Lao I

After taking the train from Bangkok to the Laos border, I crossed the Mekong river and entered country number three (or four if you count my brief trip to India). My first stop was Vientaine, the capital city on the banks of the mighty Mekong. Vientaine, the biggest city in Laos, pales in comparison to neighboring Thailand’s capital, Bangkok. Vientaine has no buildings over, say 6 stories, and looks more like a large town rather than anything city like.

Also unlike Bangkok, there is not a ton of things to do in Vientaine, so I only stayed for two days. I visited the Patuxai Arc, which resembles the French Arc de Triomphe in Paris, the national museum, and the night market. I met a number of people at my hostel, where I spent most of my time hanging out and talking with them. I also noticed that Vientaine and Laos has been the hottest place I have visited in my trip here. Hitting around 40 Celsius, the sun is scorching all afternoon, making you want to stay in the shade as much as possible.

After Vientaine, I took a bus to Vangvieng, a tourist town on a river and some beautiful craggy cliffs. Vangvieng is famous and infamous for its tubing on the river and the bars and drinking that accompany the tubing experience. Years ago nearly 20 bars lined the river, with the carousing and debauchery at extreme levels. Zip lines and rope swings dotted the banks. In one year 27 people died on the river, leading to the police cracking down on the number of bars and the zip lines and rope swings. Today there are still 5 bars, where you can drink bottle after bottle of Beerlao, but it is tamer than in the past. Nonetheless, I went tubing and had a blast, drinking and meeting people from all over the world.

My trip to Vangvieng was also unique by meeting a Lao girl. We spent time together, eating lots of Lao food (sticky rice with everything), while she also taught me some Lao. After only a couple days of knowing each other, she invited me to her town two hours south of Vangvieng to her mom’s remarriage. I accepted the invitation and spent the next four days at her home. No one spoke English except for her elementary English, so to say the least, I did not speak much over those four days. It was interesting to watch the preparations of the wedding, which was held at the home. The women from the nieghborhood cooked seemingly nonstop, the men slaughtered a pig while taking pulls of Lao Lao, the homemade rice vodka. During the weekend I ate copious amounts of sticky rice, laap, and other delicious Lao foods while also drinking Lao Lao with the men and Beerlao at almost every occasion.

After the wedding I went back to Vangvieng for one day before moving north to Luang Prabang.

The name Laos was given by the the colonial French because the largest ethnic group in the region is the Lao people. There are other ethnic groups, especially in the north, with the Hmong, Kmhu, and Lantan peoples. Since Laos is a French word, the S in Laos silent and thus should be pronounced "Lao", similar to Illinois.

Here's a video of my first week in Laos. For those who are squeamish, there is a butchering of a pig. You have been warned.