10 Things to know about Laos

I only spent 16 days in Laos so I am definitely not an expert on the country. This being said, during this time Dahn and I got to experience quite a bit of the country as we lived a more touristy life in Laos than in other countries. Instead of just always lazing about, we actually went out and explored the country. A part of it anyway. During this short time, here are some of things I noticed and think you guys might appreciate knowing about Laos.

1. Traffic: Or the lack of it. There is very little traffic in Laos, if any. In Vientiane, the capital city, we walked around many times during rush hour and never saw more than 10 cars lined up at a light. This means the air is much cleaner than most of its neighbors and your life is not always in constant danger. Drivers here are very relaxed and will even let you cross the street before them. They will rarely go at high speeds in the city and in other cities then Vientiane, there are so few vehicles that you can often cross the street with your eyes closed (not recommended). This being said, highway driving is quite similar to other South-east Asian countries with dangerous speediing and passing.
   

   

   
2. Horns: Or like #1, the lack of it. Laos’s streets are an amazing change to many of the other surrounding countries as they are very quiet. Car, bus, truck and motorcycle
   horns are rarely used which makes walking down a busy street, a strangely silent and pleasant thing to do. You can speak and not scream in city centers and you also won’t get startled to death every few seconds, which is nice.
3. Transportation: Not so pleasant in Laos. VIP buses have a different meaning in Laos and Minivans drivers drive like they are high on cocaine. Local buses breakdown often and are quite beat up. To add to this problem, most roads are in bad condition. Especially the roads from Vientiane to Vang Vieng which are technically paved, paved like a slice of Swiss cheese. There are holes everywhere! Boats are a nice alternative as the ride is much smoother. However going up rivers like the the Mekong from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai can be quite slow as at times, the slow boats struggle to climb the rapids. The speedboats are much quicker but are not recommended due to safety issues. You will often see passengers wearing full face motorcycle helmets and pass you at blaring speeds! Sounds fun though right!?
   

   

   

   
4. Nature: Laos has some of the most pristine nature in Asia. It is one of the countries with the most nationally protected areas (NPAs) in the world. NPAs Cover 14% of the land plus an additional 4% of provincially protected land makes Laos one of the premier destinations in the world for trekking, animal sightseeing, kayaking and other nature related activities. Laos also has a booming Eco-tourism market which helps support local people protect their land instead of destroying it. Many places hire ex-poachers or illegal loggers to show them that by protecting the land they can make more money than by destroying it. There are also 49 recognized different ethnic groups in Laos that live in remote villages. You can visit these villages through multi-day treks. Again with an Eco-tour agency which will help provide a better life to the villagers.
   

   

   

   

   

   
5. Cost: The cost to travel in Laos is surprisingly expensive for such a poor country. Cost of meals, drinks, hotels, transportation and activities are quite expensive compared to its neighbors. A meal that would normally cost 3 $ CAD in Vietnam is easily 6-8 $ CAD in Laos. A good coffee in Vietnam was about 1.30 $ CAD compared to 4$ in Laos. Choices for accommodation are also limited compared to Vietnam or Thailand and tended to be more expensive for lower quality rooms.
6. People: Laos has some of the friendliest people I met so far during my travels. They are so relaxed and pleasant to talk to. Nobody ever got verbally or physically angry with us. People often smile when you cross eyes. Rural kids and adults wave when you pass by and in cities they invite you to their noisy outdoor parties. Instead of looking at foreigners with disgust they look at us with curiosity. When a market deal falls through, they smile and go on with their life. Nobody is pushy and they were all very respectful. Laos is no longer the land of a million elephants unfortunately but at least, they can now be called the land of a million smiles.
   

   

   

   
7. Food: What we had was very good, but with such a hard language to read, with little information online about local delicacies and city centers built only for tourists, it was very hard to find local dishes that we will long for. Those that did were often copies of those of Vietnam or Thailand. I am NOT saying that they do not have their own delicious specialties as I am sure they do. We just had difficulties finding them. Off the tip of my tongue, I could only mention Laap and Lao sausage. Don’t murder me please, I love Laos I swear! I need a food guide next time… 😦
   

   

   

   

