The potential "Travel Guide" ensuing from our three months Trip - Part 2. About Laos

( See previous post : Part 1. About Cambodia )

Unlike the previous one about feelings, the purpose of this post is to make a global summary of our concrete experience. It's a last writing about the three countries which welcomed us from May to August.

The map of our Trip (counterclockwise) - Before, it was looking like that, remember : click here.

...

Part 2. Laos

(Si Phan Don- Pakse - Thakhek - Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang - Huay Xai)

Laos, for me (and I guess for Tobias as well), was THE country for which I didn't have any expectations, as I had no idea about what I was going to find there.

Kingdom of a Million Elephants. My first thought when we arrived in Si Phan Don was to prefer, as nickname for Laos, The Land of Billion Butterflies.

If something is completely crazy in Laos, it's the Nature. Everywhere around the towns stand breathetaking landscapes. Let it be the amazing view that the imposing Mekong gives you in Si Phan Don or Luang Prabang; the beauty of the Bolaven Plateau; the huge mountains with dark green trees or black smooth rocks; the thick and quiet jungle edged by some small roads; the numerous waterfalls, high or large; the deep caves; ...

That a point I didn't feel that much in Cambodia, realizing that I am in Asia just looking at the landscape around me, in Asia as you imagine it. It has something powerful, magical. While admiring such marvel, you forget everything. Nothing matters anymore, only you, with someone you love, being HERE, watching what Nature has the most perfectly created.

Unfortunately for the wildlife, it's a bit more complicated. There was and still is, so massive destruction. Kingdom of a Million Elephants. Unlike butterflies, there's no many elephants anymore. A century ago, Laos counted around 40 000 of these emblematic animals, nowadays, less than 1000. As I said, the jungle is kind of quiet. In fact, the jungle is absolutely silent. No birds, no monkeys, no tigers are there to make it lively and as loud as you imagine this type of forest. The animals were and are so persecuted, that they are more and more obliged to flee in the deepest nooks of a jungle becoming dumb.

When we were there, it happened that we allowed ourselves to chill in our room, watching the TV. I remember this advertisement for a program to come on National Geographic Channel, which was asking " Did we betrayed our Planet ? ": God, yes.

It's really important that you don't take that much into count what I'm writting from now. It was only our experience. Something in Laos is almost as irritating as the wildlife issue... the people. Even though this comment is more true for the South of the country (let' say below Vientiane !), Lao people aren't, by far, the most pleasant ones we ever rub shoulders with. In general, we felt them very disrespectful and unfriendly with us. As I said, it was already better in the North. We would have skipped the unfunny "jokes" of this young gaz station worker a morning at 9 am in Thakhek; we would have skipped the two idiots watching porno in front of us in the bus to Vientiane; we would have skipped all the locals who were really kind in completely ignoring us; we would have skipped to find two poor mistreated monkeys at a chain along the road and these bastards keeping them; ...

So, as for the people, we frankly missed Khmers and were, then, happy to be among Thais !

The History of Laos should be definitely more known. Especially what our American friends did there few years ago. Why Laos is the most bombed country in the World's History. How it still fucking up so many people lives.

Click here

For more photographs : click here.

For the posts about our Lao Weeks : click here