Visitors, too, are becoming increasingly conscious of Laos and its beauty.
Like Lau, the retiree from Honolulu, most travellers I encountered weren’t only targeting Laos ( Lau was also visiting Thailand on her trip ). This development is likely fueled in part by the country’s less well-known reputation and the requirement for worldwide travelers from other regions to join at airports in places like Bangkok and Hanoi.
And those planes to Laos are limited. In 2024, there were fewer than 1.8 million flight tickets to Laos, most of them offered by Taiwanese and Thai flights, according to Cirium, an aircraft data firm. By contrast, more than 46 million tickets were available to Thailand.
” Laos has always been a’ plus-one’ state”, said Jason Rolan, a hospitality specialist who lives in Vientiane. Its isolation has kept it essentially intact as a sight for vacationers, but they are unaware of it.
ON THE BUS TO NONG KHIAW
With only two weeks remaining, Eli and I visited Nong Khiaw, a remote area that was a three-hour push from Luang Prabang. We made the decision to spent a day there after being drawn to the reviews and pictures on the internet. The trip was seriously uncomfortable. A dozen dirty people were crammed into our small van, which we were crammed into from thigh to thigh. There was only the idea of a breeze and no air cooling. The streets were paved and dotted with gutters in large portions. I definitely missed the train.