Local farmers pick rice in a Lao paddy.

Journal and photo by Neil Dana

I don't know if you read my account of Cambodia in the World Bytes section of our website by clicking HERE. , well you should. Just click on the "Neil's Cambodian Adventures" to read it. The reason being that Cambodia was the most amazing country I have visited this entire expedition.....until now!! Laos is more than I ever imagined. Talk about smiling people and a countryside that is overwhelmingly scenic. It is truly spectacular, and the single greatest thing about it all is that it is still relatively untouched by westerners. Of course, I do say relatively because there definetely is foreign influence, like the French colonization and the small number of travelers who do frequent Laos; however, in comparison to everywhere else I have been, except Cambodia, it is light years behind the globalization boom.

Stepping into Laos is like diving into a tropical island reef out of a 40-story building in the middle of New York City. You immediately enter a slow, peaceful, and different flow. Everywhere you go, your senses are peaking, from visually stunning rice fields amongst towering mountains, to the smells of lush tropical rain, or feeling the changes in climate as you climb up three thousand feet from sea level, and even the slight fear of the rebels who have killed tourists and locals before and who live in the next three-hour stretch of winding roads through the steep hills that harbor them.

Rebels who have killed tourists? I met a woman yesterday who flew to Luang Prabang from the border because she was scared of what she had heard about the road we were about to drive. She had heard that there had been killings on this road, Rte. 13. She must have received some wrong information, or maybe the tour agencies just try to scare tourists into flying in order to make some more money? Either way, from what I have read and researched, there are rebels in the hills that we are passing today, but they have not murdered anyone in about a year. However, when we awoke this morning, we heeded warning to our guidebooks that said the next stretch of road is the location of the rebels. So we didn't stop to set up convoy shots and take photos.....unfortunately!

The sights and people we passed today were magnificent. Waking up to a rice field reflecting the warm morning sun's rays, lush green foliage, clouds, and dew was quite a serene scene. Then we piled into our cars and headed into the "rebel" mountains. We all agreed to radio silence so we didn't warn anyone we were coming, in case they were listening! I guess it doesn't hurt to be overly cautious. However, what we discovered in our five-hour drive was quite the opposite of any threat or danger. We saw small children everywhere waving at us, screaming "sabadi!" which means hello, with immense smiles and wonder in their eyes at the vehicles we were driving. We saw woman carrying goods and cooking food. We saw many people just sitting around and relaxing, or just stepping outside of their small house to see what all the commotion was about, four Land Rovers driving through their peaceful neighborhood.

Now of course, since this is "rebel" territory, you are guaranteed to see your fair share of gun-totin' Laotians, and that is just what we saw. I saw a small child, literally about 10 years old carrying a semi-automatic rifle (an M-16). We also saw many other young men, or teenagers, carrying guns, some rifles with extremely long barrels, most likely meant for hunting birds or some mountain animals, and some machine guns. But with every gun came a nice genuine smile. These people were not a threat to us; they were very friendly and even let us slow down to a stop to take a couple pics. Even though all these people are so nice and friendly, I guess it only takes a few bad people to give a whole area a bad name, which must have been the case in the past. The Lao people are wonderful, and even though we get to spend a week here, I really want to come back and spend months and months in Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. I guess on some other trip. As for now, as you know, we only have a limited amount of time due to our schedule and goals.

So after driving through fantastic countryside, we arrived at Luang Prabang. This town is a very special place, as it sits along the Mekong River, and is also the old Royal center of Laotian history. As we sat at the riverside, gazing into the chocolate-brown Mekong River, which is a quarter mile wide, we drank some iced coffees and sat back and just relaxed. Aaahhh, what a peaceful place. Luang Prabang is filled with Buddhist Temples and is a very small town. There are plenty of restaurants, cafes, and places to buy all kinds of Laotian goods, which are some of the coolest I have seen yet. There is also a really cool Red Cross where Colin and I walked in the pouring rain for 1/2 mile, getting drenched and loving it, to receive a massage and sauna for $4. The sauna was the best part, I must admit. I was floating around Luang Prabang all night after that sauna. We went and ordered some food, and I ended up drinking two pots of smoked Laotian tea, which was delicious, mmmn, mmmn.

Then we went and perused around the night market, which is a beautiful display of vendors on the main street selling goods. However, like said before, these items they have for sale are the most beautiful and ornate things I have seen yet. The silks are plentiful, the quilts are very intricate and colorful, there are beautiful paper lamps for lights, vases, wood carvings, and all kinds of shirts and wonderful clothes that will turn any non shopper into a mall rat. The coolest part of this market, though, was the overall feeling that was present. It was very peaceful, with people walking here and there at a leisurely pace, and the Lao people smiling at you and saying, "sabadi", hoping you will buy something, but not insisting, just calmly letting you look and enjoy what they have to offer. It was a feeling I have not felt at a market before; usually people are yelling at you to buy something, or tugging at your arm, or begging. This was what shopping should be like everywhere: you walk around a place that is very scenic and peaceful, and the people working don't come up to you and try to sell you something. You literally get to look around and see what they have and also get a very fair price. There isn't much haggling or bargaining going on since the prices are fair and the people aren’t here to play games and try to rip you off.

Another great thing I have noticed about Laos are the children. They are clothed, have food and shelter, and are in the streets all day playing soccer, laughing, riding bikes, eating and just having a healthy young life. These people have a very good life here and are not going hungry or "poor." Even the hill tribes in the extremely remote areas have enough rice and crops to eat.

Lao is a very special place, and having only been here for two days now, I do not know it extremely well by any means, but I definitely know I love it. In fact, tonight, after the market, I was in such a peaceful and mellow mood, I walked back to our guest house, picked up my guitar, and walked to a temple that was lit up by the half moon and some lights. There were two monks at the entrance to the grounds. I walked in and asked them if it was ok to walk around and play guitar, and "yes, sure, no problem" was their answer. There were four temples here and many other stuppas, and they were all along the Mekong River under the moonlight. It was precious, and I played guitar for hours and hours, just chillin' in one of the most serene and beautiful places in the world.

Neil

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