Living In Laos ~ The Life of an Ex-Pat
John Nelson
It all began in September of 2012. The
itchiness on the feet, that is! Do you know the
feeling? That itch which no scratch will ever
help ease. This was the time I began to plan
my escape from the ‘rat race’ that was the UK!
At that time I was working in a good job as a
project co-ordinator for a major convenience
store company. My job required me to travel
and work away from my hometown during
the week, living in hotels and guest houses.
It never seemed quite right going home on
a Friday afternoon because the itch always
got stronger as I drove north to my little home
in the beautiful town of Kelso nestled in the
Scottish Borders.
In the dark winter nights I began to dream
about adventures in faraway lands with just
a book, my backpack, and camera in hand.
It seemed natural to me to start this journey
in Asia, a place I’d had a fleeting stop-over
en-route to New Zealand in 2005; and so I
looked for a major destination point. Bangkok
appeared to be the place all aeroplanes
headed, and therefore after making some
notes I booked a return ticket to Bangkok. I
could only manage a 5-week holiday break
from my employer so I knew this would be a busy
time travelling around and soaking in the delights
that South East Asia would have to offer.
Early in February 2013 I had confirmation of a
plane ticket for one to Bangkok via Amsterdam
leaving at the start of May and returning in
early June. WOW! There were no other plans,
I hadn’t scheduled in a hotel or guest house in
Bangkok, or anywhere in Thailand come to think
of it! All I knew as the date got closer was that I
wanted to head into the tiny mysterious country
of Laos PDR and journey south until I came to
the poverty stricken land of Cambodia, and more
importantly the ancient wonder of the world which
is known as Angkor Wat.
Planning my route through Thailand I knew I
wanted to experience something which most
tourists and travellers miss out on - a real
hands-on animal conservation experience and I
found just that with a short voluntary stay at the
Elephant Nature Park, north of Chiang Mai city
in the northern reaches of Thailand. From here
it seemed an easy journey to reach mysterious
Laos where I planned on joining a Jungle Trek
for three days and nights, sleeping in treehouses
and ziplining across the jungle canopy seeking
out the elusive and critically endangered Black
Gibbon. After those two animal experiences I
really hadn’t planned much, apart from trying
to experience life as close to that of the locals
and natives as possible, and making it to Angkor
Wat to see what all the fuss was about. ‘What
will be will be,’ I thought to myself sitting in the
doctor’s surgery awaiting vaccinations against
tropical illnesses rampant in the jungles and hill
villages of rural Asia, but then, I worried about the
illnesses I would take to the indigenous peoples
of Laos and Cambodia.
In no time at all the date to begin my adventure
arrived and one of my good friends transported
me to Edinburgh airport for my early morning
departure to Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport and
my connecting flight into Bangkok.
Next month, read about my experiences in the
Orient and the basic schoolboy errors of a novice
traveller arriving in a new country for the first time
ever…
24