   
8. UXO: Laos has had a very difficult history and more recently, have been an innocent victim of the Vietnam War (“American” War). Even though they had signed a UN agreement that they were neutral in the war, this did not stop Vietnamese soldiers from building the Ho Chi Minh trail through Laos and the U.S. from bombing it. Neither did it stop the U.S. from building a secret rebel army that even used kids to fight against the Vietnamese. Or nor did it stop the Vietnamese of hiding in Laos and also creating rebel groups. All of this led Laos, a neutral country in the war, to become the most bombed country per capita in the history of mankind. Over 580 000 bombings occurred in Laos from 1965 to 1973 amounting to around 2.5 million tones of bombs. The equivalent of one bombing mission every eight minutes every day for 9 years straight (1). Thanks to an expected 80 million cluster munitions left lying around the country, over 100 casualties occur every year (2). Innocent children, women and men die every year due to these bombies. When you come to Laos, visiting one of the UXO information centers like COPE in Vientiane is a must. Consider donating at this link if you feel like you would like to help: Donate here

9.  Safety: When visiting Laos, make sure that you have emergency evacuation covered in your insurance policy as there are no good hospitals in Laos. If ever you would need any special emergency care, being transported to Thailand as quickly as possible via helicopter is the wisest thing to do. If that is not possible, then Canadians should visit the Australian embassy clinic. Before coming to Laos, I always expected that if something happened to me, I would go to a decent hospital and get fixed but as I learned at COPE, many people die every year in Laos due to hospitals lacking resources. Some do not even have blood or oxygen to keep you alive… In Laos, always wear a helmet while on a motorbike, ride at low speeds, wear bug spray and don’t wonder off paths. Basically, take precautions!

10. Rural life: About 67% of Laos’s population lived in a rural setting in 2010. Meaning that to simply visit cities in Laos would be missing on the majority of the population. When in Laos, try to visit rural towns to see some incredible things and to build some memorable moments with the amazing local people and beautiful scenery. There is nothing more relaxing then looking onto limestone peaks with a clean flowing stream beside you from a bamboo hut build by local villagers.

 

This completes my list of 10 things to know about Laos. Now all that is left is for you to find yourself 2 – 4 weeks of free time, fly to a major city like Bangkok or Hanoi and ride a bus or take a flight into Laos! You will not regret it! Just bring plenty of sunscreen and insect repellent and you will have an amazing and very relaxing time.

Bonus tip: JDB bank seems to not charge any ATM fees. Unless they just secretly adding it in the transaction.

P.S. Did I mention that Laos is absolutely stunning?! I am currently writing this on a slowboat on the Mekong river going to Thailand and this is my view :

(1): http://www.maginternational.org/where-mag-works/laos/#.VpsoAPl94gt

(2): http://legaciesofwar.org/resources/books-documents/land-of-a-million-bombs/

11 things to know about Vietnam

11 Things to know about Vietnam

I wanted to wait until I was out of Vietnam to write this article. And I have to say, it was a very unique one. Of course, every country is unique in its ways but Vietnam, felt like a different world to me. From visiting the soaring peaks of Ha Long Bay to buying a banh my at a street stall, the experiences were all uniquely Vietnamese. I would like to share with you guys what made Vietnam so unique to me in the following list of: 11 things to know about Vietnam.

1. Vietnam is beautiful: Obviously, you must be thinking. But there is something that you just can’t put your finger on but that you will notice while visiting Vietnam, especially by scooter. The cities of Hoi An and Hue make you feel like you are living in the past and riding through the winding mountains near Da Lat, watching huge waterfalls plummet down the side of the road is just amazing. You will also never be able to forget the mystical limestone peaks of Ha Long Bay.
   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   
2. Sidewalks: Sidewalks exist in Vietnam, but they are usually unusable, especially in Ha Noi. Why do you need to know this? You don’t unless you’re a person with a disability. It would be important to note how difficult they are to use as scooters, tiny stools, tables, charcoal grills and lottery stands litter the sidewalks and make them unusable. In Sai Gon, on the other hand, they were rather good!
3. Markets: Markets are always one of my favorite parts of travelling. But in Vietnam, knowing that I would miss on some awesome things, I purposely avoided them. Based on my experiences in Sai Gon and Da Lat, I noticed that sellers would get verbally and physically frustrated when I would just look and not buy. They also were quite physical, blocking my way, grabbing my arm, pulling me here and there which made my experiences unpleasant and even uncomfortable. This being said, if you do skip markets you will be missing out on some of the best experiences Vietnam has to offer. Just go in with a thick skin.
   

