So while on a business trip to Asia, I have taken the time to visit Laos. I left from Bangkok on the 23rd in the evening and arrived one hour later in Vientiane, the capital of Laos. I was really lucky, Laos has decided that Scandinavian visitors don’t need to apply for a Visa any more during 2018. During 2015 16 700 visitors came from Scandinavia and that increased in 2016 to 17 000, while all other countries decreased their numbers of visitors. So in order to make it even more attractive they have decided that Scandinavians are allowed to stay for 15 days without a visa. Anyway, I was picked up at the airport and taken to my hotel. What struck me, especially coming from Bangkok and Manila, is the lower tempo in Laos. Especially in the traffic. Also you realize that Japan seems to be doing a lot of business with Laos. There are many Toyota SUV and trucks here, and the mopeds and motorcycles are mostly Honda. The hotel is kind of French colonial style hotel, with no English-speaking staff what so ever:-)! Yesterday evening I was given 5-6 different room number keys before the receptionist managed to guess my room number right! Well, yesterday I went out early, before it got too hot. I went by the Lao version of Arc de Triomphe, at the end of a long and wide street, pretty similar to Champs-Élysées. You can really tell that they have some colonial roots from being part of French Indochina (free in 1954). Then I went on to the Cope museum, wich shows the damages and the problem they still have with UXO (Unexploded ordnance), that is small cluster bombs that hasn’t exploded. During the Vietnam war the US dropped more than 270 million cluster bombs in Laos, and 80 millions didn’t explode at impact. As you can imagine, this is still a major problem for Laos, and still kills and mutilate people.
Walking for like 7 k in 38 degrees heat was a bit too much, so I took a rest at the hotel. In the evening I went out to the Night market, near the Mekong river. I huge area with a market, and a lot of places to eat. I ended up in a Vietnamese place and had a really good fried noodles with beef dish.
And today I travelled to Luang Prabang, a bit up north in Laos. The city was formerly the capital of a kingdom of the same name. It had also been known by the ancient name of Chiang Thong. It was the royal capital and seat of government of the Kingdom of Laos, until the Pathet Lao takeover in 1975. The hotel seems very nice, and in comparison to Vientiane, the staff are able to communicate in English. Some thunder here right now, and we hade two power outage so far:-)! Tomorrow I will go to Kuang Si Falls, some beautiful waterfalls. More to come…
26th of April Luang Prabang
I booked a car to pick me up at 09.00 from the hotel. He spoke English, and that made it a lot easier. And the plan was to go to Kuang Si Falls, the most famous place in Luang Prabang. The drive took some 40 minutes, and then I was off to see the waterfalls. For those who have been to Plitvice in Croatia, this waterfall was pretty similar. Anyway, it was really beautiful and I took the extra trail going above the actual waterfall. Later today I will upload some pictures. I spent like two hours there, but could probably spent even more time. I was back at the hotel at 13ish and had some springrolls with rice for lunch before I went down to the pool area. Not sure about my plans for tonight, either go to town for a dinner or stay at the hotel.
27th of April Luang Prabang
My final day in Laos! Last night I went into town and the night market (has every Lao city one?). Ended up in a French bar/pub, and for once I had som western food (fish and chips). Strange, sitting in Laos, eating English food in a French restaurant! Today I borrowed a bicycle in went back to the town. It’s a really nice town and with the French looking houses, the sidewalks and the Mekong River you could actullay believe you were somewhere on the French Riviera. Took some photos, and have now enjoyed an hour by the pool. But now it’s time to pack and get ready to go to the airport. Tonight KL and tomorrow back to Sweden. So here ends my little small travel report from Laos. Do I recommend it? Yes, definitely! But look for other places than Vientiane, not really worth the visit. Luang Prabang is really nice and there are some other nices places to go to that I haven’t had the time to explore. But I guess some 4-5 days is what you need to be able to check out Laos. I didn’t meet anyone from Sweden (appr 6.000 visitors from Sweden each year), but I heard French, English and German. A lot of backpackers and elderly couples. And then there is 1,5 million visitors from Thailand each year, but since they have almost the same language, you can’t really who’s who!
Travel diary 