Prepare For Your Trip to Laos

If you are ever interested in visiting Laos whether it is for families or fun, here are a few key items to note down:

1. Decide what time of the year you want to go
The best time I recommend for you to visit Laos is between November through April. Although that is considered their dry season, the weather is nice with a hint of cool air. There are also plenty of local cultural events and festivals to explore in the country. The wet season is from May to October and is wet and soggy. Depending on the road conditions, it may be tough to get around in rural areas.

2. Apply for your passport months prior to the trip
You will definitely need it to enter Laos. Do it ahead of time so that you don’t have to pay an extra rush fee. The passports can be processed within a month without a late fee but don’t risk it. In the U.S., you can apply at your local post office or go through the US Department to find information and forms for applying for a passport.

2. Start searching for your flight ticket early
Whether you want to use a travel agency or just google it yourself, it doesn’t hurt to start early. The earlier the search, the cheaper the flights will be. Flights to Laos during the dry season are the most expensive ranging from at least $1000 and up per ticket. During the rainy season, the prices usually drop really low. Flights are never direct and usually require a connection in some other countries such as Thailand, Tapei, and Vietnam depending on where you are flying from.

I recommended going through a travel agency because they can help you find the lowest deal regardless of the season although it may not always be the best flight times.

3. File for your visa to enter Laos
Entering Laos requires a visa and there are two options on how to do this.
Option A: You can file via the Laos Embassy in the U.S. if you want to be prepared ahead of time. The cost in the is about $50 per visa application and will require at least three weeks to process. You are required to send your original passports to the Laos Embassy and they will return everything back along with the visa once the application is approved and processed.

Option B: Apply for a visa once you landed in the country. I did this process because I was short on time and it only costed me $35 US per visa application. You will have to wait in line at the Visa counter to process it but the flight attendant will come around and ask you before you land if you need a visa application.

4. Get the proper vaccinations
If you have never been out of the country, to Laos, or Southeast Asia, be sure you check in with your doctor for the proper vaccinations and antibiotics at least a month before your trip. You can read about a list of vaccinations for Laos in this blog post.

5. Be prepared to have small bills for tipping Although there are signs everywhere at the airport that states that the country does not support tipping, the staff and people around the airport may ask for tips. I want to believe this was a gentle gesture from a visitor a long time ago and now, it has become a part of the norm for airport staff to ask for tips.

5. Pack a light carry-on
When I say pack light, I mean the size of a backpack. The Laotian plane is tiny and will not be able to hold any carry-on luggage bags that are bigger than 15LBs on the upper shelves.

Talaso Market & Sightseeing around Vientiane

My parents and I went shopping at the famous open market (Talaso) in Vientiane on our last day in the country. Everything was so cheap, and I admitted, I ate almost 5lbs of Lychee AND 5lb Logans by myself. Ah, the trip was worth it just getting to eat those fresh fruits.

That evening, my cousins took us to explore an area in the city that was built by Japan along the Mekong River and right across from the Thailand border. It had a modern feel compared to the rest of the developing city and provided a space for walkers and joggers. It felt wierd to be standing on a boardwalk that looked so similar to Santa Cruz, CA yet was a world’s apart from California.

A House Nested Between Two Hills

While we were living in the refugee camps in Thailand, my aunt left the family and got married. I was too young to remember her but my family spoke of “the aunt who got left behind” all the time growing up. My aunt and I met for the first time. She lived two hours east of Nong-Hai Village. Her house was nested between two hills, the north side led to a Laos Village and the south side led to a Hmong Village, and the closest market was an hour car ride away. Apparently, she had just moved to this part of town and was currently the only resident on the block.

Hello Nong-Hai Village

This morning at 4am, we caught the first bus out of Nasavang Village and headed to Nong-Hai, a Hmong Village about a 4 hours drive south of Nasavang, where my mom’s sister lived. Unlike Nasavang where villagers were extremely mal-nourished due to limited access to food, Nong-Hai had tons of food markets and people actually looked healthier. Nong- Hai was also one of the only village in the surrounding areas with a post office.

