Laos

There was something about arriving to Laos that just felt…different…there was an excitement in my chest that I didn’t yet understand. Laos was the foundation of this entire trip, my calling here being the impetus, and all other countries were simply bonus adventures. Perhaps my excitement was just that we finally made it to the place that started it all, or perhaps as we are in the final countdown of our journey, I feel the need to savor every last moment. As we arrived to the airport on that first day, Justin was experiencing his usual (what I’ve been calling) “Day One Grump”, where he stresses out on the arrival of a new country as we navigate foreign money exchange, new SIM cards, and the overly priced airport taxi ride. This time though, there was nothing his “Day One Grump” was going to do to shift my mood. 

After we took care of all our necessities of arriving to a new country, we were off to explore the capitol city of Vientiane…a city that most travel blogs will tell you to just skip over. This supposed “lackluster city” intrigued both Justin and I and we felt our love for this country grow. It was almost instantaneous that I realized the excitement I felt in my chest when we arrived was a soul connection to this place. Cambodia and Vietnam were beautiful and incredible adventures…but this place…this place carries a love that feels similar to my love for India, or Egypt. Even among all the language barriers, unfamiliarity, and newness, it felt like we were exactly where we were supposed to be…it felt like home. 

Our brief couple of days in the capitol allowed us to explore some of the major temples and an incredibly impressive “Buddha Park” with hundreds of statues and carvings in a peaceful garden., we saw a traditional music performance and ate some fabulous local meals, complimented with locally made mushroom whiskey. After our quick couple of days, we ventured to the small hippie river town of Vang Vieng, with dreamy blue lagooons, tropical forests, traditional villages…and an abundance of marijuana and illegal drugs offered to you on special menus at almost every bar or restaurant…a very strange and unexpected menu to receive! 

On our first day in Vang Vieng, we rented bicycles for $2 to help us see a greater spanse of the area with a little more ease. It had been years since either of us had been on bikes but with a little fear and two verrrrrry janky bicycles, we spent the day riding through the amazing tropical surroundings to viewpoints of tall limestone karsts, rice paddies, and local villages below. We biked to turquoise lagoons and swam in their cool waters. We biked through the villages to see how the locals lived and explored the very touristy town of Vang Vieng. That night, we sat on our porch for sunset and watched air balloons flying through the sky and over the vast mountain scape. Another perfect day in this country we both found to love so much. 

Our hotel manager then offered us a two day/one night solo kayaking adventure. It sounded amazing. “No guide…no people…just beautiful nature and sleeping under the stars. I’ll take care of everything,” he said. The next day his friend drove us around 30 miles up the Nam Ou river and left us with 6 bottles of water, a bag full of ramen, 1 pot, 1 knife, 1 lighter, 2 children’s blanket, 1 children’s tent, and 2 kayaks…one of which was a SINKING BOAT…but, of course, we didn’t realize this until he was long gone and we were on the white water. We also didn’t anticipate having to navigate Grade 3 rapids on this trip. This story turns into a total hilarious catastrophe, with the first set of rapids making us both flip, losing most of our water and soaking all our gear.  One disaster after another for two full days but we made it safely home with only one broken toe, one bloody and bruised hand, two sunburns, dehydration, and one heck of a story…which is just long enough that it must just be told in person….

After several days in our adventurous little hippie town, we took the Chinese Railway north to the city of Luang Prabang. Upon arrival, the winding streets and unique architecture of the city completely captivated us. Every new place we visit, seemingly, getting better and better. Our two day reservation at our guesthouse easily turned into a week. We fell in love with not only the local vibe of the town, but the expat community as well. Temples, yoga studios, coffee shops, novelty stores, and delicious restaurants and bars fill the peninsula of Luang Prabang. We spent our days meandering along the riverside and our nights trying to catch the best sunset views before parading around town to enjoy the night markets and the evening scene. 

