Laos: the everlasting effects of war
Laos: really poor, untraveled, unvisited and unspoken. Following a couple of online searches I knew this was exactly what I was looking for: a country in southeast asia that hasn’t been exploited by tourism. After the Vietnamese conflict started in 1955; U.S. president Johnson ordered a full military involvement in Vietnam-1965. Laos strongly suffered the devastating consequences of the war. An approximate 270 million bombs were dropped on Laos from which one third failed to detonate and even nowadays pose a real danger to the locals. Today, every three days someone gets injured by an explosion from these exploded ordinance (UXO). Despite this, the population live ordinary lives in a country forgotten by the rest of the world.
Me posing in the premises of a temple.
For me this meant having a culture as indigenous as it can get. I would be able to explore the country as is, without any cultural intrusion from other nations. It turns out that I was right but fell short with the forecast: Laos is completely deserted from western tourists unlike any other Southeast Asian country. So with pen, paper, a camera and a backpack, I set foot on Laos on July 9th 2022 after a 11-hour train ride.
Border checkpoints can get shaky, especially when it comes to land crossing. The border at Nong Khai (Thailand-Laos) was quiet. This place is not used to seeing tourists jumping around countries. For this reason kamikaze tuktuks and aggressive taxi drivers were nowhere to be seen. After crossing the border I made my way into Laos. Heading towards the capital I noticed a big difference between the streets of Laos and Thailand. Laos’ rural streets were significantly crappier, there were fewer cars and the holes of the road were recurrent.
Patuxay Monument as seen from Lane Xang avenue.
Upon arrival in Vientiane, the capital, two things became clear. The first one is the simplicity of the country with regards to architecture and roads. The roads were clean and simple (at least in the surroundings of the city center). The main venue of the capital: Ave Lane Xang; was absolutely clean, very wide and mainly untransited. The grass was nicely taken care of and all the holes in the road were patched. Was this country trying to impress travelers upon arrival to the town? This is partially true since Laos is a communist authoritarian country but the reasons behind the deserted neat infrastructure were unknown to me. On the other side of the one-kilometer road lies the Patuxay Monument, majestuous and dedicated to those who fought against the French in the fight for independence. After all, which country doesn't have one?
The second thing that caught my eye upon arrival was the lack of people and business in the center. Despite being saturday and being in the city center of the capital (surrounding the presidential palace) there were no stores, no people wandering around and, of course, no tourists whatsoever. This caught my eye and the fact that I had recently spent over a week in the busy Bangkok made a bigger impact in my head. Some solo, flipflopped casual and well dressed men lurked around the streets, clearly without destination since their eyes were locked on the ground in front of them. All that quietness transmitted a strange feeling that made me feel like after hours on the stage of the Truman Show.
Sculpture of dragon in a temple, which symbolizes enlightenment and power.
The night market by the river shore (right along the Thai-Lao border) was packed unlike the center. Stall after stall, cheap imitation clothes, Adidos, Niki and Lewis, CokaCola and much more laid in front of the crowds. The exception was imitation antiques and fake leather stalls which had barely any attention. I am not sure what it was but the feeling of being a stranger was heavily highlighted there. Everybody was local and there were no foreigners whatsoever. At some point the electricity in the whole part of the city went off and I was surrounded by pitch blackness for some seconds. They did not get alarmed, as if that was part of the normality. Those people bought their food, clothes, gifts and necessities there. No Zara, Amazon or H&M store provided these locals more than this night market. It was nice to see a third person view the life of these people. I closed that night with some weird local food and BeerLao in a semi-restaurant by the side of the road. That night launched a good feeling, I had a prediction: I was going to enjoy Laos.
Vientiane is simple, small and has barely no tourist attractions in the nearby areas of the city. One might as well be living in the mountains in a hut next to locals. Speak no more, Vang Vieng has all that covered.
Aerial view of the limestone mountains.
Rice fields in the vicinity of Vang Vieng.
Vang Vieng is a city surrounded by high rise limestone mountains and remote villages. These mountains have viewpoints that can be hiked. The easiest and cheapest way to move in Laos is by minivan. The route from Vientiane to Vang Vieng (north) costs around seven euro and makes use of the Laotian highway. The highways in Laos are unused but are remarkably good in shape. But deserted is a generous word because there is still a small chance of encountering someone in the desert. In these highways the chances of crossing another vehicle are non existent. The reason is because the highways have tolls and were built by China in a solidarity effort, not due to a demand. The highways are not really needed and their cost is high for a country whose GDP per capita is as low as a mid-wage monthly European salary.