   

   
4. Food: Vietnam’s food… How do I say this without offending anyone… It is… FREAKING GOOD! Amazing! Wonderful, brilliant, excellent, blissful… I don’t know how I am going to live the next few months without it. Dishes like Bun Cha, Bun Bo Nam Bo, Com Tam, Banh My, Pho, Bun Bo Hue, Cha Ca, Com Hen and Cao Lau, just to name a few, are all amazing and I will miss them so much. When in Vietnam, just eat, don’t ever stop eating. Try everything you see and smell.
   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   

   
5. Motorbikes: The best way to travel Vietnam is by far by motorbike. You can either rent one to tour a city and its surroundings or buy one in the south or north and travel the entire country. You will get to see things that otherwise you would miss and you will save money too. A full tank of gas is 60-70k VND and renting a motorbike for a day ranges from 100-150k VND. Good deal if you ask me! Buying one is also very cheap. The Honda Win being the most popular is selling for 250 USD with a usual resale value of 250 USD. You basically only pay for gas, oil changes and tires. However it is important to note, that travelling without a Vietnamese driver’s license is illegal. Even an International driver’s license is not valid here. Although you won’t have much problems with the police (you might have to pay “fines” if you get pulled over), if you are ever involved in an accident, you will not be covered by your insurance.
   

   

   
6. Copy-cat businesses: Did you just find the best Banh my stall online? The original Sinh Tourist agency? You better double check (or triple!) the address, the name, phone number and email address as there will always be copy-cats near the original and far away too. On Luong Ngoc Quyen street in Ha Noi, where the original Sinh Tourist café is located, there are about 6-7 fake ones using the same sign, giving the same address and phone number. The original is at 52 Luong Ngoc Quyen street, but most of them are on the impaired number side of the street and still pretend to be 52 Luong Ngoc Quyen.
   

   Which one is real?

7. Prices: There is an accepted fact of life in Vietnam that if you are not Vietnamese, you have a lot of money. Therefore you can afford to pay 50 cents, 1$, 5 $, 10$, 50$ even a 100$ more than a Vietnamese person. Don’t believe me? A Honda Win for a Vietnamese person would cost 100-150$ USD but for a foreigner, 250$ USD. I am still unsure how I feel about this discriminatory system. Many say that having more money means we can pay more, which is true. But why would a rich Vietnamese pay the same price as a poor one and not pay like a foreigner is beyond me. Also, always make sure to ask the price before buying or eating anything as the price might be incredibly high. Once in Hoi An, we had to pay 170 000 VND for a meal that would of cost a Vietnamese person 40 000 VND and a regular foreigner 80 000 VND. Just because we did not ask the price beforehand…
   

   Our most expensive meal in Vietnam

8. Future: The future of Vietnam is a positive but scary one. The time to travel is now. In 2018, Vietnam will be cutting dramatically the taxes on cars. With a population getting richer and richer, it is certain that the small streets and alley ways of Vietnam will be clogged by the arrival of thousands of new cars. The smog levels will go up and the traffic will surely become unbearable, like the ones of Indonesia or the Philippines. They are building metro lines in both Ha Noi and Sai Gon and building new larger roads and freeways but I hope that this is not too little too late. Visit Vietnam now before it changes dramatically.
   

   Imagine when all the bikes will be cars!

9. Drugs: I mean drugs as in medication. It is REALLY cheap in Vietnam. We were surprised of how low the prices were even though we are Canadians. As an example, somebody I knew that is definitely not me, needed some hemorrhoid cream and after having bought the same cream in the Philippines for 20$ CAD, that person was really surprise to learn that it was only 5$ in Vietnam. Cold, pain and motion sickness pills are all also very cheap. Therefore we recommend you load up on drugs when in Vietnam to bring back home or to your next country.
10. War: The Vietnam War is known as the American War in Vietnam and despite it having officially ended in 1975, its ruminants are still obvious today. People with limbs missing, major burns, mental disabilities and much more are very obvious in Vietnam. Partly due to the wartime, some because of the Agent Orange after effects and others due to the thousands of bombs and mines still laying around in the fields of Vietnam today. It is a very sad affair and visiting some of the tunnels and war museums are a must to realize how sometimes, us the west, the “good guys”, are not always good. The atrocities of the Vietnam War will shake you to your core and make you realize the impacts of war. Even us Canadians unofficially participated in the war, with 30 000 illegal volunteers and the Canadian government allowing the U.S. to test Agent Orange in our country. The worst part is the thousands of Vietnamese people that the embassy of Canada in Sai Gon refused to bring back to Canada during the evacuation due to regulations and formalities while the U.S.A. just scrapped their regulations and brought back as many people as they could. Oh Canada…
    

    

    

    

