Well, I had high hopes for this place. Other travelers have raved to us about Laos and how wonderful and beautiful and friendly the country is. It is beautiful, but this is our least favorite country that we have visited so far.

In Vientiane, we visited the Lao National Museum, formerly known as the "Lao Revolutionary Museum". One photo shows the former king of Laos signing a peacy treaty with the French. The caption reads (something like): "The treacherous king signs a false peace treaty with the French colonialists. For the next thirty years, the ruling class lived in luxury while impoverishing the people". The same could easily be said of the ruling party members of the communist government, who live in concrete mansions on the outskirts of Vientiane, while the people live in wretched poverty.

My negative impression of this country might have something to do with the terrible heat. As soon as the clouds burn off at 9 AM, the temperature is around 100F.

It could also be that I liked Myanmar much, much more. And, what people seem to like about Laos seems to be what is much better experienced in Myanmar. Or maybe I just lack imagination about what is interesting to see in this country in fifteen days.

Luang Prabang is one of the major attractions of Laos. It reminded me of New Orleans - except maybe more like New Orleans in the eighties or seventies, before it was spruced up. When we first arrived in Luang Prabang, it had just rained and the air was misty. We walked up a mushy dirt road and I felt like we had arrived in an abandoned city. It was beautiful. However, whatever dreamy quality this place has is fast disappearing. As I could see the next day, Luang Prabang is a town under rapid development. There is a lot of construction going on. Streets and sidewalks are being paved and guesthouses are throwing on more and more additions. Jason and I were staying in a new wing of a guesthouse. The paint job was slapdash and the bathroom door didn't have a knob -- just a piece of wood nailed to the wall to hold the door in place.

Vientiane is the other city we visited. This is a city that shows its communist roots. One or two ridiculously wide roads (hardly trafficked), low boxy buildings, Soviet-style murals, and a general lack of shade trees. No special beauty.

Vientiane is also a city under construction. The road to our guesthouse and the roads parallel to it for several blocks were being paved (or repaved). This work was progressing slowly. In the three days we were in Vientiane, it seemed like nothing had happened. Jason witnessed something that could explain the slowness -- instead of using the giant bulldozer to move dirt, three guys were shoveling dirt into the bulldozer!

At one point in the history of the Lao PDR, the monkhood was abolished --religion is the opiate of the masses! The communist government here is now on what looks to be a massive temple building spree. Many truly ugly concrete temples are being built in the city. Most of the temples we visited on our trip here are under use only by tourists, no doubt the legacy of thirty years of communism.

Overall, Laos was a fine place to visit since we were in the general area, but no place I'd care to return.