I loooooove it! - Laos

Yea! We made it! And soooooo well worth all the hassles and hiccups we had to deal with to get here! Its funny because when traveling, you move around so much its rare that you really feel comf and almost 'at home' at one particular place. Maybe after spending a whopping 3 days or something at one time, but even that isn't that common (except in our case, Hong Kong for 5 days). So it was a rare feeling that we hardly even left the airport in Vientiane, Laos that I felt sooo relaxed and comfortable. It is sooooo amazingly awesome here, I can't even begin to tell you. Most people don't know too much about Laos (we had to point to a map in HK and Macau to show where it is) and were asking us, "why are you going there?" Outside of the fact that we are in SE Asia and the countries are super close and the "why not" factor, but we have heard such good things from people that we were excited to get here. Not being known for anything in particular, basically just for being slow and sleepy, there is a wonderful, lazy atmosphere about it. We met some Germans that had been traveling the world for 2 years (yes, 2 years!), and when we were asking them about Laos and sites and things, they said that you don't go to Laos for the sites, you go for the people and the atmosphere. They planned on staying in Laos for 2 weeks and ended up staying there for 6 weeks. Now after being here, I can totally see what they are saying. The people.... sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo sooooooooo nice! The atmosphere..... sooooooooooo sooooooooooooooo relaxed and laid back. Its soooo chill and soo pleasant to be in a place like this.

Here's an example: So we arrive here and are looking at places to stay. We scout a little, make sure rooms are safe and comfortable, and we come across one that we like. We decide to take it, and the owner leads us to the room, kind of points to where everything is, and then just gives us this big smile... and leaves. At first, we are just happy to have a decent accomodation, but then we realized he was already half way down the hallway. So we chased him down and were like "umm... we would like to stay for 2 nights, should we fill out anything? and how much again?" And he just smiled and laughed and said "don't worry about it! Just pay when you leave and enjoy your stay." What? Sooooooooooo awesome! So much for paying upfront and the time costly paperwork, passport checks, and key deposits that we have had to deal with. Its that laid back. And by the way, we are staying in a nice place for $10USD.... which is more on the expensive side. Things here are sooooooooooooo sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo cheap! Dinners, beer (!!) are a little more than $1 USD, seriously. So of course you want to spend more because everything is so cheap, so we have to remember that every dollar counts! Clothes, nice clothes, you can find for $5-$10. But once again, the food, delicious food is around $1-3 dollars. AWESOME! I love it how cheap it is!

Vientiane is the capital of Laos, but when I say that, don't think of capital cities you normally would. Basically, there is like two 4-story buildings and a fountain, and that is the downtown area. It is soooo small. I loove it how it is so rustic and small and.... just laid back! A couple of times, we were thinking, "no really, where are the people?" And then you find them sleeping at some random places. Hardly anyone gives receipts, you just kinda pay them when you are done eating, and thats that! Which, by the way, the food is absolutely ahhhhh-mazing. Of course we arrived and there was a festival going on by the river. I had to get a photo of the sunset:

I really can't pinpoint why I love it so much! I really feel happy and like I said, it was just a feeling we both got almost immediately, like "wow! This place is sooo cool! Now I see why people plan to stay here for a certain amount of time and stay here for so much longer." I've never seen people smile so much. At first I thought that we were getting laughed at or made fun of (yes, I know, its silly. Its just that I'm like 2 feet taller and 4 sizes bigger than anyone - they are TINY here), but then I realized that the people genuinely are nice, like to smile, and really have a no worries attitude. How great is that? The city is surprisingly Western, BUT does NOT feel like its overrun by tourists. The locals don't look twice at you and DO NOT stand in your face trying to sell things (i.e. China). The only "hassles" we have gotten is from tuk-tuk drivers, and that itself is hardly a whisper saying "tuk tuk?" and you just shake your head, they smile at you, and you move on. Here is one:

Although it looks small, we've seen a good 10-12 people crammed in there, and it really does make a "tuk tuk" kind of sound. Its kinda funny.

Laos is really is a gem and I hope it stays that way. Yes, there are tourists, but it doesn't affect the everyday life of the Laotian people. If we weren't cramped for time, I would love to just chill-out here for a week or two, then make my way to another city. As Laos is known for being "sleepy," today was a good example. We took a minibus from Vientiane to Vanviang (3 and a half hours) and took all of 5 minutes to walk around the town (its about 2 blocks by 2 blocks) then spent the rest of the day drinking Lao Beer for less than a dollar, ate equally as cheap excellent food, sat on of these comf 'sleeper' seats and watched Friends episode after Friends episode:

Ha ha! We were just opposite that doing the same thing - nothing! There aren't too many sites to see in the immediate area - there are excursion/day trips (which we will be doing), but you really just hang out and relax. Sooo sooo chill! Its awesome just having nothing to do.... for now. I would have to say I would get bored after about 3 days of this though! I enjoy sightseeing and doing stuff too much!

By the way, in case your wondering, here is what I'm traveling with for 4+ months. And yes, thats it! (I do laundry a lot, and yes, the bags still feel heavy. I also have shipped some stuff home!):

Here's a map of the travels to Laos: