In and Out of Laos

Laos has been the favorite Southeast Asia destination of nearly everyone I've met traveling. The New York Times ranked it as their #1 Destination of 2008, and Lonely Planet guidebook describes Luang Prabang as a "travel photographer's dream."

Unfortunately my experience was a bit different than everyone else's. I got to experience Laos' medical care first-hand... The same Lonely Planet describes the hospital as "eerily deserted" with serious medical cases needing to be flown to Thailand.

I caught a fever and a gnarly head-to-toe rash, and was confined to my guesthouse bed for a few days before being desperate enough to brave the hospital. Laos is a poor country, and the hospital depicted it, with a few cots (spots of dried blood on mine - sweet) and geckos crawling on the ceiling. I was kind of paranoid about getting a blood test, but needed to make sure I didn't have Dengue Fever or Malaria. There were some Irish guys at the hospital who sold me some of the extra needles they bought from the local pharmacy so I at least knew my needles were new.

Ultimately it ended up being nothing serious - probably a combination of an allergic reaction, and a bug I caught from river rafting or accidentally consuming tap water. I'm in Vietnam now, and feeling much better.

I ended up staying in Luang Prabang for about five days to recover, and did get to enjoy the town toward the end. Laos is a former French Colony, which is still apparent from the architecture (kind of resembling a calm, serene New Orleans neighborhood, with monks instead of street musicians and Buddhist temples everywhere). It lies right on the banks of the Mekong River and is surrounded by mountains and lush green jungles. There aren't many cars - just some tuk-tuks and a few motorcycles. There are a multitude of spas, cafes, and a beautiful Hmong night market. I think the best part of the French influence is that they continue to import brie cheese.

Laos is the world's most bombed country, thanks to the CIA's Vietnam War strategy, which most people back home don't know about (I certainly didn't before arriving.) Only 30% of the bombs have gone off, and the rest lie in fields throughout Northern Laos. Laos remains heavily undeveloped and environmentally unspoiled, and continues to get much foreign aid in attempts to build its nation after years of war and French rule. They were hit the hardest during the Asian Economic Crisis and the present government is communist. For visitors, Laos is a serene treat after coming from heavily developed Thailand or Vietnam - I read many tourists are Thai, who come to Laos for a look at what Thailand was like prior to Westernizing.

The most adventurous thing I did in Laos was the journey to Luang Prabang from Thailand via a 2-day slow boat down the Mekong. The idea of it sounded impossibly romantic, but the seats on the boats resembled the Puritans' church pews. Fortunately a woman in Thailand sold me a pillow for "comfort make sit", and throughout the journey, Laos kids would board the boat with laundry baskets full of beer, cigarettes and chips.

On my final day in Luang Prabang, I was thankfully well enough for a much-needed spa.