Every morning at 4am the beat of a large drum radiates throughout the town. It’s the wake up call for the monks to begin their morning prayer followed by Tak Bat, the monk’s call to alms. This is a quiet and meditative ceremony through which monks demonstrate their vows of poverty and humility, while lay Buddhists gain spiritual merit by the act of giving. That act of giving is generally tiny balls of sticky rice placed in the monk’s begging bowls as they walk down the street. We wanted to participate in this ritual and asked the host of our guesthouse what was necessary for us to participate respectfully. “Offer quality foods, stay in silence, no looking the monks in the eyes, keep arms and legs covered, women must kneel.” We covered our bodies in our typical temple attire and headed to the dark streets where the ceremony takes place. Two women immediately ran to us and draped us in traditional cloth. We bought sticky rice, banana leaves, and candy bars as our gift to the monks and they guided us to the appropriate place on the street corner to give our offering to the monks. Unfortunately, even with our greatest intentions in trying to honor the traditions, other disruptive tourists took away from the beauty of the offering. They ran up to the monks and took hundreds of photos, they yelled at their family members to gather for group selfies, and they posed for the camera as they handed their rice into the monk’s copper bowl.I felt such disappointment that travel has become this way and that there are so many people that care more about getting the good photo than actually understanding and taking part of these unique rituals. 

One day we took an adventure to a nearby waterfall which truly felt like some magical little fairyland with pool after pool of crystal clear water and a lush green jungle. We hiked the steep terrain to the very top… and took a dip under the falls at the very bottom. And as we left the waterfall all vehicles were led to pull over on the side of the road. It was a funeral procession in the street…loud music was playing through a speaker on the front of a truck, a white coffin adorned in gold leaves supported by military men, as families and friends walked behind. As the sadness built of seeing others’ loss and suffering, I also felt a sense of gratitude to have the opportunity to witness a different culture’s traditions of such a sacred occasion.

That evening we took a sunset cruise on the Mekong. We befriended another American guy, (one of the few we’ve met on this entire trip), and shared stories of life and travel as we cruised under the orange and purple sky. A Laotian man came around handing out two pieces of banana leaf to everyone on the boat, and we were instructed to write our wishes on one leaf and write our troubles on the other. After the sun dropped behind the mountains and the sky grew dark we had a ceremony where all of the troubles were tied to a rock and sunk to the bottom of the Mekong while our wishes were tossed into the river to expand and grow…my wish, of course, a manifestation to live happily and abundantly on this side of the world in the near future. Now, I let the Mekong work her magic.  

We were sad to leave Luang Prabang, as we can invision it being our own home one day, but there was still so much to see and our timeline was growing short. Once again, as we ventured north, Laos continued to impress us with its natural beauty. In being here, it feels as if we have entered some strange time capsule, floating through space and time with slow moving fluidity. It’s as if the rest of the world forgot to inform parts of Laos that the world is advancing. Life feels simple, with kids running through rice fields, playing in dirt mounds, and kicking coconuts around in the streets. Roads are unsuited for most vehicles, but still driven on. Many homes are built with bamboo walls and sheet metal roofs. Many people bathe in the rivers instead of in their homes and they rely on their gardens and farm animals for food. Nature is the church.   

Further north and off the beaten track, the small village of Nong Khiaw gave us the opportunity to relax for a couple of days on the Nam Ou River and take in the peaceful mountain views. After that rest, we joined a 2 day/1 night trekking trip, which consisted of a myriad of tiered rice paddies, steep and muddy climbs through the jungle, cold swims in rivers and under waterfalls, and cursing our young twenty year old guide for running us up mountains in the hot climate. We visited many of the traditional hill tribe villages along the way and were welcomed into a home in the HuayHoi village to sleep for the night. We learned how to make baskets out of bamboo, we had a traditional Laotian dinner, and we got to continue to connect with the seven other travelers we trekked with. The night was frigid and it was difficult to sleep comfortably on the floor with only a thick blanket as the pad. The roosters started crowing before dawn and we were up early to recharge with coffee and breakfast before another full day of trekking, followed by a brief kayak trip to get us back to town. (After our disaster with kayaks in Vang Vieng, neither of us were all that thrilled to get back on the water). We made it back to town, eager for a hot shower and a bunch of food, followed by a couple more days of easy and relaxed living. 

Our time in Laos was coming to an end…a mix of excitement of coming home, along with the feeling of not having enough time. Somehow deep inside we knew this piece of the trip was going to be special. What we did not anticipate was just how much we would love it there. For now, I can only hold gratitude for the experiences we had and surrender to the Mekong to work her magic and bring us back here one day…