Lovely Laos

I’ve just had two weeks holiday with Ken in neighbouring Laos. What a beautiful country! I was surprised to find that Laos is quite unlike Cambodia. The scenery is very varied, with limestone karst landcapes, low plains, high mountains and lots of clear water (not the muddy variety of Cambodia!). The facial features of the people are coarser than the Khmers and they have darker skins. Their lifestyles are more basic in some ways and more advanced in others. Their woven bamboo houses look charming, but are not very comfortable by our standards, and there is no privacy. Food is spicy, often eaten without cutlery and has sticky rice as the main staple. Laos has a fascinating history, including an appalling period 30-40 years ago during the Indo-China War, when US funded bombs were indiscriminately rained on the country. In spite of all the bomb damage there are still lots of beautiful wats to visit, and I also enjoyed seeing the mysterious Plain of Jars, which is a bit like Stonehenge, in that no one knows quite why the stone jars are there. The capital city, Vientiane, makes Bexhill-on-Sea seem like a heaving metropolis. January in the mountainous areas is really cold, particularly for me coming from steamy Cambodia. Travelling around the country is hard work, so it’s not a place for softies, but the rewards definitely outweigh the effort.