    
11. Coffee: Vietnam has what I would consider, the world’s best coffee. I never really liked coffee until I visited Vietnam and during my time there, I would have at least 3 cups per day. The coffee that is slowly passed through the special filter is very dark and strong but when mixed with a little condensed milk, it becomes what I consider: the nectar of the gods. An almost syrupy, sweet, bitter and chocolaty drink. If you have a bit of money to spare, you need to try the Weasel coffee (Kopi Luwak) which is made with the digested beans pooped out of an Asian civet. It is truly the best coffee out there. If you are an amateur of coffee, Vietnam is the place to go. You can also buy some weasel coffee in our treasures post here: https://worldstreasures.wordpress.com/2015/12/15/treasures-from-vietnam-da-lat/

So that is it for my really fancy list. I hope you will read this and consider visiting Vietnam, especially now that you are well informed thanks to my super conclusive list of Vietnam. It is truly a unique place that needs to be visited. It is not the easiest country to visit and you might sometimes get really frustrated during your travel here but it is well worth it. Plus, you will be able to test out how well your morning meditation sessions are working.

Bonus: To avoid paying any ATM fees (excluding your bank fees) visit EXIMBANK. It is the only bank in Vietnam that does not charge you to withdraw money but you are limited to 2 million dongs per withdrawl.

11 things you need to know about the Philippines

I will start out by saying that I am in no way an expert on the Philippines. I have simply visited the country for about a month with my fiancée and wanted to share some of my experiences. We did not know what to expect when we left Peru for the Philippines. We knew next to nothing about the country but we had heard from other travelers many mixed things about the food, the people, the life, etc. I still am not sure if I fully understand the Philippines but here are 11 things I have concluded about the Philippines and that I think people would like to know.

• Traffic: Traffic in the Philippines, especially Manila, is HORRIBLE! It’s so bad that a guy from BANGKOK complain to us about it. BANGKOK! Every single Philippino will also complain about the traffic. It’s that bad. I did not expect traffic to be such an issue. Sure we had seen videos of people running across the streets dodging Jeepneys and motorbikes but we did not expect that the dodging would happen with cars that are stuck motionless in hours long traffic. It does not matter where you are going, at what time or how. Anyway, time or place will result with you not moving any time soon and getting nowhere.
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• Lines: If there would be one word to describe the Philippines, to me, it would have to be lines. Queues if you prefer. There are lines to get everywhere. There are lines to enter malls, there are lines to get into Jeepneys, there are lines for ATMs, there is a block long line to enter the metro station followed by a line to buy your ticket, then another line to pass the gates and finally a line to enter the train. Lines, lines, lines Lines, Lines, LiNes, LINES LINES LINESSS LINNEESSSS LIIINNEEESSS SOOOOO MANY LINES!!!! (pulls out hair)
  

  
• Security: I don’t mean security by dangers or safety of the country. I mean security as security guards. There is SO much security in the Philippines and I have to say, it’s dumb. When entering a mall or metro station (and other establishments that choose to do so), there will always be a metal detector and a guard that goes through your bag and that gently gropes you. The main problem I have with this time consuming, privacy intruding, slight sexually harassing procedure is that it does ABOSULTELY nothing. They will ask you to open your bag and then they will look in it, touch the bottom of the bag and then let you go. My bag had a laptop case, DSLR case, clothing, and other things that you can easily hide a gun or explosive in and they never bothered to look through it. The metal detector also beeps at every single person but they don’t bother to look any further. Why go through all this trouble for a false sense of security? It’s worse than airport security…
• Food: Don’t believe what other people tell you. The food is actually really good in the Philippines! I met so many people who told me they disliked Philippine food. I would immediately ask them if they had tried Sissig, Lechon, Adobo, Palabok, Kare-kare, Halo-Halo, Tapa, Tosilog, Pata, Pancit, just to name a few and the answer would always be: what’s that? I have a feeling that most visitors of the Philippines don’t even give Philippine food a try but rather just eat at the Japanese or American chain restaurants. Big mistake if you ask me… If you are really afraid of anything foreign at least try the Philippino spaghetti. It is so good that I would actually consider having to squeeze tomato juice in my eyes to have a plate.
  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  
• Transportation: Transportation in the Philippines is really fun, if you like butt high-fiving strangers in subway cars, not be moving in traffic, getting nauseous from reckless driving, getting bum bruises from uncomfortable seats, having to dislocate your knees to be able to fit anywhere and saving money. See, it’s not all negative! Transportation is really cheap in the Philippines and can be fun because you get to mingle with the locals in or on Jeepneys but other that, it’s quite inconvenient and slow. An example, to get from our hotel in Makati to the Divisoria market, I had to get a Jeepney, switch to another Jeepney, ride the MRT, switch to LRT and finally take another Jeepney to the market… Little tip, get your hotel in the same neighbourhood you want to visit, then change hotels when you want to visit another neighbourhood. It’s so difficult to visit multiple neighbourhoods in a single day. A good alternative to get around instead of the usual taxis is a service called: GrabTaxi. An app that tells you the estimated price beforehand. One of the options in the app is called GrabCar. GrabCar is a fixed rate system that can save you big bucks when there is heavy traffic and avoids you getting into a fraudulent taxi like we had…
  

