It is hard to pin down why we had such a great time in Laos, a third world country that has no make up on its face. Laos is raw and hard to take in at first especially after the blossoming touristy Thailand. But slowly, day after day, it grew on us. I am going to miss seeing the willowy Lao girls in traditional skirts, tight shirts and playful pony tails; the radiant smiles on the men and women who we met on our walks; the homey feeling we had everywhere we went and the children, cuter than words can describe. Most of all though I will miss the chill vibe that at this point has taken full control over me (Kuba was chill even before he step foot on Lao soil). The ambitious and high strung me took off the moment we arrived in Laos and hopefully will not be coming back soon to haunt me with new ideas and projects.
Anyways, Laos is a wonderful country to visit with kids. Why?
Kids can travel back in time
We read that Laos is one of South-East Asia’s most ethnically diverse countries: a somewhat surprising situation given its relatively small size and population of around 6 million. This is probably due to its location, mountainous terrain and tropical climate. The country is home to 49 ethnic groups officially recognized by the Lao government (the actual number is thought to be much higher). Seeing ethnic tribes whose life has changed little for centuries was mind blowing for me and totally fascinating for our kids. We were fortunate to able to visit a few villages in the North and felt welcomed there. Experiencing cultures so very different than the ones we are familiar with is a truly rewarding experience. We want to come back and visit the central and southern tribes as well as each area has different customs, believes, music, rituals, dress, cuisine, etc. (The image above is from the internet).
A great place to unwind from a busy lifestyle
There is a saying: “Vietnamese plant the rice, Cambodians watch it grow and Lao listen it grow”. We found this old proverb to be a true description of the Lao culture. No one is in a hurry here. It is as if time is at a stand still even at the capital Vientiane which feels like a lazy provincial town. Coming from an “always busy” western society this slowness might be a blessing for a child used to be always on the go following a rigid weekly schedule. A month in Laos visibly relaxed our children. They got used to just being not doing. This is the first country we visited in which we didn’t sign up for tours, treks and organized activities except for the 2 day rock climbing in Vang Vieng. Once we adopted this chill approach to “planning” our days we realized how busy we have kept ourselves in Thailand and Japan. Laos taught us that true happiness might be watching life pass by with a slow pace. And if you decide to go for organized activities it is much easier to book in Laos than in Thailand as there are much less tourist here and there is no stressful competition for rides, boats, guest house rooms and restaurant tables.
Kids get to taste true hospitality
In Laos we were recipients of unconditional gestures of kindness. Even though people did not have much we were gifted steaming Lao tea on a cold morning, bag of bananas at a farewell and a rich fruit and yogurt plate at Lin’s cafe Savannakhet on our last evening in Laos. A Lao lady on the bus to Vietnam kept sneaking snacks to our kids. You might say all these gestures are small and insignificant but from our point of view they felt priceless. Our kids did not fail to notice these small gifts from the heart from people who had less than us, a great lesson in giving without expecting.
Your child will learn the meaning of the world p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e
Everything takes time in Laos. There is probably no word for fast and efficient in Lao language. Jokes aside, meals come slow in Laos (see a previous post on getting grilled fish for dinner). Busses take a long time to get from point A to point B and most leave only when full. Often their speed does not exceed 15 m/hr or 25 km/hr. The bus stops all the time to get new passengers or to wait on cows or chickens to cross the road. The paved road sometimes turns into a dusty gravel one and traffic barely moves. The slow pace of life makes one savor mundane moments as there are a few distractions to take away from fully enjoying a mango shake or observing a mama cat taking care of its young ones. Conversations are slow, pauses long and even though most people don’t speak English it is easy to communicate given that time is ample. We had a 15 min “conversation” one day with an Akha man in a village next to Muang Sing. It involved a lot of smiles, the usual pointing to Raina first, then to me (probably to indicate that she looks like me), then to B and Kuba…Then the regular questions about everyone’s age ( I got asked about my age at least once every few days). Our kids learnt quickly that one can communicate without words just as easy and being willing to try is the key to connecting.
Meeting people that live on a few dollars a day is humbling and it teaches kids not to take things for granted
In Laos you can buy a lot with 1$. Here are few examples: Mango shake is $0.75; a handmade knife is $3; handmade silk handbag $1 and 4 ice creams add to $1. One day out of the blue Boryan exclaimed: “Wow, we spent $100 on a Lego set once! and we can easily live 3-4 days here for that much money! I was so unaware of the value of money before!”. It makes me happy to see our kids processing what they see and analyzing it rather than just happily consuming the material happiness that comes with the cheap price tag for us farangs (foreigners). Moreover, kids easily picked up on the fact that objects are not discarded but are recycled, re purposed and reused. It showed them that the sky is the limit as far as reusing goes. We saw that you can do wonders from car tires, used bomb shells and pretty much any object in general. Inspired by the creativity of the locals Boryan made a great katun (slingshot) out of a tree branch and discarded rubber bands and wrist watch band. Raina got into creating new dolls made of whatever and both of them are designing a tree house made of tree branches to put in our backyard (that for later).
Internet in Laos sucks and kids don’t have portable electronic devices
I find the lack of portable electronic devices or home computers to be a blessing in disguise. Lao kids are the most adorable bright spirits I have ever had the pleasure of meeting. They are present, alert and eager to connect. They play from dawn to dusk and the spirit of group play is still very much in vogue here. Kids don’t have fancy toys, sometimes not even a ball, but rather play with what is available. They have freedom to roam freely from very early age. Observing Laos children at play was fascinating for our kids who are growing up in a society of “hide at home play on the computer kind of kids” and preplanned play dates. Even though kids are hard at play in Laos they also help with chores and are extremely independent. Boryan was very impressed by two little boys who made themselves a fish harpoon!, dived in the local river, caught some fish, made a little fire, grilled the fish and shared the meal.
Your kids can observe the life of children growing up in a socialistic political system
If you didn’t grown up in Socialism (like me and Kuba) you might be confused by this point. For us though Lao reality was a sweet reminder of our childhood years. I could finally illustrate the stories I have told our children about my youth. Not only the school uniforms are the same but also the school breaks. Kids entertain themselves just like in Bulgaria in the 80’s: gaga ball (народна топка), running around hugging your BFFs or playing джамини in the dirt.
Laos is very rural and wherever you go you are in close contact with nature, kind people and happy farm animals
Agro-tourism is big in Europe but Laos is practically providing the same product without the hefty price tag. In our busy, technological world Laos is like an oasis of rural peace. The country is scarcely populated. Most roads have barely any car traffic and farm animals are everywhere even in a sophisticated city like Luang Prabang. You are never too far from the sound of roosters and dog barking. The food is organic as most people grow it on small plots of land and have no money for chemicals to improve yield. Your kids can indulge in all kinds of yummy food and you can feel good about it. The chickens in this country are happy ones and the eggs have bright orange yolks.
Kids will have to do a lot of Math juggling the local currency
In Laos your kids will build strong math skills as 1$=8000 Kipp and the constant adding, subtracting and dividing of numbers in the thousands will be a great daily exercise.
