Central Laos – Leaving Vientiane, Route 13 heads south. The geography of Laos is long and thin, almost Italy-like. So we’re leaving Milan… and we’re off the standard tourist route, which mainly covers Luang Prabang & Vientiane in the north. So the M1 of Laos, single carriageway, extremely undulating, with potholes, and occasionally simply missing. The Lao have a wonderful phrase for this… “The Dancing Road”.
The highway is equally used by Buses & Trucks, Tourist “People Carriers” [all seem to be Hyundai], Lao Tractors, Mopeds, Bikes, People, Cows, Goats, Chickens, & the very occasional car! The driving style is co-operative in the sense that although the roads are not over crowded, overtaking often requires help, and instead of enforcing a western “right-of-way”, Lao drivers adjust speed and road position to allow traffic to gently flow. Road rage it is not, and strangely it feels safe & accidents are few (unlike previous travels in India).
Central Laos is much flatter, but paradoxically the most memorable tourist “sites” are caves in the hills. That belittles the wonder of just “experiencing” villages, markets, emerald green crop laden fields, and the enchanting people. The Lao are gracious, relaxed and openly friendly in a way I’ve rarely experienced in the developing world. My favourite pastime has become practising my fluent Lao – “Sabaidee” (Hello) - & capturing the wonderful face of the children, who delight in smiling broadly and shyly giggling.
Another significant highlight is the food – clearly the chef in Heaven will be Lao - a cross between Thai and Vietnamese, with much more use of fresh spices and leaves. The national dishes are a Spicy Papaya salad and Laap, a meat (Chicken, Pork, or Beef) salad with mint, cilantro, and spices. The mixture of hot and cold, meat and salad is a Lao theme, a wonderful one!
Hin Buin National Park hosts the most original natural “wonder” I have visited – Tham Kong Lo, a 7 km cave under the mountain, sometimes up to a 100m high, pitch black inside and clear cool water, and after a ~1 hour trip on a shallow wooden boat with a long-tail outboard motors, you exit the other side, providing a new route for villages to transport their crops rather than the difficult 40km journey over the mountain pass. It was recently “discovered” by a local farmer who wondered why his ducks would swim into the cave and not return. The trip provides real adventure, head torches to the fore and several times exiting the boat & wading in the water to lift it across shallow beds or gentle rapids. The guides know the cave well, necessary as rocks frequently appear out of the blackness & are deftly avoided. Since the cave is remote & in the less touristy Central Laos, an average day sees only 15 boat trips. It felt a privilege to experience this now, as surely development of the area will generate more accessibility, commercialism & the inevitable crowds.
Mataxai Caves, near Thakek, are majestically carved from limestone hills, accessed via a jungle walk with a “local guide” - we’d have been lost in seconds; clear paths they were not, machetes would have been helpful. The local villagers revere their cool protection in the searing summer heat. There is a spiritual dimension too as local monks go on “retreat” to pray, some for two years, fed only by the gifts local villagers bring. The walk was hard work, draining in the mid 30’s sun, but the reward was the sudden appearance of Nong Thao Lake, hidden in the forest with the majestic backdrop of tree covered hills. For the villagers this is a source of food, fish & river weed; for the visitor, sheer wonder!
This country is simply breath-takingly beautiful…
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