saunders 180: Spring Break in Laos

Were you beginning to wonder if we’d come back? Or if Laos had been such a horrible experience that I couldn’t even write about it? Well, I can confirm that we reluctantly came back and had an absolutely amazing experience!

I have to admit, the trip to Laos is the one that we were most unsure about. We’ve never bought trip insurance that would enable us to med-evac a country if we needed medical care; nor had riding in a turbo-prop plane been on any of our past agendas. With our malaria meds packed, we were off on our Spring Break adventure!

We had to travel through Bangkok and spend the night to catch one of the few flights to Luang Prabang in Laos. In preparation for leaving “civilization” we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants in Asia…the Hard Rock Café, of course!

There we had a hearty meal of nutritious things like nachos, hot dogs, and fries. We figured we might not eat for the rest of the week, so might as well fill up on grease!

The next morning we readied ourselves for the turbo prop ride to Luang Prabang. Last time I was on a turbo-prop was to Champagne, Illinois and I liken the experience to being in a crop duster. It never felt like we gained altitude and at any moment we could fall from the sky. Doing the same in a third world country did give me pause.

We were picked up by Lao Airlines at the airport in a mini-van – yes, a mini-van - with the six or so other passengers going to Luang Prabang and were driven to the plane out on the tarmac. “Crop-duster, here we come,” is what was running through my mind.

To our great relief, it looked like a real plane that was meant for carrying passengers. We chalked that up as a good sign!

With hardly any other passengers, plenty of room to spread out, and no (thank goodness) turbulence, it was actually a very pleasant flight. Still, we were excited to get off the plane!

The Hutchinson Municipal Airport looks like LAX compared to Luang Prabang International Airport. It felt about the same size as our apartment! That said, I'd prefer to go through it any day over LAX. Security was a breeze!

We were taken to our hotel, a nearly brand new place that was situated on top of a hill that overlooked the city with mountains and the Mekong River in the distance.