Laos: The Long Road In (And a Few Curveballs)
Quick update before diving in: sorry for the radio silence on new posts — wifi in Laos was pretty much nonexistent, so uploading anything was a struggle. Starting now, I'm aiming to be a lot more consistent, somewhere around 1 to 3 posts a week going forward. Also, quick heads up — by the time this goes up, I'm no longer in Laos.
With that out of the way, here's how the Laos chapter started.
Getting There
The trip from Vietnam to Laos took over 30 hours by sleeper bus, and honestly, it turned into one of the best parts of this leg. The scenery along the way was incredible — stretch after stretch of untouched landscape rolling by the window. We spent most of the ride watching movies and anime together as a group, which somehow made a full day-plus of travel feel like nothing. Peak life, honestly.
A Rough Welcome
We finally rolled into Laos and didn't make it to the house until around 11pm. Right before we got there, we were met by a pack of barking dogs — not exactly the welcome we were hoping for. From what we've heard, there are a lot of stray dogs (and what they leave behind) around here, supposedly tied to the area being a bit more prone to petty crime. Can't say for sure how true that is, but it was a memorable first impression either way.
Settling In
For this leg of the trip, all 30 of us are staying together in one house — sharing 2 bathrooms and 1 kitchen between everyone. It's a lot more communal than Vietnam, where we were split across different lodgings. One upside of being under one roof: we've started praying together regularly here, which wasn't really possible before. Small thing, but it's added a nice rhythm to our days.
Laos isn't a perfect country — it has its rough edges, like anywhere does — but it's still beautiful in its own way.
Finding Our Way Around
The first few days were mostly spent figuring out where anything was. We knew there was a 7-Eleven somewhere near the house but had no idea how to actually get there. Cue several days of taking the long way around, winding through the same streets over and over, before we finally stumbled onto a shortcut that cut the walk down significantly.
(Map of our original route vs. the shortcut we eventually found — dropping a photo in here.)
Also worth mentioning: we saw a lot of dogs on these walks, and just as much red sand — it's genuinely everywhere, and the roads themselves are practically coated in it.
The Daily Routine
Our days here have mostly looked the same: studying (of course without an internet), and walking to and from the 7-Eleven. That's pretty much it. I also started hand-washing my laundry, since there's no laundry service around here — a small adjustment, but one I've gotten used to.
Kindness, No Translation Needed
One thing I've really noticed here is how friendly people are. One moment that stuck with me: I was carrying 20kg of rice back from the market to the house, about 1.5km away. Not light, but thankfully I've been keeping up with the gym. Halfway through, a woman called out to me — "halo!" — and offered me a ride. Her English wasn't great, but somehow, I understood exactly what she meant. Funny how that works. Maybe that's one of the small miracles of being human — we're not as limited by language as we think.
7-Eleven Chronicles
If you're wondering how we spent our downtime: dessert, coffee, dessert, coffee, repeat. The 7-Eleven near the house basically became our unofficial hangout spot.
That's where I'll leave it for this one — running out of time to write. I'll pick this back up in the next post, where I'll actually get into the places we visited around Laos, which I completely forgot to mention here. Stay tuned.