Thoughts on Laos

Before I visited Laos in late April 2009, I did not think much of this land-locked country sandwiched by bigger neighbours all round (Thailand in the south, Vietnam in the east, Myanmar in western and China in the north).

Obviously, given the lack of foreign investments, I was already prepared for the lack of infrastructure development in Laos. That said, I was nevertheless charmed by the laid back nature in Vientiane. Although I did not intend to stay at Novotel as it was not conveniently located in relation to the places of interest, I found the colonial design of the hotel rather refreshing. The staff at the hotel were friendly and the lighting and decorations helped to enhance the atmosphere.

My interest in this country grew gradually and I was fortunate to chance across a Lao/Thai jointly produced movie titled Good Morning Luang Prabang (in Laotian Sabaidee Luang Prabang).
Sabaidee is a greeting used by Laotian in every day life (similar to sawasdee in Thailand or G'Day in Australia) while Luang Prabang was the former capital of ancient Lao.

A rave reviews have been written about the movie, the first Lao language movie in more than 30 years. Albeit the simple story plot, I felt that the movie had managed to convey the view that Laos does have really nice sights