Going to Laos... For Dummies (Like Me)

[MenyuamHmoob]

All this talks and pictures from Laos. Makes me want to go so bad. I long to see my motherland and all the beautiful places God has bestowed upon us. I can only assume that it's once in a lifetime experience! How I would love to walk without shoes in the red dirt road. Eat fresh hmong cucumbers out in the field after a long hot day. Drink water from a folded leaf (Don't know how safe). See childrens playing marbles on the street after a night fall. People sitting around fire and sharing folktales. How I long to visit my homeland one of these days...... Thank you all for sharing your experiences with some of us that may never set foot in Laos.

Yoursunrise.  For the experience you've just described, im afraid one would have to go into the more remote parts of Laos. If you only go to the big cites like KM52 & Phonsavan, you wouldnt be able to do or see any of waht you've described.  They're actually more developed than i had initially thought.  I've yet to visit the remote parts of Laos, where there's no electricity, and the simple way of life is the norm.  Hopefully one day i will get to experience that way of life before all of Laos becomes more modernized.   

[MenyuamHmoob]

MenyuamHmoob - Glad to see you again and to know you're still around and contributing to this blog. It is good to see everyone is still here and doing well.

LHG, great to see you're still on here too. BTW, aren't you going back soon?

[LonelyHmgGuy]

LHG, great to see you're still on here too. BTW, aren't you going back soon?

Hey Buddy! Yes, I am going back soon. I will be in Laos in the middle of April for Laos New Year! I was also able to contact a cousin who lives in Nong Hai, so I will stop there after a couple of days rest in Vientiane. Nong Hai is very lay back and I hear most of the people there still farms, hopefully I will get a chance to head out to some of the places where they farm. I hear it is quit remote and very "kho siab"... From Nong Hai, I will go up to Vang Vieng to enjoy Laos New Years. I purchased a couple of water guns for the water fights... see video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHAcYcn13Pc

Then I will make my way back down to KM52 to spend the rest of my time with my grandmother. I am very excited.

BTW - don't you have relatives in Nong Hai? Maybe I should stop by to say hi to them for you! LOL

[LonelyHmgGuy]

You're a travel agent and you dont know? Lol. 

Nothing against Moscato... but most travel agents in the USA know very little about Laos. It is people like you and I who have been there, that can actually give useable advice. Most US agents are only good for a plane ticket and some don't even have very good prices.

Moscato... don't be offended. I am sure you're great at what you do. BTW - At which travel agency do you work for and do you have many Hmong customers? What your busiest time for Laos?

[yoursunrise4ever]

Yoursunrise.  For the experience you've just described, im afraid one would have to go into the more remote parts of Laos. If you only go to the big cites like KM52 & Phonsavan, you wouldnt be able to do or see any of waht you've described.  They're actually more developed than i had initially thought.  I've yet to visit the remote parts of Laos, where there's no electricity, and the simple way of life is the norm.  Hopefully one day i will get to experience that way of life before all of Laos becomes more modernized. 

A person can fantasize right? lolz Yes, I understand that you will have to travelled to a remote area to experience such. In fact I am not from any part of Xieng Khouang Province area. My parents are actually from the upper northern part of Laos. This is where I want to go. It's more beautiful than any part of Laos. Still very country.
 
Luang Namtha (Lao ຫລວງນໍ້າທາ, literally "Royal Sugar Palm" or "Royal Green River") is a province of Laos located in the north of the country. From 1966 to 1976 it formed, together with Bokeo, the province of Houakhong. Luang Namtha Province covers an area of 145,289 square kilometres (56,096 sq mi). Its provincial capital is Luang Namtha. The province borders with Yunnan, China to the north, Oudomxai Province to the east and southeast, Bolikhamsai Province to the southwest, and Kachin State, Burma to the northwest.
The province contains the Nam Ha National Biodiversity Conservation Area and is one of the main sugar cane and rubber producing areas of Laos with numerous plantations. There are some 20 temples in Muang Sing, including Wat Sing Jai and Wat Namkeo. The anthropologica l Luang Namtha Museum is located in Luang Namtha

[MenyuamHmoob]

***Travel Advice, Return Confirmation****

Return Confirmation. I was told before I went on my trip that one would need to go back to the airport (in Vientiane) the day before your return to confirm your flight.  This is COMPLETELY incorrect.  My travel agent (who is a Hmong travel agent and resides in CA, who shall remain anonymous) had advised me to the same.  Its a waste of 30,000-40,000 kip and 1 day just to go all the way from KM52 to Vientiene.

