Southeast Asia’s antidote to travel exhaustion

[reader]

From The Toronto Star

By Jennifer SizelandSpecial to the Star

The thin stern of a pastel-blue-painted boat barely created ripples as the driver propelled us to the moss-fringed mouth of the river cave. We glided past plumes of pale green butterflies, which had gathered to lick salt from the muddy banks, before the damp dark of being inside a karst jolted our senses.

My partner and I were midway through a yearlong overland whirl through Asia, and after seven months of life on the road, sailing along a river in Laos felt like the antidote to travel exhaustion. Until then, I had been trying to see and do it all — a hard-to-resist temptation in a continent as vast and fascinating as Asia — and it wasn’t until Laos that I learned to slow down.

As I stood on the banks of Nong Khai, looking over the Mekong River that forms the natural border with Thailand, I could see lush trees and bushes after the choking dryness of my preceding weeks in Northern Thailand. Laos was an enigma to me, a departure from the well-beaten paths through places like India and Thailand. There was something so intriguing about a country I’d rarely heard about.

As soon as we arrived, I could see that the capital, Vientiane, was unlike any other in Southeast Asia, a relaxed city with tree-lined streets, an easy café culture and palpable history, reflected in ancient, gilded Buddhist monuments and French-colonial architecture. It felt right to sip our first Beerlao by the banks of the Mekong as the sun went down, with fireflies flitting over the water.

The whole city seemed to be out on the expansive promenade, taking an exercise class, having manicures and pedicures, shopping or playing cards. I watched as a Ferris wheel spun at a snail’s pace, and it struck me that Laos had a patience I didn’t yet possess. I had to know what the countryside had to offer.

The drier season meant that the ex-party town of Vang Vieng was much quieter than normal. Its prime attraction was traversing the Nam Song River in the inner tubes of old truck tires. With the river so low, tubing meant drifting past cows taking a drink, and gazing upon the emerald-covered karsts that line the bank. It was so relaxing that some in our group actually fell asleep.

Rivers are the open veins of Laos as they criss-cross the country, and swimming is a beloved national pastime as a result. It’s considered the ultimate way to recharge, so we took ourselves as close to it as possible by staying on a stilt lodge on the Nam Ou River in Nong Khiaw. The river barely moves due to a dam upstream and the limestone crags surrounding it, creating a small oasis we revelled in.

Once we travelled past the charming yet sleepy city of Luang Prabang, the already-tiny tourist trail dissipated completely. This meant we had to learn to slow down even more, as public transport became barely existent.

Continues with more photos

https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/2021/07/31/in-laos-southeast-asias-antidote-to-travel-exhaustion-i-finally-learned-the-art-of-slowing-down.html

[Guest]

As they put it, "learning the art of slowing down" is rather essential in Laos.   

Here are some of my photos from the first visit there, in 2009.    I only carry a compact camera and probably don't spend as much time figuring out how to use it as I should, so please excuse the quality.

I suspect the bridge in their photo is the same one as in my 5th photo, located in Luang Prabang.

The new railway line in Laos was due to open in December 2021.     Being really optimistic, perhaps there might just be a window of opportunity to use it in Laos, whilst Xi Jinping's 14 day quarantine rules keep the hordes of Chinese away.    One worth keeping an eye on ?

 

[PeterRS]

8 hours ago, z909 said:

Here are some of my photos from the first visit there, in 2009.    I only carry a compact camera and probably don't spend as much time figuring out how to use it as I should, so please excuse the quality.

Absolutely no need for any excuse whatever. The photos are quite lovely.

[Lucky]

Very nice photos. Thank you for sharing them.