Laos: Pronounced “Lao”
Thursday, October 4th, 2007Over the past few months, an estimated 100 people have told us how incredible Laos is. And after spending a few weeks here, the ‘Land of a Million Elephants’ lives up to the hype.
We started out in Vientiane, the capital. Planned to spend 3 days…stayed for 6. Monks, baguettes, cool old cars and BeerLao: these are the images conjured up by mention of this city on the Mekong. Influence from the French colonial days is still strong, as many of the locals speak English with a French accent. It’s a town where none of the buildings are over 4 stories, and malls and cinemas don’t exist. Free time in this city is spent lounging around in cafes or drinking BeerLao by the Mekong.
A few hours from Vientiane is a touristy mountain town on a river, Vang Vieng. The place is full of hippy backpackers, and a few non-hippies. Vang Vieng’s main draw is the river, which cuts through limestone cliffs and ushers along kayakers and tubers from one riverside bar to the next. All of the bars have 30 foot high rope swings hanging over the water–with yelping sunburned tourists hanging off and belly-smacking into the water. [read on]
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