Allure of Unknown Laos:
How Hipster Backpackers Followed Early Explorers to Laos

Vientiane Province

Not so long ago, tiny, mysterious Laos was a country essentially forbidden to foreigners, a country at war, where only the oddest westerners could be found. However the allure of the unknown in Laos has always been powerful…attracting intrepid explorers, merchants, soldiers of fortune, spies and other shadowy characters, and finally in the 1960s, long haired backpackers.

Despite being totally landlocked, European explorers & merchants of centuries past endured arduous & lengthy overland journeys, or had to attempt to navigate the mighty Mekong to reach the mysterious landlocked Kingdom of Laos. It was not easy; jagged mountain ranges blocked easy access from any seaport, and the largest waterfalls in Asia (Lipi & Khon Pha Paeng) thwarted even small-scale navigation up the Mekong! This resulted in Laos remaining “off the beaten track” and thus far apart from the frenetic mainstream of modernization & progress: it meant that only the most intrepid few experienced Laos. In colonial times, Laos was an idyllic backwater, a plum of a posting for French colonial officials, who could live like kings amongst the lovely, gentle Lao people. Today, while “Old Asia” is alive & well here, Laos is gradually discovering the outside world. Visitors to Laos today are as much a curiosity to local people as the other way around!

Map of Laos, Courtesy of the CIA

The first backpackers went to Laos about 30 years ago. Laos was but a side-trip for travelers passing through Thailand. It was a country at war, although the world knew and cared little about it. They traveled the 'Overland Trail' from Europe through the Middle East and finally to India and Nepal, the Mecca for longhaired travelers. It was common between 1965 and 1975 to meet people - and families even - that had been 'On the Road' for years, working, finding innovative ways to scrape by and make money along the way to perpetuate the odyssey. Only a few of those early 'round the world people' continued east from India, bypassing forbidden Burma, to Thailand. A few of those hitchhiked, took the train, or braved the bus (smoke-belching, shock-sprung, often doorless vehicles, collectively called 'Big Red or 'The Orange Crush') to Nong Khai - Thailand's first and main doorway to Laos! Those who crossed the Mekong into Laos did so in spite of, or in some cases because of, the proximity of the Viet Nam War.

An old Asia hand once said: "The Vietnamese plant the rice, but the Lao people listen to it grow", regarding the laid-back life style of the Lao. This has always been the Lao way, and for two decades of war, if one were in the sleepy capital of Vientiane, one would hardly know there was a war going on at all! The French influence was still very much felt, with tree shaded sidewalk cafes, patisseries, boulangeries and even a fromagerie. It was common to converse with Lao people in French, as it was the language of the lyceé.

Lipi Falls on the Mekong

THE INDOCHINA WAR YEARS IN LAOS

During the war years in Laos & Vietnam, a sharp-eyed visitor to Vientiane would have noticed that the city had a large American population. Shadowy American ‘spooks', Air America pilots, diplomats, US embassy and suspicious USAID (United States Agency for Internal Development) officials were thick in Vientiane during those days. Old timers (Lao & American) tell of the undertone of intrigue in Vientiane. The raunchy & raucous bars were full of pretty Lao girls, pilots, spooks and businessmen. Almost every piece of machinery and equipment one saw, from typewriters to trucks, had USAID decals on them. Today, while most acknowledge that the United States Agency for Internal Development played a pivotal role in the clandestine war in Laos, the most visible ‘development' to be seen at the time was in the night-trades of Vientiane.

One amusing story concerning USAID is about the giant Lao version of the Arc de Triomphe (called the Victory Monument, or “Patu Xai”), allegedly built with USAID money earmarked for a new runway at the city's airport, earning it the nickname “The Vertical Runway”! Early hippies in the midst of all this must have wondered what was going on!

Lima Site – Secret US Airbase, 1968

...AND WHY TRAVELERS LOVE LAOS TODAY

Today's travelers, though generally less intrepid, are still pioneering what will be tomorrow's upscale tourist destinations: Laos is no exception. The ancient Royal Capital of Luang Prabang, Muang Singh on the Chinese border, Vang Vieng & Tha Kaek, tucked away in sculptured limestone mountains and Si Pan Don (Four Thousand Islands), in southern Laos have all become popular destinations.

Travelers continue to put Laos on the map, in a way even decades of war failed to do. Today cosmopolitan Vientiane exhibits an amalgam of Lao aristocratic and French colonial influence, giving visitors an authentic old-world view of Laos. Exquisite Lao or European cuisine can be enjoyed in elegant accommodations. Some old French colonial buildings are now charming hotels, and many new hotels have been built as well. Today, with the inroads of foreign travelers, there are luxurious and tasteful places from the Chinese border to the southern tip on the Cambodian frontier. Whether you prefer 5-star travel or the back-road route, you will find wonderful, friendly places to stay throughout Laos today, amidst cultures nearly as old as the hills.

Trekking Today, Bolavens Plateau

Undisturbed by man, tigers and elephants still rule the rain forest through much of Laos. Comparable in physical size to Thailand and Viet Nam, Laos' population of 6 million represents only a tiny fraction of the population of the neighboring Thai & Vietnamese giants! There is a lot of wild, open space here – less than half of this small nation has ever been explored & surveyed! Most of Laos is truly virgin, known only in part to indigenous hill-tribe hunters. It is one of the few countries in the world where nature still has a chance, one of the few places where one can experience nature ‘intact'. Eighty percent of Laos is mountainous, covered by lush vegetation, huge tropical hardwoods, and home to more than a 100 species of wild animals and several hundred species of birds. Laos remains a virtual paradise, still naturally and spiritually intact, while the rest of the world whirls in confusion, at an increasingly frenzied pace.

The Wild Central Limestone Region