A few random observations on Laos:
– The country is developing but it is outwardly more appealing than Vietnam. Vientiane is not nearly as hectic as Hanoi or Hoe Che Minh City. This probably has a lot to do with
the much lower population density of Laos.
– The country is developing but it is quite clean. There is little garbage to be seen. Streetside businesses seem to be much more orderly than inVietnam which has a lot more visible garbage. The public areas in Laos are much cleaner. Garbage is the curse of developing country. In dirt poor areas of rural Congo you will so no garbage. In wealthy areas you will see no garbage. It’s that middle ground in the development process where the problem occurs.
– So far, we’ve observed no abject poverty. Like Vietnam you see poverty but you don’t see misery. Unlike Vietnam, there are no beggars (not that there are a lot there). This may have something to do with the communist rule.
– Like Vietnam, Laos is getting “scooterized”. Bicycles are for kids, you have to have a scooter. Fortunately, the population is far less dense than Vietnam so you don’t get the feeling that scooters are like a flock of bees that are constantly buzzing you. The preferred scooter of choice is a Honda which is produced in Taiwan. Other “Japanese” such as Yamaha and Suzuki are also desired. They will cost about $2,000 US. There are a lot of cheap, lower quality scooters from China. They may cost as little as $500 US.
– The personal “car” vehicle of choice seems to be the Toyota Hilux 4-door, short-bed pickup. Usually they are in liquid silver and are spotless. I never imagined that we would see so many of them. When I say many, probably more than 1 out of 10 personal vehicles are a Toyota Hilux. Nisson and even Ford have a few copycats but there is nothing to the extent of the Toyota.
– The Laotians seem to be among the more honest of people in the developing world. Stated prices are not a rip-off, yet things are cheap on a comparative basis. Yes, you can and need to negotiate at times, but it’s not like Egypt where they quote you a price 5 times what they will accept. Maybe as Laos develops this will change but right now I’m comfortable with dealing with the Laotians.
– There are a lot of ex-pats in Vientiane and many of them are young. It seems as if Vientiane is the 2000+ version of Costa Del Sol of the ’70’s.
– The Laotians are hard workers. We see this everyday on the job site. They don’t shy away from working. The children are very willing to pitch in.
– The beer of choice is Beerlao. It is everywhere. Tiger Beer has some presence and Carlsberg is trying to make inroads. Beerlao rules!
– Laos has some very impressive gas stations. While they may be only 6 pumps, they are modern and huge. Somebody sold somebody on something. In Vietnam we would see stands on the side of the road with a whiskey bottle or a Bell jar filled with petrol for sale. That would get your scooter home. In Laos we see the huge gas stations and many new ones under construction.
– Laotians pay cash for everything whether it is a TV, a scooter, a car or a house. They save their money until they can afford what they want.
– A TV may cost about $50 US. A satellite dish may cost about $40 US. The TV signal comes from satellites that serve Thailand and the signal is not scrambled. Therefore, there is no monthly fee. This is why households that appear to be nothing other than peasants will have a TV and satellite dish.
– As I’ve said, we worked on building a school. The school we worked on is a “complete” school because it has classes through the 5th grade. In Laos the children are only required to attend school through the 5th grade. Yet, only 60% of the children “graduate” from the 5th grade. After that, the kids are on their own to continue their studies. Of course, the limited education opportunities severely inhibit development.
– Garbage. Garbage is the bain of developing countries. It seems that when a country gets past abject poverty but has not achieved prosperity a lot of garbage starts showing up along side the roads and in empty lots. Loas seems to be entering this condition. We heard an interesting take on this. It used to be that goods that were sold were wrapped in banana leaves. Of course, the banana leaves were just discarded. Then the switch started to the plastic bags which are ubiquitous in developing countries. Old habits don’t suddenly change. The plastic bags get discarded but become an eyesore. Therefore, a lot of visible garbage and a lot of it is either plastic bags or stuff that is inside plastic bags. It is unsightly.