Lonely Planet Laos
Page 47
Medical Services
Don Khon has a simple health clinic ( GOOGLE MAP ; Don Khon) while Don Det has just a small pharmacy ( GOOGLE MAP ; sunset side, Ban Hua Det). These can also be found in Ban Nakasang on the mainland. The nearest proper health facility is on Don Khong, but for anything serious you should head straight to Pakse.
Money
There are no banks on the islands. Cash can be exchanged, at generally poor rates, at most guesthouses and some, including Baba, do cash advances on credit cards for a 6% commission. There's an Agricultural Promotion Bank and a BCEL with ATMs on the main drag in Ban Nakasang. Kayaking tours budget enough time at the end of the trip for people to make an ATM stop.
Tourist Information
There is no tourism office on these islands, so you're left with guesthouses and travel agencies. The Baba Guesthouse website (www.dondet.net) has lots of helpful information.
8Getting There & Away
Boat
Boat prices between Ban Nakasang ( GOOGLE MAP ) and the islands are fixed by a local boat association, and there are very few running each day on a shared basis. Expect to pay 15,000K per person (or 30,000K if travelling on your own) to Don Det, and 20,000K per person (or 60,000K if travelling alone) to Don Khon ( GOOGLE MAP ).
For Pakse, most travellers book tickets on the island, which includes the local boat and an 11am bus or minibus (60,000K, three hours). If you want to leave at another time there are hourly sŏrngtăaou from Ban Nakasang to the Southern Bus Terminal in Pakse (40,000K, 3½ hours). One shared boat always leaves the islands in time for the 8am sŏrngtăaou. These all stop in Hat Xai Khun (for Don Khong).
Even in the best of circumstances, travel to Cambodia from the islands by public transport is a hassle. Kayak-boat trips from Don Det to Stung Treng run by Xplore-Asia ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; %031-251983; www.xplore-laos.com; Th 14; h7.30am-6.30pm) are a great alternative.
River travel to Don Khong (200,000K) and Champasak (US$200) is only available by chartered boat, but very often there are other people willing to join together to share the cost. For Don Khong you could also call Done Khong Guesthouse or Pon's Riverside Guesthouse on that island to see if a boat is coming from there in the morning. If so, you can probably buy a seat (40,000K) for the return journey.
GETTING TO CAMBODIA: NONG KHIANG TO TRAPAENG KRIEL
Getting to the border The Nong Nok Khiene (Laos)/Trapaeng Kriel (Cambodia) border (open 6am to 6pm) is a popular route for backpackers on the Indochina overland circuit, and it is always a real hassle.
The Cambodian company Sorya Transport that used to reliably run the Pakse–Phnom Penh route has stopped service due to low demand, although if it starts again this would be the best choice. Sengchalern bus company provides daily service from Pakse to Phnom Penh (230,000K, 12 to 14 hours) via Stung Treng (95,000K, 4½ hours) and Kratie (120,000K, eight hours), but the method of travel varies. Sometimes it sends a big bus which goes direct the whole way, other times it sends you to the border in a minibus and you change vehicles there, and you might even have to change a third time at Stung Treng. These vehicle changes often lead to long delays. Regardless of which vehicle, departures are at 7am from the 2km Bus Station, with a stop to pick up more passengers at the Southern Bus Terminal. Tickets for this route sold from the islands in Si Phan Don will include the ferry from the island and, if needed, a minivan to take you to the connecting point.
Sengchalern also sells tickets to Siem Reap (300,000K), but this extra long trip is not recommended. Better to use reliable Asia Van Transfer (AVT; www.asiavantransfer.com), which departs from the border at 11.30am and takes the new northern route to Siem Reap (US$20) arriving at about 7pm. The price includes a tuk-tuk ride to your hotel. It takes internet bookings, but this means you have to get yourself to the border. In Don Det, Green Paradise ( MAP GOOGLE MAP ; greendiscoverytours99@gmail.com; sunrise side, Ban Hua Det; h7am-9pm) and a few guesthouses sell combo tickets for AVT (200,000K) that include the boat to Nakasang and a minivan to the border. A similar ticket from a travel agency in Pakse costs 260,000K.