I would tell everyone about the bad service i got from this travel agency, but im not going to bash on them in here. lol

[LonelyHmgGuy]

A person can fantasize right? lolz Yes, I understand that you will have to travelled to a remote area to experience such. In fact I am not from any part of Xieng Khouang Province area. My parents are actually from the upper northern part of Laos. This is where I want to go. It's more beautiful than any part of Laos. Still very country.
 
Luang Namtha (Lao ຫລວງນໍ້າທາ, literally "Royal Sugar Palm" or "Royal Green River") is a province of Laos located in the north of the country. From 1966 to 1976 it formed, together with Bokeo, the province of Houakhong. Luang Namtha Province covers an area of 145,289 square kilometres (56,096 sq mi). Its provincial capital is Luang Namtha. The province borders with Yunnan, China to the north, Oudomxai Province to the east and southeast, Bolikhamsai Province to the southwest, and Kachin State, Burma to the northwest.
The province contains the Nam Ha National Biodiversity Conservation Area and is one of the main sugar cane and rubber producing areas of Laos with numerous plantations. There are some 20 temples in Muang Sing, including Wat Sing Jai and Wat Namkeo. The anthropologica l Luang Namtha Museum is located in Luang Namtha

Hello SunRise... Hope things are good with you and yours. Good to see you're still around and adding to this blog.

Luang Namtha is remote like you mentioned, and it is also one of the first places the Hmong migrated to when they left China. In the old days and not so long ago, Luang Namtha was where alot of the Opium in Laos was grown. This part of the country is very close to China and Burma and is widely known as the Golden Triangle. I hear there are still Hmong in this part of the country that still grows opium, but that's just unconfirmed rumors.

Alot of the drugs in Laos, China and Thailand are manufactured in the Golden Triangle and transported elsewhere. I would be real careful when travelling in this area and not to transport anything given to me without complete trust of the person who gave it to me.

For a real "country feel" as you put it, I would head out to towns near Non Hai. 90 percent of the Hmong there still farm (slash/burn method) and most villiages have houses that still have dirt floors. They also raise their own livestocks.


Happy Travels,

LHG

[LonelyHmgGuy]

***Travel Advice, Return Confirmation****

Return Confirmation. I was told before I went on my trip that one would need to go back to the airport (in Vientiane) the day before your return to confirm your flight.  This is COMPLETELY incorrect.  My travel agent (who is a Hmong travel agent and resides in CA, who shall remain anonymous) had advised me to the same.  Its a waste of 30,000-40,000 kip and 1 day just to go all the way from KM52 to Vientiene.

I would tell everyone about the bad service i got from this travel agency, but im not going to bash on them in here. lol

That sucks... knowing  you, you probably needed that time to win over some nice Hmong Lao Girl!

[yoursunrise4ever]

Hello SunRise... Hope things are good with you and yours. Good to see you're still around and adding to this blog.

Luang Namtha is remote like you mentioned, and it is also one of the first places the Hmong migrated to when they left China. In the old days and not so long ago, Luang Namtha was where alot of the Opium in Laos was grown. This part of the country is very close to China and Burma and is widely known as the Golden Triangle. I hear there are still Hmong in this part of the country that still grows opium, but that's just unconfirmed rumors.

Alot of the drugs in Laos, China and Thailand are manufactured in the Golden Triangle and transported elsewhere. I would be real careful when travelling in this area and not to transport anything given to me without complete trust of the person who gave it to me.

For a real "country feel" as you put it, I would head out to towns near Non Hai. 90 percent of the Hmong there still farm (slash/burn method) and most villiages have houses that still have dirt floors. They also raise their own livestocks.


Happy Travels,

LHG

LHG, I am doing well. I also hope that you are as well. 
 
I don't know if they still grow opium but my grandfather/mother were rich folks in that part of the country due to the vast growing of opium trades. This is where they learned how to speak chinese fluently. It only take a day to cross into the China to do the trade. Many hmong, mien, laos, and lahoo still live there currently. It is the only country that house the vast majority of ethics. This part of the country is very hard to get across and security is very tight! If I were to travelled outside of USA, I want to go to places that it's different and not modernize.
 
Sounds like you know about my own history more than I do. Thank you for sharing the info.

[moscato]

Nothing against Moscato... but most travel agents in the USA know very little about Laos. It is people like you and I who have been there, that can actually give useable advice. Most US agents are only good for a plane ticket and some don't even have very good prices.

