Laos: The country where time runs differently

After a short and somewhat uncomfortable night at Kuala Lumpur Airport, I flew to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. It was funny that I met some familiar faces on the flight. Including the Belgian couple I met in Mulu. I spent time with them in Vientiane, sightseeing, having sunset beers by the Mekong River, and enjoying delicious food. Thanks to the influences of the French colonial era, Laos has baguettes, a welcome change from the dense sweet toast commonly found in Asia.

I then continued to Luang Prabang, the former capital, in a really curly night bus (see photos). The bus had proper bunk beds, which would have been comfortable if not for the fact that the route was quite twisty and I had to share the 160x90cm sleeping area with a stranger. An interesting experience.

Luang Prabang is a cozy city, right by the river, with beautiful colonial architecture. I celebrated my birthday there. With two German couples and a Brazilian I already knew from Malaysia, we had a wonderful trip to the nearby waterfalls. They were already incredibly beautiful, and then elephants came to bathe. What more could you ask for? For dinner, we treated ourselves to a Laotian-style BBQ and some drinks with local rum.

The next destination was Nong Khiao, a small sleepy village in the north of the country, by the Nam Ou River. The stunning landscape of limestone mountains, rice fields, and small tributaries was simply breathtaking. Unfortunately, we didn't have much luck with the weather, so some trips ended up quite wet and muddy. Like the mountain bike tour on the 'Dirtyroad', where we couldn't even push the bike at times because the muddy clay got stuck in the wheels. Nevertheless, it was incredibly beautiful there.

Next, I went to Luang Namtha, as usual by bus and on winding roads. The small town doesn't offer much, but it's an ideal starting point for multi-day treks to the surrounding indigenous villages. And that's exactly what we did there. The hike itself was a bit challenging because it was very slippery everywhere (due to the heavy rain in the preceding days), we had to cross many small rivers, and there were way too many leeches. However, getting to know the village conditions and the residents was well worth the effort. For example, in one village, there was only running water at a public 'well', where everyone fetched water for cooking, washing themselves and their clothes, and exchanged all the news. In the evening, the village youth came to our homestay and the girls gave us a massage and tried to teach us the Akha language. Unfortunately, not much stuck.

Overall, Laos is a truly fascinating country with stunning landscapes and impressive culture. And somehow, Laos just has its own rhythm. The only annoying thing is the bus stations, which are always intentionally located far from the city so that tourists have to pay for an expensive tuk-tuk.