For something completely different, Xplore-Asia has one- and two-day kayak-boat combo trips (one/two days US$110/US$180 with a group of four) from Don Det to Stung Treng passing a dramatic flooded forest rich with birdlife. On the two-day trips paddling begins at Don Det while on the one-day trip all water time comes after immigration.
At the border Both Lao and Cambodian visas are available on arrival, while bribes, scams and rudeness are a mandatory part of the process. In Laos, you'll pay a US$2 (or the equivalent in kip or baht) 'overtime' or 'processing' fee, depending on when you cross, upon both entry and exit. In Cambodia, they jack up the price of a visa to US$35 from the actual US$30. In addition, the Cambodians charge US$1 for a cursory medical inspection upon arrival in the country, and levy a US$2 processing fee upon exit. All of these fees can be avoided if you are willing to wait it out, but this will probably take so long that your bus may leave without you. The bus companies want their cut too, so they charge an extra US$5 or more to handle your paperwork with the border guards, even if you already have a visa. Technically this isn't a scam, since you are getting a service in return for your money, but they will not tell you this service is optional. To avoid this fee, insist on doing your own paperwork and walk through immigration on your own; it's not hard.
Moving on Aside from the buses mentioned here, there's virtually zero traffic here. If you're dropped at the border, expect to pay about US$45 for a private taxi heading south to Stung Treng, or 150,000/60,000K for a taxi/săhm-lór (three-wheels) heading north to Ban Nakasang.
8Getting Around
With virtually no traffic and only a few small hills, Don Det and Don Khon are ideally explored by bicycle (hired from just about any guesthouse for 10,000K per day) though they are small enough that everything is also walkable.
There are some săhm-lór available in Ban Hua Det and Ban Khon. It's 100,000K for a trip to both Ban Hua Det to see the dolphins and Tat Somphamit, including sufficient waiting time, and 40,000K just to travel between Ban Hua Det and Ban Khon.
Understand Laos
Laos Today
A communist state in name, Laos can look and feel like a free-wheeling capitalist entity to the average visitor.
History
Professor Martin Stuart-Fox traces Laos' history from the kingdom of Lan Xang to the modern-day Lao PDR, which occupies a strategic crossroads in Southeast Asia.
People & Culture
Laos is home to an incredible patchwork of peoples, with unique religious beliefs, arts and crafts.
Environment
Laos' environment is among the best protected in the region, but hydropower development and vast mineral deposits make for a delicate balancing act.
Laos Today
Laos sits on one of the world's major geo-political crossroads, where Southeast Asia meets China, and this is a huge challenge for such a small country. Hemmed in by the Asian tigers of China, Vietnam and Thailand, Laos often looks like vulnerable prey. Traditionally, Vietnam has held political sway, China wields financial clout and Thailand has a dominant cultural influence. While the government tries to parry these competing influences, the Lao people are ever more plugged into a global world and this contributes to domestic tension.
Best on Film
The Rocket (2013) The story of a young Lao boy blamed for bringing bad luck to his family. To win back the trust of the family he builds a giant firework to enter the annual Rocket Festival.
Bomb Harvest (2007) Powerful documentary about the impact of unexploded ordnance (UXO) on communities in Laos today and the work the Mines Advisory Group (MAG) is doing to clear the legacy of war. For some, the war goes on.
Best in Print
The Coroner’s Lunch (Colin Cotterill; 2004) Delve into the delightful world of Dr Siri, full-time national coroner in the 1970s and part-time super sleuth. The first instalment in a 10-part Siri series.
Ant Egg Soup (Natacha Du Pont d
e Bie; 2004) Subtitled The Adventures of a Food Tourist in Laos, the author samples some local delicacies (including some that aren’t suitable for a delicate stomach).
