Final thoughts on Laos.

When in Laos do as the Laotians do. Be lazy. And that’s exactly what I did for my last week in Laos. I spent it in the 4,000 Islands, where there’s not much else to do so it was perfect. I met Vanessa and Stephen from Miami on the way down and we hung out over the next few days. We lounged around, rented bikes, went swimming, ate and lounged around some more. I slept a lot. It was so hot - it took everything out of me.

One morning we took a boat ride to see the rare Irrawaddy dolphins. While seeing the dolphins was very cool, the actual “tour” was more memorable. Totally disorganized, we left an hour late. They had a motorbike driver for each of us to get us to the water. Mine broke down two minutes after we left.  The driver just walked away and left me there.  I assumed he was going to get help... and he did. Once I finally got to the water they took us to the worst longtail boat of the bunch. No seats... and the driver was bailing out water as we walked down towards the boat. Then he proceeded to lay a mat over the water so we wouldn’t get wet? Unlikely. They were surprised that we didn’t want sit for 2 hours cross-legged getting our asses soaked in a boat that looked like it was going to fall apart. The kicker was that there were more than a few “better” boats with seats right beside it. [This is my theory – they are so used to young backpackers not knowing any better that they just accept shitty service and think it’s just part of the experience. I think this will change as backpackers become older and have higher expectations. Maybe not. Maybe it’s the return of the Princess Backpacker. Haha!]

We all stayed in little bungalows by the river. It was fantastic. Each night we’d chill on the porch having Beerlaos and chatting. We gained a new friend, the owner’s dog, who we named Snoobs because he looked like a cross between Snoopy and Scooby Doo. The dog slept outside of my door one night. He was cool. We also had a water buffalo visit us one night. Awesome. I love water buffalo. They are so massive but so shy. When you walk by one it’s like they’re thinking “I’m not here. Don’t look at me. I’m not here.”

So some final thoughts on Laos:

• I think it would be a beautiful country when it’s green and not shrouded in haze and not so hot and humid.  Visit during our winter months when it's cooler and lush.  I can imagine it would be stunning.
• It's an outdoor persons paradise.  Lots of opportunities for trekking and water sports.
• The people are friendly even if they are lazy.
• They love their Beerloas! One afternoon during Lao new year and the power was out in our hotel I sat with the staff outside having a few Beerlaos. The staff got hammered. Too funny.
• Be prepared for no customer service of any sort anywhere at anytime.
• You don’t come here for a culinary experience... the food is very dull and unexciting.
• You think people have bad cell phone ettiquette in Canada? It’s nothing compared to the Loation cell phone ettiquette. You will be literally in the middle of a converstaion or a transaction and they will just pick up their phone and start talking. 
• I actually did have a good time here. I met some great people throughout my travels here and had some fantastic and memorable experiences here. And that’s really what it’s all about.

More soon...
xoxo