Southeast Asia forum

honestly I don't know what that means - culture bursting at the seams. But I would guess you mean places that are VERY removed from western influence. Cultures are not stagnant, not ours and not theirs either, and western influence is very pervasive in many places. The more rural you get, the less that is true. But, of course, the more rugged you live and, frankly, the more boring things tend to be.

I have always said that language is culture, and I believe that. To understand why certain peoples behave the way they do requires a lot of verbal interaction. So if you really want to understand a culture, then you have to start working on the language. You don't have time for that, and certainly not if you are going to two countries - that's two weeks each, which is enough to absorb no culture in either. Some people would say that eating local food and visiting some more interesting architectural and natural sites as culture - I view culture as more behavioral, but if that is truly where you interest lies, then there are the obvious choices of places like Luang Prabang, Vientiane, perhaps Tha Khek... Halong Bay, Hanoi, Hue...

Was there a reason you chose Vietnam and Laos vice, say Thailand or Cambodia?

The guys to ask about Laos are Rufus and Somsai. I would post questions about that place to them in the Laos section which they check reasonably often. I live in Thailand and am not a huge fan of Laos, although to be fair I haven't spent a lot of time there and my exposure was in a narrow range.

As for Thailand, it is a VERY varied place. It has areas that are VERY commercial and areas that are very rural and simple and pretty much everything in between. I like Thailand and Thai people, and I like modernity as well - I am not a naturalist or anything approaching it. So commercial works OK for me. But where my in-laws live there isn't much of it (but they do have power and running water all the time, or most of the time, and phone service now as well) and I find the place incredibly boring after a day or so. I've always found it interesting how some people here will wax eloquent about some dusty place in Laos with no regular electricity, no nightlife, no consistent hot water... and not much protection from the elements (elements I am particularly averse to are scorpions, centipedes, dengue carrying mosquitos and lethal snakes).

But yeah, I would recommend those two guys for Laos. They know what they're talking about reference that place.

Is your name really Kitchener, or are you from Kitchener, Ontario, or both?

Not related to Lord Kitchener by chance are you?

Posted from within Vietnam.

I'd recommend heading up to NW Vietnam - some of the most amazing scenery I've seen and hardly another Westerner in sight. Apart from in Sapa and Lao Cai of course, but they have their charms too. Travelling around there is pretty tough at times but the rewards are worth it.