Land of flowers … Land of diversity

Sakura

Blossoming trees and bushes complemented with flowering perennials. In Laos you will see flowers all year round. Beautiful flowers decorating streets, hill slopes, and gardens perfume the ambient air with natural scents and fragrances. Jasmine, magnolia, mock orange and sweet orange blooms, to name a few, turn your evening strolls into a heavenly delight. Big flowers, small flowers, and blossoms in a myriad of colours. A feeling of Sakura throughout the year.

Nature

An astounding nature that reflects an amazing biodiversity with many species yet to be discovered. A rich diversity of cultures, peoples, and the folklores of their various communities. That’s also Laos.

Geography

Laos shares borders with Thailand in the West, China and Burma in the North, Vietnam in the East, and Cambodia in the South. From the north to the south there are 18 provinces stretching along 1,362 km.

Tourism

Laos offers many interesting tourist destinations. The capital Vientiane on the Mekong features a victory monument called Patusai — Victory Gate literally — which vaguely resembles the l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris.

Chedis and Temples

The capital is also renowned for its monumental chedis (Buddhist stupas) That Luang (the Golden Chedi) and That Dam (the Black Chedi). Temples remind of Thai temples be it though that they radiate a slightly higher level of finesse. “Same, same but different”, one would say.

Monumental buildings

Much worth a photo shoot is the Embassy of Brunei dar es Salaam with its enticing architectural buildings painted in a soft pastel colour palette of pink and sky blue shades. No, you cannot enter its premises without a proper invitation. Taking pictures from the street side is however easy enough.

Water

Laos is landlocked. So, no seashores. No scarcity of natural waters though. From the magnificent Mekong to large lakes, and mysterious streams disappearing into enchanting caves, Laos has it all.

The North

The North features places like Vang Vien with it’s mysterious caves of which some are still waiting to be fully explored. Tam Pou Kham cave for instance and the world famous water cave Tham Chang. Then there is Nam Song river — one of the many tributaries to the MeKong river. An excellent place to relax whenever you feel overwhelmed with the magnificent scenery of the North. Nam Song river is a popular tourist destination and the road leading to it offers many view points. Ideal for selfie addicts who want to indulge in becoming part of the magnificent scenery. You will also discover spots that will add lustre to professional photo shoots.

Plane of Jars

Then there is the Plane of Jars. An enigmatic place with ancient jars in various sizes covering large plots of land. Only a small part is accessible while the rest of the plane is littered with unexploded ordnance and landmines that still need to be cleared.

Vat Phou and the Bolaven Plateau

Travelling to Champasak province In the South, places you definitely should not miss out on are the ancient Vat Phou temple and the Bolaven Plateau.

Additional reading

An ancient temple in Laos which rivals Angkor Wat [National Geographic]

Pakse

How about a Waterfall trek in Pakse including the Zip Line Experience at Tad Fane Waterfall? Then make sure not to miss out on the largest waterfall in South East Asia as well; the Khorepahphong waterfall. You will love to show your friends on social media that you have been there.

Pakse district has the best coffee to be found in Laos. Tourists often buy a number of packs to take home as a souvenir.

Khammouane Province

Let’s continue and visit Phu Pha Marn. A leading tourist attraction in Khammouane Province.

Savannakhet

Some more top attractions to visit in Savannakhet province are: That Ing Hang, the Savannakhet Dinosaur Museum, and Vat Xayaphoum temple.

A nation united in diversity. That’s Laos.

[This essay is a work in progress.
It’s going to be longer while more pictures will be added.]

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Content partially provided by Ms Ai (Oulayvanh Vayyakone) as part of an assignment by teacher Walter to write an essay on Laos … Land of flowers … Land of diversity [April 2024]

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at the

Mali Nam Phu Hotel

The Chef

Oanh, the chef, is from Vietnam. Vietnamese, Laotian (Isaan), European, Chinese, and Thai dishes. She does it all, and fast.

What happened

Yes, that’s the same Oanh who previously ran a restaurant downstairs at the Rainbow hotel. Oanh prefers to be addressed as either An or Mama. So now you know how to quickly get her attention.

Lots of fun and a friendly ambience aside, the Rainbow Hotel proved not to be the right place to run a profitable restaurant. The rent was rather high and budgets of many a guest a bit on the low side. Oanh, the chef, decided to move place.

Oanh started to look for something more suitable to her needs and ambition to run a more upgraded restaurant. Then one day, still downtown at walking distance from the Rainbow Hotel she found an existing restaurant waiting for a new managing chef. Inside the Mali Nam Phu that is.

The Mali Nam Phu is a 2 star hotel with a long standing reputation of excellence.

To the test

We couldn’t resist checking it out ^_^

Marvellous … copious … highly nutritious.
We just loved the extended variety of dishes to choose from.

A rich choice of food

The menu though, needs a bit of editing. Categories are not clearly listed. If you are for instance looking for continental food, you eventually will find it listed tucked in between some very different kinds of cuisine. Then again … it’s there.

There is Lao food, Thai food, Chinese food, lots of Vietnamese dishes, and … Western food, such as the good old French Fries

Oanh the musician

Sometimes, late at night, when guests have become friends, the ambience is set for Oanh, the chef. to play the guitar. Lest we not forget … she is a musician and composer.

We will be back, for sure!

[Refer www.tripadvisor.com]