MAJA VISITS

I recently had a fantastic 3 weeks with Maja in Laos. It was such a great opportunity to share some of my experiences here and for us have time to catch up properly on the last few years. I was able to take some time off work to travel with Maja in Laos but we also enjoyed hanging out together in Vientiane. Maja also seemed to be happy to entertain herself in town whist I was at work most days and wrote this below on her way home thinking about her time here.

Driving

I was able to use the work car while Maja was here which has been an interesting experience. I miss the Stripes knowing that she would be able to cruise around the traffic so easily but a 4WD is probably safer for me in Asia. I’ve tried to figure out road rules but Lao seems to have few different ways of doing things/ anything goes. So far I have learnt you do not drive in lanes,  you give way in the middle of a round about rather than before you approach it and you park where ever/ however you can (gives a new meaning to 4wheel driving in the city – I have been aiming for 2 or 3 wheels on the curb to avoid a side swipe by road traffic). The funniest experience with parking is actually that your expected to not put on the hand break. I had heard rumors this was the case but on a recent trip the Ministry, I was made to go back to the car to take the break off so my car could be pushed somewhere more convenient if needed!

Nam Ngum Dam

One weekend we visited Nam Ngum Dam with Jess and Liena. It was a fun road trip with the estimated driving time of 2 hours turning into about a 4 hour road trip. Signage was non existent and there were a lot of roadside stops asking for directions and visiting of random villages absolutely nowhere close to where we were going. It was all worth it when we saw our rooms overlooking the dam and the INFINITY pool (the everyday stresses of Lao seem to occasionaly get balanced out with all those luxuries you could never maintain at home) . Maja was keen for a boat ride so we spent a few hours cruising on the dam and it was fascinating to visit an island where about 200 political prisoners are being detained.