It's spelled Laos but don't pronounce the "s"

This is the last sunset for this trip to Thailand, reflecting off the Mekong. Across the river is Laos, where I'll be spending the next two weeks.

If you don't know anything about Laos it's the land locked country that borders Thailand's north-northeast. It's slightly bigger than Utah, with a population of roughly 5,750,000. It's basically made up of mountains and rivers and thus there are many waterfalls. That also means getting around can be a bit of a pain and often times the best way to get someplace is by river boat. It's an extremely poor country where over 30% of the population lives under the poverty level but from personal experience, I consider it to be one of the happiest places I've ever been. Life in Laos crawls by slowly and every one is laid back. Laotians are incredibly friendly, helpful and generous.

One of the most notorious and unbelievable statistics about Laos is that they are the most heavily bombed country in the world (per capita.) In what is called "The Secret War", during the Vietnam War our wonderful nation dropped over two million tons of explosives on Laos. I would guess most Americans have no idea whe ever dropped a single bomb on Laos, let alone a enormous amount. We bombed them more than all of Europe was bombed in World War II. Go us. I don't think they called it shock and awe back then. Anyways, now decades later the results are still disasterous (in Cambodia as well.) The countryside remians littered with bombs and mines that have yet to go off, prohibiting hiking in the mountians and visiting some historic sites.

Vientiane is the capital city but perhaps Laos' most well-known city is Luang Prabang. The city was declared a UNESCO World Heritage cite in 1995. The website briefly desrcibes the town as, "an outstanding example of the fusion of traditional architecture and Lao urban structures with those built by the European colonial authorities in the 19th and 20th centuries. Its unique, remarkably well-preserved townscape illustrates a key stage in the blending of these two distinct cultural traditions." Since you probably won't be able to make it out there anytime soon, check this link from the World Heritage website. It has incredible 360 degree pictures of several spots in the town.

http://www.world-heritage-tour.org/asia/la/luangPrabang/map.html

Laos is home to a myriad of different ethnic groups of numerous languages. This map shoes SE Asia and all of the different ethnolinguistic groups throughout the region. Many of these groups are the indigenous people everyone over here refers to as "hill tribes." Many of the traditional ways of life still intact, going from Thailand to Laos feels like taking a time machine back 50 years.

So as of tomorrow I switch from speaking Thai to speaking Laos, a linguistic jump not so difficult because the Isaan language I have picked up living in Kalasin happens to be, well, Laos. The two languages are very similar, even more so than say Spanish and Portuguese. Even more exciting is the anticipated switch from Thai beers to Beer Lao, a delicious alternative not imported to Thailand. On top of that, the remnants of French influence, good coffee and bakeries remain in the big cities. All I have to remember is that the food isn't "a-roy" (delicious), it's "sap."