  

• Poverty: I had seen a lot of poverty before in Thailand, Peru and Bolivia but nothing like what we saw in the Philippines. It really broke our hearts to not be able to help all these people. In Makati you would got from a very high-end mall like century mall then exit to see women with naked kids going through garbage, sleeping on little patches of grass or begging. I remember when I was in Cusco Peru seeing piles of garbage and saying to my girlfriend, at least it’s only dogs that must go through garbage to survive. I could not say the same thing in the Philippines…
• Places to visit: The Philippines is an absolutely beautiful country. Anywhere you go will be breathtaking, that is a fact. But many people think, rightfully so, that because it has over 7000 islands that the beaches are a must. It true that the beaches are amazing, the water is beautiful and the sea life is incredible, but I actually found peace not on an isolated beach in Palawan but amidst pine trees in the Cordilleras. PINE TREES! IN SOUTH EAST ASIA! It was so relaxing in North Luzon. Some places even had curfews which for a guy that doesn’t care much about partying, is great. I would highly recommend spending time in the beautiful North Luzon region.
  

  

  

  

  

  

   

• Community guides: Backpackers hate guides. Many, including me, will think that it’s too expensive, too touristy, that you don’t have freedom, etc. But in the Philippines, especially in North Luzon, they have community guides. Getting one of the guides in Banaue for example, will not only allow you to understand more about the history, the people and the culture but you will also be helping the local communities in ways you would not otherwise. With community guides, everybody wins. An awesome guide we had in Banaue was Jess. He was super kind and explained to us so much about the history and the current situation of Batad. He can be reach by email at aclibonjesstony@gmail.com 
• Shopping malls: The Philippines have some of the greatest malls on earth. I usually hate malls. I dislike shopping. But in the Philippines, it’s different. Maybe one shop out of 4 is a restaurant and there is always an arcade I can go lose money at. Like gambling for children.  They are also HUGE and can take many days to visit in an entirety. You have everything to survive in a Philippino mall. Cinemas, grocery stores, beauty salons, spas, restaurants, arcades, etc. There are malls on almost every corner of Manila so you have no excuses. Plus, you can’t feel guilty about spending your time in malls as they are very cultural in the Philippines. It is a cultural thing, thus you are participating in a cultural activity.
• Noise: In the Philippines, not only Manila, noise is a huge issue. There seems to be a competition between every moving object on the road to see who is the loudest. Tiny 110cc scooters make more noise than the biggest Harley you can find in North America. Jeepneys make more noise than a straight piped 18 wheeler using his engine to slow down. Buses have train horns for god sake! It is very noisy so be prepared to be startle by buses and to have to scream to converse with your buddies. Bring some ear plugs to sleep, you will regret it if you don’t bring some. At least if you’re a light sleeper like me.
• English: Almost everybody speaks English in… Manila. Outside of Manila you can definitely have some difficulties. We visited Palawan and North Luzon and in both regions, we often had to communicate with hand gestures. In local markets, we would often be called over with the universal: hello sir, hello mam followed by a blank face when we asked them a question in English. So brush up on your Tagalog before you leave, people will be compliment with you trying.

Here’s my 11 things to know about the Philippines. I hope I did not offend anyone even though only my mom reads my posts. Plus she does not even bother to like the page… ANYWAY, I really loved the Philippines and would recommend it to anybody. Even to my dear old parents who hate crowds and noise. It’s just so beautiful and like the ads say, it’s more fun in the Philippines. The people are some of the kindest we have met and the kids here are just amazing. I would often get a gang of kids yelling: HI! At me and then scream and laugh when I would say hi back. All this to say:

Go to the Philippines, now!

Bonus: To avoid paying ATM fees (excluding your bank fees) visit HSBC in the Philippines. They also allow large withdraws (exceeded our 500$ CAD limit).