One Foot in Laos (Dervla Murphy; 2001) Renowned Irish travel writer explores Laos back in the early days of the 1990s and discovers a country undergoing profound change.
Political Snapshot
Officially Laos remains a one-party communist state controlled by the ruling Lao People's Revolutionary Party (LPRP). However, the 'communist' government long ago ditched the Marxist baggage in favour of capitalist couture. The LPRP is not the unified monolith it might appear and contains several factions. Trying to keep all these elements happy is a challenge. New President Bounnhang Vorachith and Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith both came to power in 2016 and early populist moves included a total ban on logging in Laos. But it remains to be seen if there is actually the political will to enforce this on the ground.
Economy & Infrastructure
The Lao economy has seen 7% to 8% growth from 2010 to 2015, one of the best performances in the world. However, the World Bank still rates Laos as one of the least developed countries in East Asia, with more than 75% of people living on less than US$2 a day.
Major exports are timber products, garments, electricity and coffee. In recent years, tourism has become one of the main generators of foreign income, much of which flows directly into the pockets of those who need it most.
Foreign aid remains a crutch for the Laos economy, with Western governments and their NGOs picking up much of the development tab. China is a political role model as well as a major source of funding, and Chinese spending comes without reform targets, unlike assistance from the West.
Infrastructure is the buzz word in Laos, as aid and investment is channelled towards hydroelectricity, roads and bridges. China is funding a new high-speed railway that will eventually connect Kunming with Bangkok via Luang Prabang and Vientiane. Other mega-projects include the Xayaburi Dam on the lower Mekong, which is causing much consternation for downstream neighbours Cambodia and Vietnam, who rely on the river for irrigation and fish stocks.
Corruption
Corruption remains a major problem, and Transparency International ranked Laos 139 out of 168 countries in its Corruption Perceptions Index 2015, level with Bangladesh and Guinea. Increased investment has brought increased exports and increased revenue for the government, but much of this new wealth has not been effectively accounted for in the national budget. Widespread corruption is a source of great frustration to the average Laotian, and contributes to a widening gap between rural and urban living standards.
We the People
And where do the Lao people fit into all this? While they may be politically disenfranchised, they are more economically empowered than in the past. They also have greater access to basics such as electricity and running water – a major improvement on the bad old days of collectivisation. Access to technology has also improved, with the number of Lao people using the internet more than doubling in the past five years.
However, ethnic minorities, who make up a large proportion of the population, are not sharing the economic bonanza with their lowland cousins who dominate the cities. And while use of social media continues to spread, laws curtail freedom of speech: a 2014 decree prohibits criticism of the government online (an offence that got three Lao citizens arrested in 2016), and the vast majority of media outlets are state run. Laos is a conservative country, but there are increasing numbers of the younger generation who have spent time abroad working in Thailand or with foreigners in the tourism sector who feel disconnected from their ageing leadership.
Population
6.9 million
Area
236,800 sq km
Official Language
Lao
Inflation
1.3%
GDP per capita
US$1660 per head
Border Countries
Cambodia, China, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Vietnam
History
Laos first emerged in the region as Lan Xang, or the 'Kingdom of a Million Elephants', in the 14th century. Despite some bursts of independence, the kingdom generally found itself paying tribute to more powerful neighbours, including the Siamese and Vietnamese. Geography ensured Laos was sucked into the Vietnam War and a lengthy civil war culminated in a communist takeover in 1975. After many years of isolation, Laos began to experiment with economic reforms in the 1990s but political reform remains a distant dream for most.
Martin Stuart-Fox is Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Queensland, Australia. He has written multiple books and dozens of articles and book chapters on the politics and history of Laos.
Prehistory & Tai-Lao Migration
The first modern humans (Homo sapiens) arrived in Southeast Asia around 50,000 years ago. Their stone-age technology remained little changed until a Neolithic culture evolved about 10,000 years ago. These hunter-gatherers spread throughout much of Southeast Asia, including Laos. Their descendants produced the first pottery in the region, and later bronze metallurgy. In time they adopted rice cultivation, introduced down the Mekong River valley from southern China. These people were the ancestors of the present-day upland minorities, collectively known as the Lao Thoeng (Upland Lao), the largest group of which are the Khamu of northern Laos.
