Laos: Making the Best of the Backpacker Trail

When we heard that Colleen’s friend Camille had decided to join us for a few weeks, we were excited to share our travels with her. Her visit would coincide with our time in southeast Asia, so we looked into it a bit and suggested Laos as a destination. Because it is a little out of the way, we figured that Laos might be a little less crowded with tourists than neighbouring Thailand, Vietnam or Cambodia affording perhaps a more adventurous experience. Unfortunately we were dead wrong. Laos has been “discovered” and is a popular stop on the famous southeast Asian backpacker trail. The backpacker trail is the nickname given to popular destinations in the region and the routes linking them together. It was once the destination of choice for independent travellers looking for adventure, but is now more or less overrun with hordes of holidaymakers of all kinds being shuffled like cattle from one overcrowded spot to the next. There are still plenty of great things to see and do, but unless you make an effort to get away from it, at most stops, the tourists outnumber the natives, and you are just as likely to find pizza and banana pancakes as noodles or rice. Of course this dampens any sense of discovery or adventure, and can frankly be a little annoying. However, we’re all about making lemonade, not dwelling on the lemons, so we did our best to make the backpacker trail work for us, and did our best to show Camille a good time.

Boat to Mong Ngoi

One advantage of the backpacker trail is that the transportation infrastructure is fairly well established, so that getting places is easy. Easy is a relative term though, it’s not meant to imply that’s Laotian travel is comfortable or particularly safe. The busses are held together with duct tape, the boats leak, the roads alternate between paved with giant potholes to unpaved with giant potholes, and while everything always seems to work out, the “system” governing the purchase and exchange of tickets is chaotic and indecipherable at best. Frankly the traveller is just a confused bystander hoping for the best. However, armed with some patience and a willingness to suffer some discomfort you can get places relatively quickly if you want to. This worked to our advantage in that this was Camille’s vacation, and unlike us, she had a limited time in which to pack in as much as she could. So pack it in we did. Aside from Bangkok where we met Camille and spent 4 days, I don’t think we spent more than two consecutive days in any one spot. As near as I can figure, we covered somewhere in the neighbourhood of 1000 km in Camille’s three week visit, and we covered them in almost every mode of transport available: train, tuk tuk (three wheeled motor taxi), songthaaw (sort of a small pick up truck with two benched in the back), sleeper bus, local bus, VIP bus, taxi , minivan, bicycle, longboat, motorbike, inner tube, elephant, and kayak, and we were able to see the better part of northern Laos including Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Nong Khiaw, Mong Ngoi, Phonsavanh, Vang Vieng.



Elephant ride

Another advantage of the backpacker trail, is that there tends to be plenty of things to see and do everywhere you go, and seeing and doing them tends to be easy. From cycling in Luang Prabang, to hiking to remote villages in the hills around Mong Ngoi, to partying with the tubers in Vang Vieng, to motorbiking around Vientiane, and all the temples, museums and stunning scenery in between, every day was filled with some new activity or thing to see. Frankly, once Camille got going, she wore us out. As far as the activities go, I liked the kayaking best, but that was only because Camille dunked herself and her French partner trying to go through some rapids. Colleen’s favourite was definitely the Lao massage. Not only was it the best massage she had ever had, but at 5 dollars for one hour, she could have them at will (she just had to be careful to avoid the massage parlours offering boom boom). Camille said she liked the cycling best because it got her out into the countryside and away from the tourist hustle of the towns. I wouldn’t presume to contradict her, but to me, she seemed most animated after the elephant encounter. There is something about sitting on the neck of an elephant as it walks through a river that will do that to you.



A wat, two monks and a scooter

The best part the backpacker trail though is other travellers. It is a weird dichotomy. On the one hand being off the beaten path and having a place to yourself is a bit of an ideal, but at the same time, connecting with fellow travellers can be some of the best experiences to be had on the road. It is difficult to describe, but most travellers tend to be really generous, thoughtful and interesting people, and because everyone is in the same boat, it is very easy to strike up a conversation and meet people. We met so many great people in Laos, and just about every night was spent with a small group of fellow travelers shooting the breeze, playing cards and drinking beer or laolao (the local firewater). Also because most were following the same route (thanks again to the backpacker trail), we would end up running in to the same people again and again in different cities and get to spend more time with them.

Three's Company

So while Laos may not have been as adventurous as some of the other places we’ve been to, we certainly covered a fair bit of ground (in some dodgy transport), saw and did some pretty cool things, and met some great people. Backpacker trail or no, that is what travelling is all about. We really enjoyed Camille’s visit, and our time in Laos immensely, we hope Camille did too.

Anyway, like I said before, Camille kind of wiped us out. We need a vacation to recoup from her visit. I hear there are these Islands in the Mekong river in southern Laos near the border with Cambodia that specialize in thatched huts, turquoise water, hammocks and cold beer. Sounds perfect.

Michael

Souksan Guesthouse

Don Khone, Laos