Vientiane, Laos

Wed 24th – Fri 26th Feb

Vientiane, according to the Lonely Planet 2008 has a population of 200,000. The city is friendly and peaceful, studded with crumbling French mansions and streets of noodle stalls, it is somewhere between a big town and a city.

"Vientiane’s peaceful demeanor belies a turbulent history. Over the thousand or so years of its history, it’s been variously abused by successive Vietnamese, Burmese, Siamese, Khmer, and French conquerors. The French cemented Vientiane’s status as a capital city when the took over the protectorship of Laos in the late 19th and early 20th Centuries: it was further inhabited by CIA ‘spooks’ and the charismatic Ravens (the screw-loose CIA-funded pilots of Air America) in the 60’s and early 70’s. After their victory in 1973 the Pathet Laos briefly considered moving the capital to Vieng Xai but them relented and stuck with Vientiane, and the city began a rapid transformation from notorious den of vice to austere socialist outpost. Since opening up to international investment, Vientiane has slowly been broadening its potential." (Lonely Planet, 2008)

After our taxi driver had kindly taken us to several guesthouses, many of which were full we decided to go for the Lonely Planet’s recommendation of Syri 1 guesthouse, which had some old style décor but plenty of character! We opted for the dorm room which cost 150,000 Kip (12 pounds) for the 3 bed dorm room with ensuite.

We spent a couple of days exploring the city by bike before stopping off at a travel information office to get some advice on what to see in Laos. I was surprised to find out that Laos actually has a small population and 236,800 sq Km of rugged geography, and is the least altered environment in SE Asia. That most of Lao still live at or just above subsistence level, consuming far fewer of their own natural resources than the people of any developed country. Not only that the people and government of Laos have fully embraced ‘Sustainable Tourism’. Laos has 18 eco parks set up in 1993 by the government to protect its wildlife and forests from slash-and-burn farming, hunting and logging.

"Unlike Thailand which seems to have learnt too late, Laos is flourishing as an eco-conscious nation – if you forget about the destructive HE power dams and logging licenses granted to the Chinese, who are munching their way through ancient teak and rosewood (in return for aiding with road-building and a stadium in Vientiane for the Asean Games in 2009). To be fair, Laos is still one of the poorest nations on earth, trying desperately to become self-sufficient; the fact the government has welcomed international eco-advice is encouraging. The environmental blueprint, designed to benefit both travelers and ethnic peoples in a sustainable controlled way, has improved hygiene, education and commerce. A number of villages receiving organised visits from trekkers have seen a reduction in opium addition and a renewed zeal to preserve their natural heritage." (Lonely Planet, 2008).

With this in mind I was determined to do a ‘Eco Trek’ and contribute to this positive economic development. However, as most of these treks are in the North we had quite a way to travel before we could see any protected areas. The tour operator in Vientiane advised us to stop off at Vang Vieng which was just a 4 hour bus ride, to break the journey up. Traveling in Laos is very cheap, costing just a few pounds on a local bus.