Moscato... don't be offended. I am sure you're great at what you do. BTW - At which travel agency do you work for and do you have many Hmong customers? What your busiest time for Laos?

@ menyuamhmoob, sadly i don't know. As lonelyhmgguy says -- I've never been to laos so I have little to no experience in that area. I can only give credit to google for searching. haha
@ lonelyhmgguy, I work for a consolidator. We are basically the middle man for the hmong agents that you guys see in MN, WI, CA. We issue tickets and resolve issues for them. We have over 30+ hmong agencies that work with us. Alot of ppl travel between Feb-mid May and end of Oct-late Dec.

[LonelyHmgGuy]

@ menyuamhmoob, sadly i don't know. As lonelyhmgguy says -- I've never been to laos so I have little to no experience in that area. I can only give credit to google for searching. haha
@ lonelyhmgguy, I work for a consolidator. We are basically the middle man for the hmong agents that you guys see in MN, WI, CA. We issue tickets and resolve issues for them. We have over 30+ hmong agencies that work with us. Alot of ppl travel between Feb-mid May and end of Oct-late Dec.

Moscato-

A bit off topic... but I am sure most of our readers would love to know. Just out of curiosity and being in your line of business, you should have all the stats!!!??? LOL.

Being that California and Minn have a good concentration of Hmongs... who wins in the number of Hmongs going back to Laos? Are there more Cal-Hmongs OR more Minn-Hmongs going to Laos each year or are they they same?

What is the average plane ticket for going to Laos? From California? From Minn?

How long do they stay in Laos?
 
Number of Men and Women? Age also, if you know?

Thanks for the info ahead of time, I am sure you're busy!

LHG

[AOZ]

hey... nice how everyone is still updating this thread. 

someday.. most likely when daughter gets is done with her masters [4-5 years?]... and if she still single... or just her to pique her curiosity about hte old country... i agree that i'd go with her to laos to visit or to pick one vauv for her. 

so those of you who are going there... please keep a lookout on where the best place where the best single guys are... which location have the most good looking would help too.   

[AOZ]

Aoz, are you serious about choosing a vauv from Laos?  Not that anything is wrong with it but wouldn't she have to support him for a while?

i am serious!  i see nothing wrong with that picture at all.  there are too many unmotivated young men here who aren't contributing at all to anything nor anyone.  they just sit home and uasi while their wives or gf or parents work 2 jobs to support them. 

at least those in laos... they know how to ua dej num at home or txawj ua noj ua haus and paub dabqhuas.   

[AOZ]

I know a lady who's in her late 40's that married a 25 years old guy. She bosses him around like a kid. He still hangs out with her younger brother like a friend. 

lols.

 look at the pattern... it started with OG men in their 60s going there... now young men are going there and marrying those girls there.

same with the women.  at first..it's always the OG that leads the way... and soon enough... young single women will see that going there has benefits as well. 

they dont' make hmong men here like they do in laos.  hmong men in laos have that family unity quality... and paub dabqhua that those here lack.   

[moscato]

***Travel Advice, Return Confirmation****

Return Confirmation. I was told before I went on my trip that one would need to go back to the airport (in Vientiane) the day before your return to confirm your flight.  This is COMPLETELY incorrect.  My travel agent (who is a Hmong travel agent and resides in CA, who shall remain anonymous) had advised me to the same.  Its a waste of 30,000-40,000 kip and 1 day just to go all the way from KM52 to Vientiene.

I would tell everyone about the bad service i got from this travel agency, but im not going to bash on them in here. lol

I bet I noe who that hmong agent is. 

Moscato-

A bit off topic... but I am sure most of our readers would love to know. Just out of curiosity and being in your line of business, you should have all the stats!!!??? LOL.

Being that California and Minn have a good concentration of Hmongs... who wins in the number of Hmongs going back to Laos? Are there more Cal-Hmongs OR more Minn-Hmongs going to Laos each year or are they they same?

What is the average plane ticket for going to Laos? From California? From Minn?

How long do they stay in Laos?
 
Number of Men and Women? Age also, if you know?

Thanks for the info ahead of time, I am sure you're busy!

LHG

LOL since im based in mpls, i only know alot of hmong ppl that travel out of MN. But im sure many folks travel out of CA too.
Plane tickets -- it just depends on when u want to travel. different seasonality = different prices
majority of ppl stay at least 3 weeks.. some ppl even stay 6+ months.
I don't know the average age since we don't get that info from passengers. But men def travel more than women.