Laid-back Laos

Talk about all your problems melting away. There is no room for stress, or bad moods in Laos. The country is laid-back. The people are genuinely friendly and they don’t hound you for a thing. Laos is just… chill. Vientiane is the capital city and rush hour seems to amount to no more than 15 cars being on the road at once. The capital has adapted to catering Western tourists well and there are many Western joints serving the food and amenities any Westerner might look for. Somehow that all seamlessly mixes in with the simple, local culture of developing world markets and inexpensive lifestyle. I took two days to fully relax and de-stress in the sleepy capital. There wasn’t much to do inside the city. I heard that you can rent a motobike and discover some nice landscapes and waterfalls outside the city. I decided to save that for when I worked my way back down though. First, I would head north to Vang Vieng and then Luang Prabang. It was the same idea the Irish lads I met on the bus had. I shared a room with one of them in Vientiane, which meant I paid $2 a night for lodging. We decided to head to Vang Vieng the same time and split a room there too.