Vang Vieng is surrounded by nature. If mountains were not present surrounding this village, it would not have any Chinese and Vietnamese tourists. Nevertheless, it is still cheap, relaxing and full of nature. Free style hikes around the area are not recommended because the area is infested by UXO (unexploded ordnance).
A disarmed unexploded US ordinance from the Vietnam war.
These explosives are the legacy of the US-Vietnam war. The United States dropped an insane amount of bombs in the country making it the most bombed country in history. This legacy still kills and injures nowadays. Next to the wooden bridge that connects both sides of the river there are remains of these bombs that have been (hopefully) deactivated. The locals often say: "Don't walk where the cows haven't". You can tell that I have only walked where cows have, otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this.
The hiking paths have been positively cleared of mines and UXO so they are safe to visit. To get to the base of the mountains from Vang Vieng I rented a motorbike. The motorbike cost is roughly one hundred kip per day (equivalent to ten euro). Moving around and getting lost in the local villages around Vang Vieng is such an experience. I lurked around with a motorbike between the rice fields surrounded by sharp limestone mountains.
The viewpoints of the pronounced limestone mountains are tough but offer well-deserved impressive sights. The views are simply extraordinary and locals make huge efforts to preserve these landmarks. Sometimes the paths get obstructed, platforms get thrown down by the heavy storms or simply deteriorate with time. The members of the village gather and help reconstruct and maintain the tracks. This is impressive. I had the chance to send my drone to one viewpoint that got completely destroyed by the weather. The views from there were breathtaking.
The villages are unexplored. Locals live their ordinary lives without the intrusion of first-world problems. This comes with regular electricity blackouts, low mobile connectivity, no potable water and remote healthcare help. The only ones in sight of travelers are the youngest of the kids, sometimes shepherding. The older kids are working in the fields or with cattle somewhere else. The children play around the roads and by the river ponds. They jump from bridges and play to be kids (nowadays uncommon to see in Europe). They get captivated by the looks of a western man and they stop whatever they are doing to wave and say: "Helloo!, Sabaidi!" with huge smiles on their faces.
Plantations of rice are everywhere due to the high fertility of the ground and the abundant water. They require a lot of hands-on and dirty work. One day I saw half a dozen people in the distance in the fields.
I went in between the ridges of the flooded fields all the way to talk to them. With no hesitation I took off my boots and socks, pulled my pants sleeves up and went in the pond with them to help them plant the rice. This was the last terrace they had to plant after a hard day of work. For me it was such an experience to be in between these faraway people, with my feet deeply sunken in the mud, planting rice at sunset.
The work consisted of separating a bunch of pre-cultivated small rice plants and sinking them in the mud leaving the top leaves outside the water. I was slow in comparison to the natives who planted around one plant per second. For me it was more like 10 seconds per plant. They were happy to receive help. After we were done they took pictures (as if I was famous or something) and they gave me a ride in their tractor to the village where I was staying.
These people were family. Later I came to understand the procedures of rice plantation and cultivation in Laos. An individual or family has a rice plantation. Due to the size of the plantation it requires several people to cultivate. To do this, the owner calls in brothers, sisters, cousins, friends and relatives in exchange for a share or for help in return to cultivate other lands. This system works and is the part of the reason why people want to have as many kids as they can financially support.
To move around these villages, hitchhiking is a good option. In my experience, on average, one every five locals stop and give you a ride if you wave at them in a sign of help. Tractor drivers and merchants are the most likely to help but sometimes families or couples may also stop by. Everybody (at least from what I have lived) was extremely welcoming, helpful and warm. Even sometimes I entered their land and went on in their properties to see and learn what they did and how they lived (cooking, farming). They were charming and friendly.
A group of women prepare the vegetables before cooking.
After some weeks in the country I concluded that this country deserves more international attention. A lot of places would benefit from resources that neighboring countries have in abundance. On the other hand, part of this country’s wonder is the fact that it is barely influenced by other cultures and the land is unexplored by international tourism. Part of this traditionalism comes intrinsically and other part of it comes from religion (Buddhism). The people are extremely kind, always eager to help and they reach one step further to assist or to help others. Needless to say, Laos is very poor and people lack basic resources, like in most communist countries.
The whole nation seems like a big community or brotherhood sometimes unconscious of their lack of resources. Nevertheless they are really disposed to learn and absorb information like sponges. Children are responsible, polite, respectful and they use every opportunity they are given. I got the chance to teach locals and children in a village in Laos (more on this will come soon in another blog entry). Laos offered me a clear example of a humble population and helped me understand the detachment between money and happiness. Once again, like I learnt in numerous trips to Africa; more money does not bring more happiness.
I hope that, in the future, I can come back to this amazing country and learn even more about the people, the landscape and their culture.
Aerial view of the mountain range at sunset.
