Happy Laos

Laos? When I told some of my compatriots that I am going to Laos, they looked at me with a question in their eyes, ‘is that a country?’. Laos is hardly heard, but I was so surprised to see the amount of tourists in this land locked country. I had cherished pleasant feeling thinking that it might be a primitive country having virgin forests. Yes it is blessed with 70% forest -land but tourist friendly and much modern. And Laos is one of the less populated country in Asia.

After much unrest and civil war communism took over in 1975, and rule the country with a one party system. But that hasn’t affected their Buddhist way of life, though initially they were discouraged to become monks. In today’s Laos both Communism and Buddhism live together. One can see party flags and prayer flags, or monasteries exit side by side. Even today the prayers at certain monasteries are done in Pali language(language in which Buddha gave his teachings) When I befriended a monk there he invited me to offer prayers, thinking that as an Indian I would understand the language. Though I accepted the invitation, I conveyed my illiteracy in Pali language.
Pha Lak Pha Lam, or the Indian version of Ramayana is the most popular classic literature.

People of Laos are laid back and friendly and add flavour of fun even at work as they consider stressing too much is unhealthy for both the mind and body. Lao beer is the national drink and considered as pride of nation. As not an industrialized country, they have to depend heavily on neighbouring countries as Thailand, China and Vietnam for trade and consumer products. Capital Vientiane is a small town but clean and orderly that would slip into slumber after 9pm. Though not ‘modern’ in the strict sense of the term, you will get all the cuisines of world over there. I had some delicious Indian food from a restaurant own by a Bangladeshi. Lao cuisine lack the depth and delicacy of Thai food, but I tried some soup and sticky rice. Surprisingly life in Laos is costlier than in Thailand.

Luang Prabhang, the ancient capital is a mountainous place blanketed with lush greenery. It is on the banks of Mekong river, which adds charm to the city. Unesco listed it in the world heritage list. As a former French colony, the elegant wooden buildings bear the mark of French architecture. This sleepy town extends its calmly elegance to tourists lavishly. A ride around the outskirts of city is quite refreshing with its green landscapes and perfumes of frangipanis, which is a symbol of Laos.

The malls that mushroom in Laos are flooded with cheap Chinese products. They have imitations of almost all the big brands in the world. The huge jewellery market, mostly sell imitation of gold and other jewelleries. Though considered poor country, I
havn't seen any beggars on the road. People seem quite content with their simple way of life.


Laos culture and way of living is slightly similar to Thailand. Women seem free and run many business at least in cities. Unlike in Thailand where girls are in western robes, I have seen many girls wearing their traditional dress. It was so lovely to see the girls in their traditional dress.
Though not a road less traveled, Laos still reminds me of a lost land in the mountains, which I would like to explore again.

Sawateeka (welcome) to Thailand

Thailand is considered the land of smiles. True people are easy going and welcome you with a warm smile. They never forget to say ‘kopun krab(Thank you)’ in return of even a slightest gesture from you. Bangkok is very touristic, yet it won’t disappoint you. You can easily melt into the crowd and become one among themselves. They hardly bother you with stares or personal questions. People are generally polite and courteous. I feel it is a strange combo of sky scrappers, sky train and smiles.


It is a paradise of food. If you walk around the street, you will get tempted by those varieties of food on the display. It seems street food is an inevitable part of their life. I enjoy Thai food and some dishes remind me of Kerala food as they too use coconut. I had a delicious banana flower salad made with coconut milk and different dishes made of rice noodle from a vegetarian restaurant run by few women ambassadors of vegetarianism. People are quite health conscious despite their love for food. I have hardly seen any overweight people there.

It is quite a modern and well- planned city though the traffic- jam at peak hours reminded me of Indian cities. Chao praya river, flows through the heart of Bangkok is the life line of the city. A boat trip around the river, watching those sky scrappers on the both sides is amazingly romantic. A shopper’s delight it is. You will get everything that satisfies your luxurious taste. Besides it is a land of orchids as well. The lovely variety of orchids in the flower market was a real feast to my eyes.
But our visit to floating market was disappointing. It was an area for tourists and seemed everything was ‘arranged’ for tourists, all goods are very pricy as well. I feel this artificial ‘make up’ is a bad aspect of tourism.
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Buddhism is the major religion, besides there are Muslims and Christians as well. It is believed that Buddhism reached there from Srilanka. There are many monasteries that mark the strong presence of religion, in Bangkok. I learned that they worship Lord Ganesh as well, for them it is ‘papi Ganesh’. And like Indian epic ‘Ramayana’, they have their own Ramayana, but it is slightly different from Indian version.

As in many Buddhist countries women are free as the society is much open. Thailand gave me an impression that the society is run by women. You can see the presence of women in all aspects of life especially in service industry and area of food is more or less controlled by them. I don’t know exactly about the status of women there, but Thailand impressed me as a country of women, unlike my strictly male dominated country. Thai king is the father figure of the nation. Everyday during the song that hails king, even those who walk on the road will stop to pay respect to him.
Our train journey from Bangkok to boarder of Laos was quite interesting. The train is quite clean and the sleeper berth was very comfortable.

There is sex market in Bangkok where you can see half naked girls dancing to the delight of tourists. But this is an ugly face of commercial tourism in modern era and Thailand is not an exception. The difference is that it is pretty open there.

The hosts at the guest house (Samsen 5 lodge) where we were staying, made us feel at home. They were so polite and generous. They feed us on delicious Thai food for breakfast. I left Bangkok with fond memories about the land of smiles.