Laos
Laos, „The Realm of Ten Thousand Elephants and the White Parasol”, as its ancient name Lan Sang is translated, is the least developed and, it means, the least tourism polluted of three French Indochina ex-colonies, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.
Even by now these three countries are sometimes called Indochina, but nowadays it, rather than uniting them, draws a vague border between descendants of Indian tribes and the civilization of China. The small amount of six millions of inhabitants in Laos is very unusual for these territories (as one compares it with only two times bigger Thailand which is home to sixty-four millions of people). Mostly, these are consequences of the Vietnam War bombing, and some of the large scale immigration: in 1975 Laos, under big support of USSR and Vietnam was proclaimed the socialistic republic, and since then many natives, lacking jobs and food, preferred to move to other states of Asia or the USA.
Being less civilized than denizens of the western world, Lao live in full harmony with their religious bias. Main religion in Laos is Buddhism the principles of which are simplicity, tolerance and resignation, and probably this main thesis of Buddhism explains modesty of both separate households and overall Laotian economy. Some of the other religious movements are paganisms forbidden by socialistic power but still popular among Laotian mountain tribes. These people are living in communes, sharing everything they have. For instance, after slaughtering a pig, the entire village shares its meat due to absence of fridges and, hence, inability to preserve it. However, each pig’s spirit is asking for redemption, which is the job of local shamans. This is very rare in the modern world to catch a shaman at work when it is a natural act, not a public performance. In his last trip to Laos, Andis was lucky to accidentally catch this unique moment. The other of unusual religions is a pretty charlatanic belief of Christ coming down on a Jeep, dressed in uniform. This one obviously comes from the times of the Vietnam War.
The highest population density in Laos is in river lowlands; some of the small tribes are living in mountainous areas. 80% of inhabitants here are employed in farming, most of which is rice breeding, and this is why rice with different garnish, such as meat, fish or vegetables, is the most popular dish here. Like in most part of Asia, cooks avoid using salt here, yet, it is usually replaced with different spices, such as chili, ginger, mint, garlic or coconut. The other plant being largely grown and is big income source in Laos, is opium. Uncultivable lands of Laos, which take about two thirds of the country, are mostly covered with rainforests, of which half is primal, which means, they have never been touched by human axe. However, axes are coming and cutting them out both for private needs of locals and for timber industry. Irrespective of its military past, Laos has the cleanest ecological environment on the entire Indochinese peninsula.
After the tasks of the Gobi desert and difficulties of the Chinese roads, now Laos is challenging both our expedition team and their motorcycles. According to CIA World Factbook data, the total length of roadways in Laos is about thirty-two thousands kilometers, of which only four thousands are paved. The rest is usually barely tresspassable, and in the rainy period, when or team is visiting, the roads get washed out and become impossible to cross or drive through. However, these hurdles are only challenge worthy for our team which is never looking for the easiest ways.
Elizabete Neimiseva for enduroadventure.lv