Being stupid in Soviet Asia

Lao PDR (People's Democratic Republic) is one the five remaining communist countries in the world. It's also one of the countries included on a popular Southeast Asian backpacking route. Thailand is famous for its' beautiful islands and spicy food, Cambodia has Angkor Wat and everybody knows Vietnam because of the war. Laos is famous for nothing. It's like a lucky hangaround getting some attention left over from its' neighbors. One of my most bizarre travels by far happened in this mysterious country. And like so many times before, I ended up in some weird and unforeseen situations.

In Laos they have this thing called communism.

Because the decision of leaving was made spontaneously, about 24 hours before, I was educating myself about the destination not earlier than after the arrival at an internet café in Vientiane, the Lao capital. I was surprised by the hard facts the Wikipedia-article provided. Besides that their communist one-party system is ranked near the top of the world when it comes to corruption, Laos is also 25th hungriest country in the world. It's also ranked very low on HDI (Human Development Index) and during the war of Vietnam it was bombed constantly. What is more, Laos is a big player in the production of opium. After exiting the café I was observing my new surroundings with brand new eyes.

The cars are old but they're working just fine.

The first impression of the country was that it was like the stereotype of Russia. Villages were poor and roads were full of crater-like holes. People didn't seem to care about safety while they were driving their unstable scooters and DIY-tractors in the countryside. Our wolfpack of exchangers from Bangkok started to make jokes about "the Russia of Southeast Asia" quite immediately after the arrival at Vang Vieng, our hangout spot for this short vacation. The place is well known amongst travellers because of its' famous activity, tubing. Tubing means floating in the river on a big tractor tire and drinking beer, making stops at riverside bars during the daylight hours. Of course the river is full of rocks so there's another factor of excitement. This pub crawl also included activities such as cockfight-boxing above a pool of dirty water, basketball on a slippery floor under cold shower and limbo with the bar set on fire. Every time when taking a mental step backwards to the European mindset one had to ask himself "are you really sure that this is safe?". But it was the best party ever, and also quite cheap.

Vang Vieng at night

Lucky mofos found some ropes on the way to the top.

After a couple of days it was clear that when in Vang Vieng, the concept of safety doesn't exist. Not in the activities nor your own head. Of course a group of eight impulsive guys is stupider than one responsible young adult, but when we found ourselves inside a mountain exploring a claustrophobic cave with only two flashlights after the guide abandoned us we knew that we were not being very wise. We were well aware that we were being stupid and having good time surviving the trap we were building for ourselves. It was being crazy in a reasonable way, taking a risk after a short negotiation and planning. And then doing it again. We survived that and some other self-created dangers with exceeded self-confidence built up by the group spirit and experience about reckless travelling. Neither it wasn't "wise" to climb up a mountain with the worst motorbikes we've ever drove just before the sunset and then coming down in the dark with almost empty tank. But when driving the bikes back to Vang Vieng no one was scared and for me the whole situation was actually relaxing. Feeling alive once again. Back in Europe we probably wouldn't do anything like that. But the atmosphere and attitude of Vang Vieng got us in an adventurous mood and the sense of self-protection faded away.

Backyard of a local roadside supermarket.

We were overwhelmed by the things we saw in the surroundings of the city. The poverty, the animals walking around freely, locals driving motorbikes that looked like they were picked up from the bottom of Mekong. There were some tourist attractions that apparently were not exactly what was written in the signs. The cave adventure I mentioned earlier was a good example; the guide abandoned us in the middle of the cave because the "lagoon inside the cave" was non-existing. Taking us there and showing that the lagoon was actually just a hole filled with water would have been bad for him. Maybe the most bizarre thing we saw was an afternoon party in the countryside between Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. We had drove our bikes for a good while and were hoping to find some food. Then in the middle of nowhere there were two restaurants, one on each side of the road, playing western pop hits as loud as possible! We took a look inside these wood structured open air bars to find out that there were not more than ten people inside. They were drinking buckets of soda-whiskey, getting drunk at 3 o'clock in the afternoon and listening the music way too loud for a small party like that. It seemed like they didn't have any idea what they were doing. Maybe it was because they all were around 14 years old (this was told us by the bar owner). She also said that in Laos nobody cares. I recommend to check out the video below on full screen.

Laos was the most random trip I've done here by far and I can recommend it to anyone who is looking for adventures. Just leave the tubing after one day and start to explore the surroundings. Rent a bike, kick in the gear and let yourself go. Don't make any plans. The things that you might see are something you would never expect. And when it comes to being stupid: being stupid is not good for everyone. It's better to take care of yourself and your friends when being spontaneous and impulsive. But that's usually the way to experience something outside the travel guides.