Laos forum

Personally, I find the "authentic Laos experience" to be bad food and dirty, run down hotels. The people are friendly enough, but Laos villages are holes. That's why so many Laotians are living in Thailand.

Tha Khaek, IMHO, is boring.

Savanakhet, a little further down the road, is bigger (reportedly the second largest city in Laos, which is saying something about Laos but not saying anything good), and has a couple of decent, if expensive, restaraunts. But it's pretty boring too.

Honestly, there isn't much to see or do on the Laotian panhandle, but everytime I've been there (which has been often for visa runs) there are backpackers all over the place.

Somsai
I was a soldier for 27 years and spent large amounts of time "living close to nature" in such exotic places as East Africa and the Middle East. It has taught me to appreciate civilization more, and unfortunately Laos is a little short in that department for my tastes. Can I rough it? Sure. Do I enjoy it? No more than I enjoy sleep deprivation.

I think some see Laos as Thailand was in days gone by and romanticize it. If that works for them, fine. For me it's just dirty and run down. So I don't go there anymore, because I don't have to (visa is now squared away) and I live literally right across the river from Laos. Just no reason for me to go. I kind of cringe when I hear someone write about the "authentic" Laos experience. Even the Laos don't enjoy the authentic Laos experience. Not sure why someone would want to spend their valueable leisure time (you only get so much in this life) eating bad food, sleeping on a mat on a dirty floor... Maybe age has jaded me, but I'd be seeking more hedonism before heading back to the rat race.

Also Laos has no salsa scene - none, zero, zip. Major drawback.

"OK, we never go for luxury but we feel we would rather sleep on a mattress and eat decent food."

Yes, this is possible.

p.s there are a fair few tourists there but nothing on the scale of Luang Prabang/Vientiane...avoid anywhere you can go on a vip bus/minibus and youll be fine

Intrepid82

I wasn't going to add anything here, as I felt that others could say more. But I relented.

Ii appears you want to visit 'areas less travelled'. I envy you (Though JohnMac thinks otherwise).

The tenor here has been, get off the beaten track anywhere and you'll be away from the maddening throng. Most here could list many places like that, north, central & south.

I doubt that Tha Khaek is 'off the beaten track' anymore. I consulted LP and it says...

Who'd have thought it? In a couple of years Tha Khaek, the archetypal somnolent Laos riverside town has gone from a charming but relatively boring place to the base for an evergrowing range of adventure travel in central Laos..

But, get away from the bus routes and you'll hardly see another westerner.

For example, in nthn Laos earlier this year, I went to Ban NaLae. It was if I was the first white/westerner that had ever been there. And, its only 2 hours on a motorbike from Luang Nam Tha. Similarly, south of Muang Sing doesn't see too many westerners. And, I was a bit of a novelty when I went 30 minutes away from the Muang Khua main road.

sayadian

food I wouldn't feed to a dog...

As a very generalised statement, I've found that Laos people tend not to venture into the restaurant business. This appears left to the Han (Chinese or Vietnamse): at least the cooks are Han.

So, I doubt you'll find crook food. But, if you are like me, then Han food in the backblocks isn't that flash.

I've found that where the Lao provide food is in markets. So, midday meals are always available, and in some places, the market extends to night time opportunities.

While rural Laos is poor, I don't think it's as poor as Cambodian backblocks. Anyway, rural Laos has a sort of integrity that seems to ensure visitors (nice ones anyway) aren't fed to the....

Cheers

I think in the case of Southern Laos, "less touristy" just means not as many people go there, and there isn't as much of a tourist infrastructure, especially compared to Luang Prabang. Fewer tourists = less tourist infrastructure. The two feed off each other. But that is changing ... slowly. Chong Mek is no longer a backwoods border crossing (well, it IS but it is becoming more and more "important" especially to Thai cross-border shoppers). Anyways, tourist infrastructure or not, you can always get where you want on public transport, and there will always be a place to stay ... and they aren't all flea-pits. Some are quite nice.

I found that Champasak was quite sleepy. In fact, it was sound asleep! It's a super little spot to hang your hat for a few days and take in some of the local attractions, but don't expect to go out dancing each night. There are nice little villages in the area with very friendly locals who see very few people. They are easy to get to. You just have to find a path leading to the nearby hills and go for a walk. As it is located on the river with the mountains on the other side, the scenery is beautiful and it's unlikely that you'll get lost.

Wat Phu is great. It certainly doesn't compare to Angkor or Phnom Rung in terms of scale and grandeur, but its location, design, and importance to the Khmer Kingdom is indisputable. If you are interested in Khmer history, architecture, and religion, then I think that it should not be missed. It's a lovely bike ride from Champasak (10km) through more nice little villages along the Mekong. If you get there early enough, you can have the place for yourself. It's probably worth about 3 or 4 hours, including a trot through the museum.

I have had some pretty bad Lao food, but I've had bad food in every country I've been in, including Thailand. With regards to Southern Laos, I found the food to be excellent in the places where we were getting it. The fish I ate came fresh from the river and was not farmed like most of the Mekong fish that get served-up in Thailand. Eggs, chicken, veggies, noodles ... all of them were great.

There is little to no river traffic other than local fishermen, kids in dugouts, and the odd tourist boat floating down to Wat Phu from Pakse. There is virtually no vehicle traffic. The place is Quiet!

Yes, Laotian villages can be a bit dirty, especially compared to Thai villages of similar size, but there are many, many reasons that come into play. Personally, I think of dust and woodsmoke when I think of Laos villages (and Nepalese villages), but I am dusty and smell like woodsmoke whenever I come home from camping, so I don't mind in the least. I kind of like it.

It's definitely worth going to if you have the time.

This video was done by some backpackers and shows the bikes that they hired on the loop and classic examples of troubles along the way.AWESOME!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naSUJwDZDR8