Wild, wild East, Lao-style

  Burma, for us, was all about the people. Laos, on the other hand, impresses with its natural beauty. Remnant of the old wild wild West, SE Asia style, Lao fulfilled every notion I had of stunning Asian scenery. Unlike its neighbors, more than two thirds of the vegetation is still untouched by man. Imagine: green forested mountains, drastic limestone cliffs, muddy rivers that act as major water arteries for transport (and really life in general), and impenetrable-looking jungles, where wildlife still roams uninhibited (unless, of course, it becomes dinner – snake soup, anyone?). Feeling inspired?

  Such beauty still remains, but not for lack of trying. Despite increased ecotourism, more immediate concerns displace the need for nature conservation. Interest in Lao's natural resources from the big neighbor up north promotes deforestation and illegal logging while raising the quantity of exports, for instance. Infrastructure is improving – great indeed for any developing country, but little notice is paid to how it affects those landscapes. People supplement the meat part of their diet by hunting. I suppose every nation must forge its own way, first most keeping its citizens' welfare in mind (especially given the level of poverty here), but some thought into conservation is necessary, especially if tourism is in the future plans. Most would agree, though. The time to visit this charmingly sleepy country is now. Laos is so laid-back, I noticed that even the dogs don't bark.

  Granted, something else might deter the travel-prone falangs from visiting Lao. As the U.S. waged war in Vietnam, it led parallel but secret military efforts in Laos, trying to stop the spread of the big bad red scare. Let me quote some statistics to at least marginally illustrate the air-bombing campaign that took place between 1965-1973:

• U.S. planes flew 580,344 missions and dropped 2 million tons of bombs on the east and northeast provinces
• a planeful of ordinance was reportedly dropped every 8 minutes, more than during WWII
• almost 30% of the bombs did not detonate on impact, leaving the country strewn with unexploded ordinance
• despite the clearance rate, it's approximated to take another century to make the land safe

Can you imagine the human toll? Even so many decades later?  What a legacy.

  On that cheerful note, the murky brown waters of the Mekong greeted us as we crossed into Laos. Snag-free processing at the border added shiny new visas into our ever-expanding collection. As everywhere in Lao, no mode of transportation leaves until it's full to the brim, so we waited a few more hours than expected for our 2-day slowboat journey to Luang Prabang to begin. Hotel tout warning for the overnight stay in Pak Beng: so-called guides try to scare some unaware falangs (foreigners) into more expensive accommodation with stories of theft in the budget places. In our case, completely unfounded. We heard the journey often turns into wild parties, but most of our fellow passengers were disinclined to do anything more than stare at the beautiful scenery. We conformed, the elderly people that we are, and after two days on the boat, a side to side lilt to our step carried us to a hotel in Luang Prabang.

No more wooden benches

Anyone need a truck?

It gets even better. Stay tuned.

  A World Heritage site and, some proclaim, the most beautiful city in SE Asia, Luang Prabang definitely merits the praise. French influence is visible in the architecture and cuisine of this decidedly charming town. There's little noise, not too much traffic and even if the steamy heat discourages walks that last longer than an hour, it feels right to spend a lazy afternoon by the Mekong, observing as life slowly rolls by. We spent two. Regrettably, we failed to visit the nearby waterfall, touted as the most impressive of the area, as we thought we'd be back for more later on.

  And so we moved a couple of hours north, once again by another entertaining form of transportation (highlights of our journey?), first to Nong Khiaw and then to Muong Ngoi Neua.

On the road again...