My last few weeks in Southeast Asia have been a non-stop whirlwind of terrifying traffic, burning trash, aggressive street market pushers, noisy construction, and all-around chaos. While I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the chaos, Laos feels like a breath of fresh air. Not literally – it’s just as smoky here as in Thailand, but life moves at a different speed in Laos, for better or worse.
Laos is a place people go to get lost, leave the grid never to return. The cost of goods lend to this as well – the Lao Kip is essentially a useless currency outside of Laos and it’s nearly impossible to find someone who will exchange it for you outside of the country. $10 USD a day was enough for me to eat, get around, and have a healthy helping of coffee or tea each morning. I found the night markets far relaxing, with no intense sellers or tuk-tuks following me down the street to get my business.
The city of Luang Prabang is by far the cleanest city I’ve visited and perhaps my favorite in Southeast Asia. The city has a heavy French influence, with its beautiful, UNESCO-protected buildings and French cafes lining the city’s tourist areas along the Mekong River. The combined French and Asian influence of this city made it my favorite so far on my travels.
Mount Phousi (aptly translating to ‘sacred hill’) is a hill in the center of Luang Prabang. A small temple sits on the top of the hill (That Chomsi), with Buddhist statues, altars, and a small cave temple (Wat Tham Phousi) are scattered across the windy trails that lead around the hill. As I climbed, I saw five young monks smiling, running around, and snapping photos of themselves with smartphones as they made their way up the zip-zagging steps.
Views from the top of the temple. 
The European buildings might make it easy to forget I’m in Asia if it weren’t for all of the Buddhist temples scattered throughout the town and the regular passing of monks in the street. This combined with the slow pace of the city and the background of the Mekong River gives this city a total zen feeling. It’s unlike anywhere I’ve ever visited.
A short drive outside of the city center live the Kuang Si Waterfalls, and they are absolutely breathtaking. I walked down a short dirt path past a bear sanctuary and into the forest, which provided shade and a cool breeze, a welcome change from the intense heat I’ve been subjected to since arriving in Indonesia and every destination since. A small clearing leads to the first waterfall, breathtaking in its own right. However, walking further up the path leads to even more pools, each one more beautiful than the last. I couldn’t believe the place wasn’t swamped with tourists. The pools are open and available for swimming, so I expected it to be full of tourists escaping the afternoon heat. Instead, I found maybe five people lazily floating around the pools.
Laos is a country that’s growing in popularity, but the lack of people here made it feel like the best-kept secret in Southeast Asia.
Of all the places I visited, Laos is the one I wish I had spent more time in. More and more countries were beginning to shut down borders as coronavirus cases spread, and I knew I was running out of time. Laos is by far my favorite new country to visit, and I hope someday I have time to go back and explore more of this beautiful country.