By Scott, on May 15th, 2010.
Laos has been a really nice change of pace – compared to Vietnam and Thailand, this place is the most chilled out country ever. In fact, the local joke here is that the official name of Lao PDR (People’s Democratic Republic) really stands for Lao – Please Don’t Rush. But really, what do you expect from a country that only has a population of roughly seven million? In Vietnam, people selling you stuff were all over you and would bargain to the death; in Laos, you’ll be lucky if someone will even pay attention to you long enough for you to try to buy something, and bargaining is basically a two-step process: you ask the price, and make a counter offer – if your counter offer is accepted, great, if not, they may or may not be energetic enough to make another counter offer. But whereas in Vietnam or Thailand you’ll get three or four rounds of price changes, there’s pretty much a maximum of two in Laos. At first the lack of haggling and a constant chorus of “Tuk Tuk Sir!” was disconcerting, but after getting used to calmness again, it really is pleasant. As odd as it sounds, we’ve grown accustomed to being constantly bombarded with offers and learned to not only be comfortable with it, but to use it to our advantage; now that we actually have to go ask for stuff, we feel a little weird. Coming home is going to blow our minds! You mean I have to actually pay the full $2.35 for a coffee?
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