Goodbye Laos!

The communist flag flew everywhere in Laos

“The Vietnamese plant the rice, the Cambodians watch the rice, and the Lao listen to the rice grow.”  

This is a saying I heard quite a bit before we even arrived in Laos.  It is attributed to the French during colonial times, which tells me Laos hasn't changed much since then. Life did seem to slow down considerably during our stay here, and in some ways it felt like we went back in time.  If nothing else, it feels like we've been living on a farm for the last month (just starting to get used to the roosters waking us up at 4am everyday :)!  With the exception of Vientiane, we saw farm animals everywhere we went.  They were wandering on highways and in towns, or cooling off in the river, or grazing in dry rice paddies.  I’ve never seen so many cows, chickens, pigs, and water buffalo in my life – and they just run loose all over the place.  I have no idea how the Lao know who owns what.  And the gardens – they were everywhere too!  Every riverbank had a garden plot on it.  I have no doubt that all the local items we ate were fresh and organic.  If a catastrophe were to happen to the world, the Lao folks would fare better than I, as I wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to make my own shelter or grow my own food.  Life without electricity would be no big deal to them. 

Free range chicken begging for scraps

Even so, I think just about everyone had a cell phone.  No matter how off the beaten path we thought we were, a cell phone would make an appearance.  At least we didn’t see any Starbucks coffee shops or McDonald’s restaurants.  We heard there was a KFC in Vientiane, although we never saw it.  We enjoyed the Lao food, although I have to admit it didn’t stand a chance against the Thai food.  We tried some fruit that was new to us that no one knew the English name for, which was fun.  We also saw some foods that were very different (that we didn’t try)– like steamed bats, furry bellies and all!  Frog kebabs, gecko kebabs, baby chick kebabs, and sparrow kebabs were also popular. 

One area that could use some attention here is the garbage.  Garbage was everywhere, with mini-landfills in every little ravine we saw.  When we got off the slow boat in Luang Prabang, the boat “steward” went through the boat after we all disembarked and promptly threw everything left on the boat into the river.  Bottles, wrappers, pillows – all of it went overboard!  While in southern Laos we saw kids swimming in the river, using a Styrofoam block to float on.  Daron and I both wondered how far it had traveled on the river before the kids found it. 

Lone water buffalo wandering through town

We always enjoyed seeing the kiddos.  They would wave at us and say “sabaidee" (hello). Overall the Lao folks were friendly, in a quiet and reserved way, although not as friendly as we had read they would be.  Even so, it was a nice change after coming from Thailand where the touts were always trying to get our attention.  Laos was a breath of fresh air after all that.  And speaking of fresh air, there wasn’t as much as we would’ve liked.  Slash and burn agriculture is the norm - we saw lots of blackened areas, as well as still smoldering ones as we traveled the country.  A day didn’t go by that we didn’t smell smoke.  Sometimes the areas they would burn weren’t even farming areas.  It made me wonder if they just had a fascination with burning land. 

Hmmmm....

One thing Laos has going for it is its forests.  Unmanaged vegetation covers 85% of the country.  These areas support wild elephants, jackals, bears, leopards, and tigers.  Hopefully that won’t change anytime soon, although illegal logging is an issue.  China has become Laos’ new best friend, and is a major purchaser of Laos’ timber.  Vietnam is also a big customer.  Outwardly, the Laos government has taken a hardline approach to mass logging in order to preserve its forests – it’s the corrupt military and local officials who are prone to taking bribes to allow illegal logging.  Laos is in a precarious position:  caught between preserving one of Southeast Asia’s richest ecosystems and its need to financially support itself in order to pull out of its current status as one of the world’s 20 poorest nations.  Education has improved, with 85 percent attending school, although many drop out by secondary school as the planting and harvesting of crops is seen as more important.  Health care is another area that could use some help.  Many children are malnourished, especially in the northern highlands.  Even our guidebook said that if we needed anything medically, to head to Bangkok straightaway.  Sure does make me grateful for what we have in the USA, despite all our current issues with healthcare.

'Nuf said

My favorite place here was Luang Prabang, and I would highly recommend it for anyone wanting a taste of Laos (although the rollercoaster bus ride there leaves a lot to be desired!).  Our favorite thing to do was to sip a BeerLao (such good beer!) at a restaurant along the river and hang out for hours watching the world go by.  There’s no rush to turn over tables in this country’s restaurants; a person can sit as long as they want, and might even have to wake up the server to get the bill!  The Lao are masters at creating comfy, kickback places for lounging.  The slower pace was addicting and very easy to get used to.  We enjoyed the time we spent exploring Laos and extend a fond farewell to the Land of a Thousand Elephants.