the Chinese need to build roads for the Lao, but otherwise nothing would get done since they do not have the funds necessary. The earliest bus departures are scheduled for 8:30am, regardless of destination. The bus usually leaves much later and you don’t know how long it will take, but you will get there – in Lao time.
Food: The food was generally good, but there wasn’t a very big variety. Actually there might be lots of different dishes, but they do not appear on the English menus, so we cannot say. The Lao specialities include laap, a minced meat salad, eggplant dip and green papaya salad. There are also the baguettes we had with chicken and veggies, which were good. We often had Western food in Laos, especially French dishes and pastries, which were delicious. Lao dishes also have strong influences from the neighbouring countries, but one thing is for sure: all dishes are freshly prepared. This also means that all dishes take at least 30 minutes to prepare (per dish), so you better order before you’re really hungry.