Getting to Luang Prabang
The Brits in front of us said, "Everyone told us, 'You MUST take the slow boat through Laos'. So we made a special trip to Laos, just to take it." "No," we replied, "you must take the slow boat to travel anywhere in Laos. The river's the only way to get around."
We were fifteen minutes into a sixteen hour boat ride.
Hammering Out the Details
During our stay in Luang Prabang, we took a trip to a Hmong village to make our own knives with a master blacksmith. You can check out the blog post and our photos from that day, along with many other adventures, in our travel journal.
Vientiane
Walking through the streets of the capital city, occasionally, you can still hear people speaking French. The largest city in Laos, it's easy to find good food while you wander between temples and colonial remnant architecture.
COPE: Cooperative Orthotic and Prosthetic Enterprise
Laos is the most heavily bombed country on earth. During the Vietnam War, America conducted a secret campaign in Laos, dropping nearly a ton (2,000lbs!) of bombs per person living there. Much of this was in the form of cluster bombs, which can disperse explosives over an area the size of three football fields. To this day, there is unexploded ordinance scattered all over the country, creating the risk of death and disfigurement for millions. While there are ongoing efforts to locate and safely extract the bombs, there are often found in more tragic settings - by farmers tilling or planting, or by family cooking fires which heat up the ground beneath and cause them to detonate.
COPE is a nonprofit organization, founded by the Lao government and several NGOs, which provides prosthetics, rehabilitation, and other services to survivors. The visitor center offers information about the war, the bombs, recovery efforts, and what life looks life for survivors. Click here to visit their site for more information.
Si Phan Don | 4000 Islands
The hottest temperature we have ever experienced: 127 F (52 C). After a claustrophobic overnight bus ride to Pakse, another bus to the boat launch point, and a cramped, damp boat ride, we treated ourselves to the nicest hotel on the island, for $35/night. In the southern part of Laos, the Mekong River delta overcomes the land, splitting it into thousands of islands. Some islands are home to entire villages, some are little larger than the shrubs that live in their sandy soils. There is little to do beyond swing in a hammock, play some cards, and hope rains come to break the incessant sauna. This is the slowest place on earth. Nothing moves, not even the air.
