Laos, a place that feels stuck in time, is at the precipice of change. Backpackers discovered the country decades ago, drawn by its staggeringly beautiful limestone mountains, elaborate Buddhist temples, and an unhurried and inexpensive pace of life. Only the most intrepid travellers followed, as Laos, Southeast Asia’s only landlocked country, operated few — and no long-haul — flights, and potholed, shoddy roads were the norm. Those who made it traded no-frills accommodations and hours-long bumpy drives for adventure, and almost always tacked Laos onto multi-country itineraries that included neighbouring Thailand, Malaysia, and Vietnam, all well-oiled tourism machines that each draw at least three times the number of visitors than Laos annually.
Laos wants to change that. While flights remain limited, the country’s visitor infrastructure has strengthened in recent years with new hotels, improved highways, and, most notably, a new train system that runs as fast as 160 kilometres per hour (100 mph) and connects some of the country’s most popular tourism destinations. Last year, the government designated 2024 a national tourism year, expanding visa waivers, improving tour guide training, and holding dozens of grand festivals.
The Lao-China Railway
Laos, which is roughly twice the size of Pennsylvania, has been trying to rebuild the record tourism numbers it reached in 2019, when 4.8 million foreign tourists visited. This year, according to the Lao government, it succeeded, with more than 5 million tourists visiting. The Lao-China Railway, which runs from Vientiane, the capital of Laos, to Kunming in southern China, is key to this momentum. The $6 billion project, financed by China, is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which aims to connect countries across five continents; Laos is a key hub for China to reach the rest of Southeast Asia. The Lao-China Railway opened in late 2021 for journeys within Laos, and cross-border train service between Laos and China began in 2023. Laos, a one-party communist state, has strong ties with China and is deeply reliant on Chinese investments to fund its infrastructure projects.
The semi-high-speed train now whisks passengers to cities and towns with dramatically different landscapes in just an hour or two, replacing the car or bus rides that used to take all day. The train now offers seamless journeys to Vientiane, the most industrial part of Laos, where malls and temples coexist; to Luang Prabang, a Unesco World Heritage Site with dozens of elaborate Buddhist temples and elegant French colonial villas; and to Vang Vieng, an outdoor adventure hotspot where tourists explore the area’s craggy limestone mountains, caves, and lagoons, and dance until the early morning at raucous bars.
Gilded Temples and Riverside Bars
In Vientiane, visitors can walk through gilded temples, stay in old French colonial villas, and stroll by the Mekong River at night, where an amusement park, night market, bars, and open-air restaurants with seafood on ice welcome patrons.
Other highlights include a visit to Ock Pop Tok, a textile collective based in Luang Prabang, where visitors can watch artisan weavers hard at work. In Vang Vieng, tourists can book an excursion with Green Discovery, a local tour operator, to paddle kayaks on the Nam Song River or go tubing in a cave. Nong Khiaw, a rural town that was once a three-hour drive from Luang Prabang, boasts a limestone karst landscape looming over the placid Nam Ou River, where water buffalo rest languidly on the riverbanks. Aside from the train, new highways have begun replacing once-treacherous roads riddled with potholes. In well-trodden areas, tour operators and services are abundant, and even in sleepier places, numerous hotels are under construction.
At the Kuang Si waterfall, a multi-tiered cascade with startlingly aquamarine waters south of Luang Prabang, there’s a golf cart service to the parking lot and a new zip line winding through the forest. A sturdy metal staircase to the base of the waterfall has replaced a series of decrepit and slippery wooden stairs. While it remains sought after as an add-on for other Southeast Asia itineraries, interest in Laos is rising, said Heather Heverling, a managing director at Audley Travel, a tour operator based in Britain. From January to October 2024, the company’s bookings quadrupled compared to the same period in 2022. — NYT
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
