Luscious Laos

Along this journey, other fellow travelers have been telling me, "Laos... go to Laos," but I was slow to take their advice because after traveling in Cambodia I became exhausted with my plan, so decided to limit my once expansive itinerary to Thailand. A day trip to Kanchanaburi turned into a 14 day sojourn--swimming and cycling along the River Kwai, visiting WWII railway sites, caves, elephants, tigers and monkeys (Oh My!). I got so thoroughly wet the first two days at Songkran-- the wet and wild Thai New Year--that I decided to join in the fun for the last two days. Either participate or sit in my sweltering hotel room...so I joined in--I never imagined I'd be in an MTV Beach Party scene (only the Thais were clothed slightly more modestly than their American counterparts) and that I'd actually enjoy that scene ... it was a BLAST (from the machine gun water pistols).

Fortunately, Thailand has an bewildering policy of not extending visas unless you do a border crossing, so I decided to spend a few days in Laos--which is likely to become a few weeks. Laos is a green gem--less crowded, modest tourist trade crap, more emphasis on outdoor activities, a "real chill place" (the highest compliment from European backpacker set). So the past few days I've cycled the old French colonial town of Luang Prabang (simple, elegant, & clean), gone swimming in the waterfalls nearby (so lush and tropical it's barely real--like a movie set or something), kayaking down the Ou River--One of my best experiences of this entire trip will be jumping out of the kayak in the middle of the river (slow moving) that cuts a primeval path through the beautiful green jungle (what it must look like during rainy season) and floating behind the kayak--powerful, amazing-- I am so fortunate.

I encourage all my family and friends to consider Laos in future travels. It's on a cusp of change--they are trying to build an eco-tourist trade but are struggling with illegal poaching and illegal logging. I don't know how Lao will evolve in the future--I hope a model closer to Costa Rica than Khao San Road in Bangkok!