Awakening in Laos

My Journey in an Unknown Culture was to Laos, in South East Asia. When my travel plans turned upside down, I had a translator change my perspective around to better understand the people of Laos and their culture.

I was headed from Chang Mai, Thailand to Laos. While in Chang Mai, I tried to find someone to sell me a trip on a "fast boat" to Laos. The "slow boat" trip on the Mekong was extremely popular, but I was against that option because I was in a hurry and still wanted a boat trip on the Mekong.

It took me a whole day to find someone to sell me a ticket. Many people tried to talk me out of it, because it was too dangerous and most people refused to sell me tickets. Finally, I met a vendor who would sell me a ticket. I had to stay over night near the Mekong, supposedly due to limited border closing times.

The next morning, I woke up early and crossed the Mekong River by 8:30AM. By 9AM, I was told there would not be a fast boat, even though I paid approximately 76 dollars for my whole trip. I cried because I felt like I was swindled by the vendor. When I insisted that I be taken, my handler said “If you die no one will know…that is how dangerous it is!” He went on to explain that many large logs are in the Mekong and how often the boats flip.

I finally conceded and demanded a shuttle to Luang Prabang. Instead, I ended up on a "locals" bus at noon. This turned out to be a great turn of events. After fuming for a few hours, a man asked to sit next to me on the bus. He spoke excellent English and explained that he was a translator.

A few hours into the 11 hour bus ride, I observed most locals getting on the bus carrying huge sacks of rice and asked why this was. My new acquaintance explained that most people were going to school for months at a time or leaving there families to go work elsewhere. So they take the huge sacks of rice so they can afford to eat while they are supporting their families or going to school.

It overwhelmed me how spoiled I felt as a demanding "Ugly American". I felt silly about feeling "ripped off". I realized the livelihood of the people is to get by as best they can while taking care of each other and their families. Also, they share their wealth and workload, as seen by the way they were helping each other on and off the bus with their rice sacks.

On my Journey in an Unknown Culture to Laos, I had a translator turn my journey and perspective around to understand the people of Laos and their culture. I had a wonderful awakening that made me feel truly blessed and learn what my trip was truly about.