Lots to Love about Laos

There's something to love about every place that I've visited. I can even think of a few things to love about Luxembourg, which is probably at the bottom of my "places to love" list: it's a clean, beautiful city and it's got good beer and great wine. Laos hasn't bumped Nepal from the top spot on that list, but it does get a pretty high ranking. Here are just a few of the things I loved about Laos:

1. Spending time with cousins. My cousin Kirsten and I are frequent travel buddies, so I get to spend time with her on many of my trips. This time, though, I also got to visit with my cousins Christa and Danae. (Actually they're my second cousins - or is it first cousins once removed? Their dad and I are first cousins.) Anyway, Christa has been teaching English in Vientiane for a year and a half, and her sister Danae's visit overlapped with the time that Kirsten and I were there. I think it had probably been at least five years since I last saw Christa and Danae; whenever the last time whas, I doubt any of us would have believed you if you'd told us then that the next place we'd see each other would be Laos! I'm thankful to be part of a family where second cousins (or whatever we are!) can say, "Hey, are you going to be around in January?" and then just pick right up when we visit.



2. The food! Okay, so I love food pretty much anywhere - even at home - but it's always fun to experience new tastes, and Laos didn't disappoint. Two highlights were sticky rice and green papaya salad, but pretty much everything was good - even the fried grasshoppers. Lao food is a lot like Thai; we ate so much good curry!






3. Natural beauty. Laos is gorgeous; I was especially enamored with the limestone karsts around Vang Vieng and the waterfalls near Luang Prabang, but much of the other scenery we encountered was very pretty, too.




4. And not to be outdone by nature - cultural beauty. Laos has a very diverse population with lots of minority groups. On one hike, we passed through adjacent villages - first a Khmhmu and then Hmong - and our guide gave us an interesting introduction to their different marriage customs and housing styles. Luang Prabang has a great arts and ethnology center about some of those groups, and one of the restaurant/bars in town also puts on a spectacular fashion show of traditional costumes. The models are students who without their pay for this work would likely be unable to afford school fees and related costs - a great way to put tourist dollars to good work!





5. The variety of activities we did - hiking, biking, kayaking, caving, sightseeing, swimming in waterfalls, learning to cook Lao food, meeting Christa's students, getting massaged, shopping. . . really, what's not to love about any of that? Here are a couple more photos; full album coming soon!