In February my wife and I travelled to Laos. We were travelling alone but picking up guides in different areas of the country. For us, and particularly for me as a photographer this arrangement was ideal because we could spend as much or as little time as we wanted in particular areas and we could be specific with our guides on what we wanted to see. Inevitably some of the places we went to were  on the tourist route but Laos is one of those countries where if you make the effort you can get away from the crowds. 

Or join the crowds! But a different type of crowd!

As an example near Champasak one of our guides said to us “tomorrow we have a festival do you want to go? It’s at the ancient  temple complex outside the town on the other side of the river, bit of a trip but with a tuk tuk  it should be fine, could be a few people there ……”

Yes of course we wanted to go! What an experience!

“A few people” turned out to be a quarter of a million celebrants one of the largest festivals in Laos! We joined the candle lit procession up to the top  of the hill where the ancient temple ruins are. The temples were bathed in ever changing colourful lights.  The music  followed us as we went (not as you might expect calming rhythms, but Laos pop music played full blast absolutely deafening!)  The light show was awesome. Chinese lanterns powered by a candle to give them the hot air to lift  drifted to the sky in huge numbers landing at random wherever they did. The thought occurred that perhaps the Laotian view on health and safety was not quite the same as ours.  

We were blessed literally and blessed to see this extraordinary event, a mix of religious festival, agricultural fair (they were selling tractors, food, toys, everything you could imagine in row after row of stalls). In the gentle balmy warmth of the evening the smell of food mixed with incense. The theme was Buddhist , this was a religious event but it was actually  a massive social event too, we met loads of the guide’s relatives and friends.  You might feel threatened by a quarter of a million strangers in the dead of night, but there was none of that. People were gentle, they guided you kindly, made sure you did not trip in the dark.  We saw virtually no foreigners and we were welcomed  universally with a sea of smiles because we had made the effort. Most of the time we were clueless on what was going on but people explained. An unforgettable experience. 

The people throughout Laos were very friendly and helpful, the landscape truly stunning, particularly the area we travelled to on the border with China that follows the Mekong. The limestone valleys are extraordinary there, interestingly this type of landscape is advertised in Chinese tourist brochures, but not here, we didn’t even know what we would be seeing. 

The food was universally good from street food to good restaurants, some very cheap. Not hint of  a tummy bug much of the food is fried and I think that helps. Vegetarianism doesn’t come naturally to Laos society but I think such a diet would be relatively easy. We were shocked in the capital to get a meal for two and two beers in a really nice restaurant for $6.50. But then it catered for tourists and locals, go to an upmarket tourist only  restaurant in a place like Luang Prabang and you will have a different experience. Of course you can find vegetables that defy description, more mushrooms of different types than I have ever seen  and meat in any form  some like the deer’s head  and the dried rats that you’d prefer not to see. There is international food, regional food (very similar to Thai) and very local food. The message here to the squeamish tourist is if you don’t fancy the smoke dried fried rat (see the photo), then, don’t eat the smoke dried fried rat, no one is forcing you to! Stick to the Thai diet and the food is brilliant.

We came out just after there was a series of deaths and people getting very ill from drinking spirits that weren’t  quite what they seemed in cheap hotels and bars in Thailand and Laos. At one point we  went through a ceremony in a local village where we had to take a local drink, and another and another all of us from the same glass, shared amongst about 8 people. This was Laos whisky, made in the village! We kind of thought “ is this a good idea?” But it would have been rude not to …..Laos whisky and our own have relatively few points of mutual reference but then again we usually  stop at around 40% unless we are going full cask ….this liquid could also be used to  fuel your car! You know that sensation (perhaps you don’t) when you want to check the veneer on your teeth just to see if it hasn’t dissolved? We woke up the next day without a trace of a hangover but a powerful thirst and a sense of astonishment at the durability of the human liver.

If that seems odd the ceremony itself transcended that by some distance. I said before there were times when we were delightfully if completely clueless and you just go with the flow. This was a “ baci”  ceremony. We later found that it is an important ceremony in Laos culture used to celebrate significant events and hope for good times, results whatever. We were moving house our guide knew that and that was her excuse. But she left us totally clueless other than something was going to happen with a  shaman. When I saw a group of elderly women approaching us with a bundle of string and a boiled egg I said to Alison “don’t look now but I think this involves bondage with the local women’s institute, and the mind boggles on what they are going to do with the boiled egg!” Believe me the whisky helped. This is where they tied money to our wrists for good luck. The women’s institute were lovely but somewhat lacking in teeth. 

We stayed in decent hotels throughout, we are of an age where hostels have lost their  appeal. But you can get good looking hostel accommodation. Most of our hotels were 2 star and clean but basic  some of the hotels were superb. The Villa Maly in Luang Prabang was ideally situated close to the incredible night market. Luang Prabang is VERY touristy and you pay for it but it also has an exceptional array of places to eat, yet  sat next to a very local and intriguing day market too. Close to fantastic waterfalls (Kuang SI, and Tat Sae) with unreal colours and the  Pak Ou Caves. Set between the Chao Phraya and Mekong rivers and with over 30 Buddhist temples the City is a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995. An area that was well worth the visit was the “old town” which oddly is rather new! It blends old Lao culture with French Colonial architecture, and this hybrid mix is really rather lovely and peaceful away from the busier areas of the City. 

