When your father thinks of Laos, he thinks of the Vietnam War and sweat-stained GI’s marching to the tunes of Jefferson Airplane and Jimi Hendrix. Those days are long gone, though the GI hangover persists—cheap drinks and cheap sex in the capital Vientiane and the old capital Luang Prabang—though both cities have more to offer than a scandalous night on the town. Today, this landlocked jungle mass on the Indochinese Peninsula is a haven for hikers, nature enthusiasts and thrill seekers.
Stopover in Bangkok where you’ll want to spend the night before heading on to Laos. Stay at Avani+ Riverside Bangkok Hotel. Eat and drink upstairs at SEEN, the rooftop restaurant and bar known for signature cocktails like “The Olmec, Lost Fizz of the Incas” or “Drink My Pina.” Arrive the next day in Luang Prabang, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and city of about 50,000 people and seemingly as many temples. The Avani+ is situated on Sisavangvong Road amid a mixture of temples, western-styled restaurants and bars, and the bustling night market. But none of that activity penetrates your suite—58 square meters of indoor and outdoor living areas with sun loungers and lush sofas underscored by the song of the myna and the twitter of the barn sparrow.
Out on the street, the saffron colored robes of monks stand out in the crowd. The brotherhood is compulsory in Laos the way military conscription is in other countries. For a closer look, be up at 5:30 a.m. for almsgiving. This longstanding tradition in Laos Buddhist culture has you offering a portion of sticky rice purchased at a nearby market and placed in the monks’ bowl amid a silent procession. After breakfast, follow the monks just up the block to Wat Mai Temple, the city’s largest. Built in the 18th century and adorned with black and red lacquer with gold leaf, Wat Mai is conveniently located next to the Royal Palace. The bas-relief walls tell of Prince Vessantara Jataka, an incarnation of the Buddha, whose story focuses on the virtue of generosity.
You can find any kind of cocktail or western food on Sisavangvong Road but you’re better off at heading to Avani’s Main Street Bar and Grill to to dine on slow-cooked duck leg in red curry sauce with pineapple, tomato, chili and kaffir lime leaves. If it sounds exotic, just keep eating and you’ll learn your laap from your lam in no time. There are classes that will teach you to cook like a pro, and lessons in mixology that will teach you to drink like one. But enough landlubbing. Time to board the Bohème, Avani’s luxury cruiser on the Mekong River. Modeled in teak, its rich dark wood floor and paneling lavishly frame jungle views and domestic scenes like farmers herding cattle along the riverbank, or fishermen casting nets from their long boats. Take it all in as you lounge on the foredeck sipping champagne, or retire to the private balcony in your cabin.
Head downstream to your first stop, Muang Khay where you’ll find the Kuang Si Waterfalls. Shallow pools atop a steep hillside lead to a drop of 60 meters (200 feet), a dramatic cascade terminating in jade-colored pools perfect for rinsing off the sweat of the jungle. Next stop is Ban Xang Hai where you’ll transfer to a tender for the drop off at Pak Ou Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site sometimes called the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. Inside the dark recesses of the dramatic limestone cliffs you’ll find large and small statues of the Buddha. How many? Roughly 4,000 retired and damaged figures sculpted from various materials including bronze, wood, ceramic and even animal horns, placed there by villagers and pilgrims from all over the world. Legend has it the caverns were discovered by King Setthathirath, the 16th-century monarch responsible for monuments such as Luang Prabang’s Wat Xieng Thong temple and Vientiane’s Pha That Luang stupa. Annually during the Laotian New Year, thousands of locals embark on a pilgrimage to the caves to offer prayers and receive blessings for the coming year.
If you’re looking for outdoor adventure, head north to Vang Vieng (an hour by train from Luang Prabang), where you can book an excursion with Green Discovery and hike limestone mountains, paddle kayaks on the Nam Song River or go tubing in a cave. And if you’ve come to party, this “notorious party town” is also the spot for raucous nightclubs and dance-all-night revelry. Get hammered at riverside bars stocked with cheap Beerlao and lao-lao, the local rice whisky sometimes sold with a whole snake or scorpion in the bottle (mixing venom and alcohol is said to have medicinal benefits). Although Laos lacks the cosmopolitan flair of Bangkok or the tourism infrastructure of Vietnam, that’s kind of the point. The main reason to visit now is that, with a new railroad from China bringing in more and more tourists, Laos is a country on the cusp of drastic change. See it while it’s still a place filled with bumpy roads, sweaty crowds and villages redolent with exotic aromas, a place to get wild and woolly in a world that’s become chronicled and catalogued to death.
