Fast Facts about Laos

Did you know that...

• Laos doesn't have a railway? The French stopped the construction of it long ago. Meanwhile, we have found a railway under construction while riding our motorbikes into the middle of nowhere. This railway will probably connect the capital with Thailand.
• Everything in Laos has to come from Thailand, which will make this railway quite useful. This is also the reason why many items are relatively expensive, as it is the Thai price plus transportation cost.
• Not that crazy consumption is easy here: there is a midnight curfew (uitgaansverbod) in Laos. Everything closes at 23.30, as everybody has to be inside before midnight. Why that is? We don't know, and Lao people themselve don't seem to bother either, as they do with all other undemocratic measures taken by their one-party government.
• In general, we might say this is because of a certain "Take it easy"-attitude everyone has. Laos is so laid-back, and having something done will take.... longer...
• Maybe this is why Lao people only earn about 300$ a year. This statistic we got from a restaurant that afterwards explained us how we should tip and behave in bargaining, makng it not a quite reliable source. It is true, however, that Laos is one of the poorest regions in Asia, where people are still living on self-grown vegetables and fruits. So believe it or not, we do keep our perspective when bargaining.
• Bargaining is sometimes necessary, as Laos is famous for its silk-weaving. This meant some serious shopping for scarf-addicts like us, and it's great to know the Hoi An made clothing allready has its accessories.
• Shopping causes thirst, which is awesome, as Carlsberg-owned Beerlao is a really great beer.
• This beer didn't have any consequences yet. The most life-threatening situations we had were encounters with geckos, innocent small lizards, which nearly caused us hearth attacks, while they jumped out of Frederik's backpack while packing, and out of a role of toilet paper while Eline was grabbing some of it.