The earliest kingdom in southern Laos was identified in Chinese texts as Chenla, dating from the 5th century. One of its capitals was close to Champasak, near the later Khmer temple of Wat Phu. A little later Mon people (speaking another Austro-Asiatic language) established kingdoms on the middle Mekong – Sri Gotapura (Sikhottabong in Lao) with its capital near Tha Khaek, and Chanthaburi in the vicinity of Viang Chan (Vientiane).
Tai peoples probably began migrating out of southern China in about the 8th century. They included the Tai-Lao of Laos, the Tai-Syam and Tai-Yuan of central and northern Thailand, and the Tai-Shan of northeast Burma. They are called Tai to distinguish them from the citizens (Thai) of modern Thailand, although the word is the same. All spoke closely related Tai languages, practised wet-rice cultivation along river valleys, and organised themselves into small principalities, known as meuang, each presided over by a hereditary ruler, or jow meuang (lord of the meuang). The Tai-Lao, or Lao for short, moved slowly down the rivers of northern Laos, like the Nam Ou and the Nam Khan, running roughly from northeast to southwest, until they arrived at the Mekong, the Great River.
The Lao believe most ngeuk (snake deities) have been converted to become serpent protectors of Buddhism, called naga (in Lao nak). They still require propitiation, however, and annual boat races are held for their amusement. Many Buddhist temples (wat) have protective naga balustrades.
The Kingdom of Lan Xang
The first extended Lao kingdom dates from the mid-14th century. It was established in the context of a century of unprecedented political and social change in mainland Southeast Asia. At the beginning of the 13th century, the great Khmer king Jayavarman VII, who had re-established Cambodian power and built the city of Angkor Thom, sent his armies north to extend the Khmer empire to include all of the middle Mekong region and north-central Thailand. But the empire was overstretched, and by the mid-13th century the Khmer were in retreat. At the same time, the Mongol Yuan dynasty in China abandoned plans for further conquest in Southeast Asia.
This left a political vacuum in central Thailand, into which stepped Ramkhamhaeng, founder of the Tai-Syam kingdom of Sukhothai. To his north, his ally Mangray founded the Tai-Yuan kingdom of Lanna (meaning 'A Million Rice Fields'), with his capital at Chiang Mai. Other smaller Tai kingdoms were established at Phayao and Xiang Dong Xiang Thong (Luang Prabang). In southern Laos and eastern Thailand, however, the Khmer still held on to power.
The Cambodian court looked around for an ally, and found one in the form of a young Lao prince, Fa Ngum, who was being educated at Angkor. Fa Ngum's princely father had been forced to flee Xiang Dong Xiang Thong after he s
educed one of his own father's concubines. So Fa Ngum was in direct line for the throne.
The Khmer gave Fa Ngum a Khmer princess and an army, and sent him north to wrest the middle Mekong from the control of Sukhothai, and so divert and weaken the Tai-Syam kingdom. He was successful and Fa Ngum was pronounced king in Xiang Dong Xiang Thong, before forcibly bringing Viang Chan into his growing empire. He named his new kingdom Lan Xang Hom Khao, which means 'A Million Elephants and the White Parasol'. Fa Ngum built a fine capital at Xiang Dong Xiang Thong and set about organising his court and kingdom.
Fa Ngum performed sacrifices to the pĕe (traditional spirits) of the kingdom. But he also acquiesced to his wife's request to introduce Khmer Theravada Buddhism to Lan Xang. Fa Ngum began to seduce the wives and daughters of his court nobles, who decided to replace him, and he was sent into exile in Nan (now in Thailand), where he died within five years. His legacy, however, stood the test of time. The kingdom of Lan Xang remained a power in mainland Southeast Asia until early in the 18th century, able to match the power of Siam, Vietnam and Burma.