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I lived in Laos back in the late 70's/early 80's. One of the big treats we got was 30 minutes of phone call time back home to the states on Christmas. Barrin

I lived in Laos back in the late 70's/early 80's. One of the big treats we got was 30 minutes of phone call time back home to the states on Christmas. Barring that, it was 3-month-round-trip mail via diplomatic pouch. Now I can hop on to any number of free webcams in Vientiane and check out the happenings where I used to live just for the heck of it, no questions asked, no money required. Sometimes it still shocks me how much the world has changed in the past few decades!

latchkey 7y ago
I bet you have some amazing stories. Have you made it back at all? Vientiane is all grown up and becoming a bit of a popular expat area. Vangvieng is super popular with backpackers and Luang Prabang is a bit of a tourist trap, but is still tiny and really beautiful. I spent about a week just hanging out in Nong Khiaw... tiny little town on the river, super relaxing. The infrastructure is changing a lot too. Roads are becoming real roads. Chinese are moving in and building roads and hydro dams all through the country. Bought up all the land from the locals. Really a total eco disaster that nobody is talking about.
- Baeocystin 7y ago
  Oh, lots of stories, for sure. Being one of the very few foreigners around during the water festival meant is was 100% impossible to get home without getting utterly soaked, in the friendliest possible way. And I remember clearly there was only one English sign anywhere in the Vientiane Airport, and it was a warning before the metal detector that said 'No Guns, No Knives, No Durian' in many different languages. More than one flight to Bangkok had someone casually cleaning their rifle to pass the time, and knives were shrugged at. They Meant It when it came to trying to take a durian on the plane, though! // I would very much like to return and see how things have changed. Things haven't aligned to make it possible for me, yet, but it's on the list. Here's a small gallery from the National Day parade in 1980, if you're interested: https://imgur.com/a/GRmSl https://imgur.com/a/GRmSl
  - latchkey 7y ago
    Nice, thanks for sharing! =)

latchkey 7y ago

I bet you have some amazing stories. Have you made it back at all? Vientiane is all grown up and becoming a bit of a popular expat area. Vangvieng is super popular with backpackers and Luang Prabang is a bit of a tourist trap, but is still tiny and really beautiful. I spent about a week just hanging out in Nong Khiaw... tiny little town on the river, super relaxing. The infrastructure is changing a lot too. Roads are becoming real roads. Chinese are moving in and building roads and hydro dams all through the country. Bought up all the land from the locals. Really a total eco disaster that nobody is talking about.

Baeocystin 7y ago
Oh, lots of stories, for sure. Being one of the very few foreigners around during the water festival meant is was 100% impossible to get home without getting utterly soaked, in the friendliest possible way. And I remember clearly there was only one English sign anywhere in the Vientiane Airport, and it was a warning before the metal detector that said 'No Guns, No Knives, No Durian' in many different languages. More than one flight to Bangkok had someone casually cleaning their rifle to pass the time, and knives were shrugged at. They Meant It when it came to trying to take a durian on the plane, though! // I would very much like to return and see how things have changed. Things haven't aligned to make it possible for me, yet, but it's on the list. Here's a small gallery from the National Day parade in 1980, if you're interested: https://imgur.com/a/GRmSl https://imgur.com/a/GRmSl
- latchkey 7y ago
  Nice, thanks for sharing! =)