Laos July 2012

Tristan and I spent the last week of July and the beginning of August in Laos.  We focused on two cities: Vientiane and Luang Prabang.  I was so excited because I had never been to Laos before and had only heard amazing things.  It was just as great as I heard.  The food was amazing, the people were so kind and everything was so cheap!  It was very similar to Thailand except that since it is not quite as touristy there are no people hassling you to buy or do things.  The most we got were men in the back of tuk-tuks hanging in their hammocks saying, "Tuk-Tuk?" We would say no and they would go back to chilling.  It was glorious.

Another thing I loved was the French influence.  I say this with a little hesitation as Laos was colonized by the French and they did a lot of horrible things.  I don't condone it at all, but I must say that it's lovely to have so many baked goods and friend noodles at the same time!  

We spend the bulk of our trip going to museums, visiting temples, trying out the local food and just laughing.  I'm sure there was more than one occasion where people wished they were not sat so close to us as a restaurant.

Here are some pictures of our trip.  It was awesome.  I would totally suggest it to anyone.  Especially if you can get a cheap ticket.  There are cheap hotel options, though we opted for luxury.  Aside from that, getting daily massages, eating multiple meals a day and general getting around cost me 250 bucks for the whole week.  I didn't even look at the price of things.  If I had it to do again, I would spend most of my time in Luang Prabang.