"Before, I thought that Laos had no attractive tourist attractions. But when I came here, I found this place was different from my imagination. Laos is really beautiful. And if you want to experience the most, you should choose to travel on your own," Mai shared with Travellive.
Pham Hong Hue (24 years old, Hai Phong) - commonly known as Mai. After arriving in Laos, she decided to share her explorations and cultural experiences in the neighboring country on many social networking platforms, at that time the name Mai Di Lao was born.
Mai's trip to Laos began after she got married. She and her husband came here to start a business selling beef jerky, mainly to tourists in the capital Vientiane. Since then, she has been attached to Laos until now. 8 months of experiencing the culture and exploring tourism made the Hai Phong girl love this country even more. Mai and her husband plan to return to Vietnam at the end of this year, but she said she will miss Laos and the impressive experiences here.
Living slowly in Laos for 8 months like a real local, Mai Di Lao (left) discovered many interesting things, experienced the culture and daily life of people in the Land of a Million Elephants.
Slow Living in Laos
“Imagine, you are a tourist on a tour, when you arrive in Vientiane you will visit Patuxay, That Luang stupa, Buddha statue park… after a few hours of tiring car ride, what will catch your eye is the destinations along with the tour guide's introduction, sunny weather, holding a bottle of mineral water in your hand, then you no longer have enough energy to listen, to understand and to feel.
On the contrary, when I decided to stay here, living slowly with the locals, I had time to broaden my horizons with all the new things. I saw monks begging for alms on bare feet in the morning, then sharing them with children, and the children were picked up by their mothers to go to the tiny, shabby house behind the town. Or I got to go to a new market every day, the markets in the inner city were planned to be small and pretty, with stalls arranged in a checkerboard pattern. The markets in the village were covered with red dust and a few small, fragile huts selling fish and shrimp just caught in the stream... There are many things to tell, but being a Laotian native is not easy," Mai excitedly said.
The photo was taken from the top of Phou Si mountain, panoramic view of the peaceful town
Coming to the old town, visitors should walk to enjoy the love radiating from all the houses and streets. Occasionally, you will see monks dressed in orange walking and chatting on the sidewalks with umbrellas.
Buddha Park in Vientiane capital
In Laos for the past 8 months, Mai has been to 3 provinces: Vientiane, Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang. She plans to visit Xieng Khouang province soon.
Vang Vieng is considered a miniature active forest, welcoming many foreign visitors. Coming here, people can experience bathing in the blue Blue Lagoon lake, ziplining through the forest, riding the Jungle car, climbing Nam Xay mountain to admire the endless Vang Vieng mountains and forests, or flying a hot air balloon, playing Tubing on the Nam Song river...
Experience the Water Festival in Laos
“My favorite place in Vang Vieng is because there are many relaxing spots along both sides of the river, like lying under the trees, letting your feet dangle in the water, and being able to wade out into the middle of the stream, feeling as relaxed as when you were a kid,” Mai said.
Luang Prabang, the peaceful and clean ancient capital of Laos, is hard to describe in words. This place is likened to a land of healing the soul.
Mai emphasized: “Like Hue in Vietnam, anyone who comes to Luang Prabang can feel the pace of life slowing down, becoming more peaceful and gentle. The Indochinese architecture blends with ancient Lao architecture gradually appearing before your eyes, the low-roofed wooden houses with airy courtyards full of shade trees, looking at every place is fascinating.”
Main street in the old quarter. Walking along the street, you can stop by any shops selling colorful handmade jewelry, decorations, clothing...
Dress up in traditional Lao costume at Heuan Chan, a 19th-century wooden house in the heart of Luang Prabang. A true pre-colonial aristocratic residence, it still retains its furnishings, room layout, and costumes.
What is special about Lao cuisine?
Ready-to-eat food stores are present on every big street and small alley and sell a variety of foods. Mainly grilled, fried and soup (in Laos, charcoal is sold everywhere and so are plastic bags). Regarding Lao cuisine, Mai is most impressed with sticky rice with grilled chicken and Tam Mak Houng (Lao papaya salad). Although the food in Laos is simple, it is still very delicious.
Lao people eat few vegetables, eat a lot of grilled food and do not pay attention to what to eat. Breakfast, lunch and dinner for working people all have sticky rice, grilled food, and fermented bean curd, which is filling, warm and cheap. Lao people rarely eat rice, the main food consumed is sticky rice, which they can eat with many things such as vegetables, grilled meat, Chinese sausage, bamboo shoot soup, papaya salad, pork sausage, roasted duck, etc.
“Say ua” and “say cooc” are both names for sausage. In Laos, there are many types of sausages with different flavors and shapes, all grilled and eaten with sticky rice. Tourists to Laos can buy dried beef, dried buffalo, and sausages as gifts.
Like other Southeast Asian countries, Lao people also love dishes made from insects such as ant eggs, bamboo worms, water bugs, etc.
Lao people love to drink beer, beer bars and hot pot restaurants are scattered all over the streets.
Mai added: “The beer drinking culture is what impressed me most when I was in Laos. Lao beer was voted the best beer in Asia by Magazines. Therefore, Lao people drink beer every day, and beer bars are everywhere. At 4:30 pm, beer bars start to get crowded until evening. On weekends, families and groups of friends gather together on a table in front of their house, eat, drink and turn on the speakers to dance, looking so happy.”
Besides, in Laos there are many unique and interesting experiences. For example, in Vientiane when participating in traffic by 2-wheeled vehicle: 1 is wearing a full-face helmet, 2 is not wearing a helmet and the traffic police are also very nice, they will call to remind you first but not fine you immediately. In addition, sitting in the back of a pickup truck and watching Vientiane at night is also an experience you should definitely try.
Arriving in Laos, Mai met many new friends, from Vietnamese, Thai, Lao... because it was a bit difficult to understand the language, so English communication was common.
From above, the houses with ancient Lao architecture mixed with Indochinese architecture lying next to each other make the ancient capital of Luang Prabang appear peaceful and ancient.
The Lao Royal Palace, a testament to ancient wealth, is now a museum.
One of Mai's most memorable memories was when she went out with a group of young Lao friends. Mai recounted: "We sat down to eat snacks and drink beer together from 9pm. They made a strange herbal syrup to drink. That day was the last day of the year, and each person who came brought a few cans of beer and bags of ice. I sat until 1am and asked permission to leave early. The next morning, I heard that my friends were sitting listening to music and talking until 6am. Only then did I realize that in Laos this was normal, young people and even parents gathered like that on happy occasions. In Vietnam, if you don't come home by 12am, you'll know what your mother will do."
At Wat Xieng Thong campus