After flying  from Bangkok to Vientiane we travelled in Southern Laos flying into Pakse and within Champasak province. Somewhat confusingly our agenda said we would go to our hotel and then the next day cross the river to take a bike ride. Trouble was we already were across the river! I think the local company used an old itinerary. We stayed at la Folie Lodge, ideally placed to go up and down the river to different trips and frankly idyllic. I’ve had welcome drinks but a welcome massage? Food was phenomenal, sunsets over the river stunning  to behold. French owned and managed, Lao run, Laos/Thai food,  a good combination. 

It is from there that we went to Vat Phou and “4000 islands”. After a drive to the right access point travel is on the river.  These  islands are set in a wide part of the Mekong. This is a backpackers destination, very beautiful, you hire a bike and go round two of the islands that are connected. It is beyond “chill out,” if you go , well worth two or three days unwinding. It’s quite bizarre to see the  old railway there. The French were determined to exploit the natural resources of the area and ran a train way through the jungles  and on a ferry across to the islands, quite a feat. 

Vat Phou is a World Heritage site and where we went to see the massive celebrations I mentioned at the beginning. Seeing it a day after introduced us to a sea of plastic bottles and an army of people clearing them away. Retracing our steps from the previous night (in sweltering heat) the views from the top are extraordinary and you get a picture of what a huge site  this is with its immense water gardens. 

At the very top of the site there is a clash of traditions, because this site,  this holy mountain, has been sacred for people for thousands of years. At one point there is a gruesome human sacrifice site for an animist sect that preceded Buddhism. There’s a slab with indents to hold the body and drain the blood. Our guide told us that it was an honour to be the sacrifice (yeah right)  which begs the  question …did you ask them? As ever it seems the victim  had to be a virgin, which seems like a powerful argument against virginity.

“ Oh so sorry would have loved to oblige,  if only you’d asked last Saturday  …” 

We  were selective in our viewing of Temples.  Appalling to say I know but having been to Thailand and got “templed out” we know that after a while the differences that are clear to local guides merge  into one for us as we are less aware and  less discerning, so we were careful and selective. That was good because the ones we saw, were not necessarily the ones that are top of the tourism list but beautiful all the same possibly more so because of the lack of crowds. 

I wonder if Thai  or Laos tourists  come to the UK and say “Oh please not another Cathedral/ Castle  they all look the same ….”   Call us ignorant, we can live with it, life is short and we were there to see the people as much as the places.  It also means that you are more likely to see local people using the temples and see what the monks are up to which for us is much more of what we want to experience. We went to the Royal Palace in Vientiane (very much on the must see list according the the tourist guides) and were behind a vast group of Chinese tourists with very sharp elbows that they used to not let you pass and that pretty much made our minds  up,  we  towed our guide out and told him we’d look it up in the guidebook!  

“ ………but….but I need to show you it all …the Agenda says…..” 

“ Chill,  the tip isn’t affected, stuff the Agenda” 

“ Ah ..I know somewhere much quieter”

“ Tip has just gone up .” 

The South is much quieter than the north and much more relaxed in our experience. 

After Luang Prabang we travelled North again, plane and train  into tribal areas but I’ll describe that in Part 2. We then took a long drive to Muang Khua followed by a 5 hr cruise down the Nam Ou river. “Cruise “…… this was a long tailed boat all to ourselves, a lovely journey through the limestone escarpments towering over the river remarkably beautiful. You feel you are in a film that  must have loads of AI,  it just is too good to be true.  

We then arrived at Nong Khiau. This is a tourist village but very much back packers rather than big resorts. We stayed at the rather cute Mandala Ou “Resort” just 10 rooms run by a German who came and never left  and his Lao wife. The cocktails were well worth it but there was a price. You had to play with their charming daughter while the husband and wife team mixed the drinks! She had just learned high fives. Food was local made by the  family and  really really good. Two days later we travelled down the river visited the Pak Ou caves stuffed with thousands of Gold and gleaming Buddha images, one of the most important pilgrimage sites in Laos, yet curiously quiet . Then back to Luang Prabang.

The last night,  a visit to the night market for an outrageously over priced pair of trousers ( $3) and the next day we flew out back to Bangkok. 

Laos has its challenges if you are from the country, as travellers, unless you are a complete idiot, those   challenges don’t touch you. That said, personally I want to know them because I want to travel in the country not vacation in it. There are those who are happy to sit on a beach and good luck to them but that is not us and that doesn’t make us better people, just different ones.

Friendly, welcoming, with an astonishing cultural history, a hideous period of war, and currently a Communist country with  a very much free market approach, Laos has a lot going for it in terms of travelling  tourism. It is also easy to get round if you commit to trains and planes. Overland busses are certainly available but  the routes are long. 

We are rarely say “I’d like to visit again” because there is so much of the world to see, but we did this time. Very conscious that a description  that amounts to less than three pages of A4 cannot do a country justice. 

Sok di! Laos.

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