NasaVang’s Famous Cave

Every year, the villagers took a trip to the biggest cave resting along the hills in Nasavang to gather soil to start their crops. We were so fortune to be able to visit the cave and observed the daily struggle that these villagers had to go through to just find soil for their crops.

Sadly, the path was too steep and I never made it to the cave but I did cheered everyone else on from the halfway point. 🙂

Soul Calling Ceremony for the Hmong Americans

My uncles disappeared for a day and when my parents asked where they went, nobody said a thing. We later discovered that they went to find a cow to sacrifice for a soul calling “hu plig” ceremony for my parents, and I. In Hmong, a “hu plig” ceremony calls on the spirits to be in good health. My uncles hosted the ceremony to make sure our spirits will be in good health for the rest of our trip.

The view of the house as folks gathered at the house to prep the meat.

The men prepping the meat:

To The Farm We Go…

I accompanied my father and uncles to visit my eldest uncle’s farm. My uncle mentioned that he normally slept at the farm most of the week, 6 out of the 7 days, because the farm gave him a sense of peace. Having a sneak at the amazing landscape myself, I couldn’t agree more.

I, now know why my grandparents and parents missed the homeland, Teb Chaw Nplog (Laos) and the beautiful landscape so much.

First day in Nasavang

There was a tiny rain storm when we woke up the next morning. The rain helped calm the wild dirt and dust,and filled the village with a nice, fresh air. We didn’t do much but continued to unpack and visited with families. It was nice to wake up without an agenda or schedule to follow.

Getting to Nasavang Village

After a restless night jetlagged and without any sleep, we explored the Talasou Market in Vietiane, and then, headed north of Vientiane to Nasavang Village.

In Vientiane, there is the option to rent a both a driver and a car to take us north so that was what we did. The driver took us north along the Mekong River ( pronounced as ‘Nakong’). The roads were not consistent. There were areas that were perfectly paved and other areas completely unpaved and recognizable even as roads.

About 6 hours into the trip, we stopped at Xanaka, the next biggest market in the area with a mini clinic, to rest and buy groceries for dinner that night.

We left the city at 11am and arrived in Nasavang Village around 8pm that night. It took us 9 hours! It was already dark but the entire village came to greet us! Despite that fact that people (both families and neighbors) were greeting us from left to right, my mother walked past the crowd and headed straight to my grandmother’s house to look for pots and pans to cook dinner. We haven’t ate since we left the city that morning.

After our first meal of rice and broiled chicken with lettuce (which never tasted so good), everyone gathered around my grandmother’s house as my mother handed out the gifts we packed from home. The expressions on the children’s faces were priceless.

Vientiane: The First Dinner

Despite the fact that the Laos officials profiled and questioned us for an hour and we had to bribe our way out in order to officially step foot into the country, all my fear and exhaustion disappeared when I saw my relatives. I even became a little teary even though I have never met them.

The relatives took a bus from the village the day before and have waited for us at the airport since then.

Our small, but amazingly efficient taxi that took us from the airport to our hotel within 20 minutes. Thankfully, the driver called his buddy with another car to come since the first car did not fit everyone and all the suitcases.

My cousin followed us on his bike to make sure everyone was safe.

The first glimpse at our bathroom. It was equipped with a sink, shower (with limited supply of hot water), and a toilet. This is one of the more modern hotels in the area.

My mother and her two sisters reunited after 30+ years. Her eldest sister and her husband currently live in France and met up with us in Laos. The middle sister still resides in Laos, and my mother is in the U.S. They stayed up the whole night talking, and giggling like little girls. It was priceless. I never saw my mother anything more than my “mom”. For the first time, I saw her as a sister, and a friend among her sisters.

Our first dinner together that night. It didn’t matter that we didn’t have any plates or utensils.The food was great and everyone was laughing and talking like 30 years never passed by.

Even though ‘home’ was an ocean away, I felt like I was home again.