Reflections on the former French Indochine

I had heard so much about travelling in South East Asia from friends who had been there in the past. I'm happy I have had my own experiences here and can say for sure that I've learned a lot during my time in Indochina.

Indochina has suffered heavily over the past two centuries due to both internal conflicts along with Western imperialism and ideology, most recently in the 70s (and even up to the 90s in Cambodia). Vietnam showed me the horrors of it's recent past in museums; Cambodia showed me at the sites themselves whereas, despite being the most bombed country in the world, Laos has yet to make a tourism industry out of it's miseries. This was one striking difference between the three countries.

Propaganda Poster, Vietnam

Of the three, Vietnam immediately strikes tourists as being the richest and most 'advanced'. With an average life expectancy of 71.6 years compared to Cambodia's 62 years and Laos' even more shocking 56.7 year life expectancy, it's clear which country is winning in terms of sustaining a healthy population. Their booming tourism industry proves that by now, the Vietnamese are all too familiar with the strange ways of Weserners and use this knowledge to their advantage when selling tours and packages. We were impressed with the organisation and customer service we received along the way, completely unlike that which we found in India.

Halong Bay, Northern Vietnam

Vietnam is so charming. One visit just isn't enough

Fitting quotation taken from a television advert by the Vietnam tourist board. Chris and I both agree with this and will certainly be revisiting Vietnam in the future. We have a lot of unfinished business there and hope to visit smaller villages and go on a trip to Sapa, north of Hanoi.

What amazed both of us was, despite each of these countries having suffered so much and so recently, how incredibly open and welcoming they were towards foreigners, or 'farang'. I believe that the dominant Buddhist spirituality is partly responsible for this forgiving nature and open-ness. When eating dinner with our guides one evening in Laos, one of our group asked how Laotian people felt about the recent wars which Laos was innocently entangled in and fell victim to. Khit responded by saying that people don't mind and don't think about it anymore. "They were angry", he said, "but now, not angry anymore, just happy". This kind of forgiveness doesn't come easily to us in the West, not without a lasting and evident bitterness.

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

We must admit to have found Cambodia, of the three, the most expensive. The weirdest thing is that a visit to a cash machine will only result in the withdrawal of US dollars. You can't withdraw the local currency in either Laos or Cambodia, meaning these two countries truly are 'dollarised'. In Cambodia especially, prices are rounded up to the nearest dollar meaning a meal in a cheap hostel restaurant may cost $2-4. Sounds cheap, yet when you compare this to a meal out you might be able to buy in, say, New York for the same price, you realise that the prices here are heavily inflated. Comparing this price to what the majority of Cambodians earn in one day hits home even more. Here come the figures... With a GDP per capita of only $2000 in 2008 (compared to $36,700 in the UK; $47,500 in the USA), Cambodia truly is one of the world's poorest countries. In Cambodia, still only 22% of the population live in urban areas (it's 90% in the UK, 82% in the USA - 2008 figures from the CIA).

Of all three countries, I felt a lasting affinity to Laos. Having spent three days with our Laotian guides, Khit and Jin, both incredibly open, warm and eager to tell us about their country's traditions and past, I learned a lot about this country. I learned that people marry very young here, especially the girls who often marry at 13 or 14, while the boys might be 17. Usually, they'll have a baby after one year of marriage and interestingly, the boy will follow the girl's family's tradition, moving into her village and living with her family for the first year of marriage. The boy's family also have to pay what I suppose we would call the dowry, unlike in the past in the West where it was of course the girl's family.

These villagers had never seen

white people before

I learned also that Laotian people are incredibly spiritual. My first experience of this was to witness the man calling for the wind to help with his family's crop during our trek. In addition, in Laos it is important to appease the Gods if anyone in your family becomes ill. When I asked what kind of farming Khit's family did,he told me that they used to have many buffaloes. Recently however, his mother became very ill; the family had to sacrifice around four or five buffaloes to appease the Gods. His mother is now better but they have far fewer buffaloes.

All males in Laos have to become a monk at some stage in their lives (this is the same in Thailand I believe), whether it be for one month or many years. Khit, our guide, had been a monk for eight years, starting at the young age of 13. The country's calmness and the peaceful nature of the people must come in some part from this.

Chris and I have so many reasons to return to this part of the world and I truly hope that one day we will be able to do so. I have been thoroughly touched and would recommend a visit to any of these countries.