Lazy Laos

If Cambodia was a cold and refreshing shower after the tourist machine of Vietnam, Laos could only be described as a warm bath.
We entered the country across its southernmost land border and left with sadness almost a month later from the northwest, having run out our tourist visa.

In our guidebook it describes the country as a place where there is not a lot of focus on education or work; where people are encouraged not to 'think too much' and generally take things as they come. Our experiences there cannot dispute this...
Locals helped when they got around to it...or didn't at all...and didn't seem to stress about much. As long as you went with the flow, it was a completely relaxing way to look at life.

Problems arise, of course, from this philosophy - a prevalent lack of basic math skills left each restaurant bill hopelessly incorrect and changing bus tires minutes after departure was almost an expectation. Besides some small issues such as these, our month in Laos was probably the most relaxing and stress-free so far.

Days were spent on hammocks, floating down rivers on an inner tube, wandering around hills and through jungle with spectacular views or sitting around chatting with fellow travellers while watching the sun set. Self-made games were played while lazing about...we attempted to count the number of roosters you could hear at any one time (even in the 'cities') and tried to find the strangest way the locals have used empty bomb shells (remnants from the US's failed attempt to block the Ho Chi Minh Trail)...some of the weirdest were flower pots, stairs or garden ornaments...

As a relatively young trade, tourism in Laos was impressive. There was a clear attempt to build sustainable tourism - environmentally and socially responsible (even UN award winning!) tours made participating in elephant camp excursions or ethnic minority village treks a pleasure (unlike our experiences in Vietnam).
The only exception to this was an accidental visit to a village full of smokers in southern Laos - a little girl of about five stood with a water pipe and passed it to her younger sister...but I suppose in a country in the process of development such as Laos, some of these things are to be expected.

I felt so comfortable in Laos that some of their philosophy has rubbed off on me...I'm going to be a little lazy and leave all the details of our time there to Alex who describes them better than I could anyway. Perhaps I'll get around to another blog with more detail...or not.