I've said it before and I'll say it again: Laos does not get the love it deserves. Everyone obsesses over Thailand, quickly flies over to Vietnam and does a flash visit to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, but barely anyone goes to Laos. They say the weather in Laos is too bad, or that there's simply nothing to do. All lame excuses if you ask me. I actually think you'll love Laos, for these five reasons.

Like I said, most backpackers start in Thailand. Vietnam is getting hyped up at the moment, so that's the next stop. Laos seems to get forgotten, and you notice it when you meet other tourists there. Less party people and more experienced travellers visit Laos. In general there just aren't as much tourists, so it feels like more of an adventures. You'll see and meet more locals, do more things in Lao style. Thailand has already adjusted to mass tourism, Laos hasn't. You'll share buses with more locals than tourists, won't get called by tuktuk drivers every other minute and find yourself exploring more instead of following the masses. In Thailand you'll have to actively search for a hidden gem, a place that hasn't been taken over by tourists yet. In Laos that's not the case - Laos is a hidden gem itself.

In Thailand I met some people who'd heard the rainy season in Laos was stuff of nightmares. We were in Chiang Mai at that moment, where pouring rain fell down from the skies every day around 5pm. I prepared myself for the worst when I crossed the border into Laos... and didn't see any rain until the fourth day of my stay. It wasn't even nearly as bad as the Chiang Mai torrents.
The rainy season in Laos lasts from May until the end of September, exactly when most of us have time to travel to Asia. It's around 30 degrees Celsius every day and when it actually does rain it's nice and refreshing. It was nowhere near as bad as I was told. In fact, the weather was better than in Thailand. Laos was the place where I finally stopped being pale as a ghost and actually got a bit of a tan!

I've visited every continent except Africa, so it takes quite a bit to impress me. Laos impressed me effortlessly though. My jaw dropped when I saw the Pak Ou caves nestled into the side of the mountains that rise straight up from the waters of the Mekong. I loved cycling through the countryside with hills in the distance and water buffaloes in fields on both sides of the road. But most impressive of all was the Vientiane district with its mountains. They were so beautiful I lack the vocab skills to properly describe them. They looked like Ha Long Bay without water. With fog coming up from the jungle below it's nothing short of majestic. I'm telling you, the views in Laos are among the best in the world.

Everyone knows about Vietnam. Not because of a very fun reason, but everyone knows a little bit about Vietnam's history. Now I dare you to name on historical fact about Laos. Not much that comes to mind, is there? Trust me, that's just because we don't learn about it in the western world. Laos has a long history of one ruler kicking out the other, armies clashing, Asian oppressors and in the middle of all that chaos is the rise of Buddhism.
More recently it was a French colony: together Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia were French Indochina. Of course the French have left their mark, but did you know the Americans did so too? Sadly that was in the form of bombs during the Vietnam War. Yes, Laos played a role in that too, as the Ho Chi Minh Trail led right trough it.
Now if that kind of history isn't your thing and you like some more mystery to your history, you should visit the Plain of Jars. This plain on a plateau in the Xiang Khoang district is filled with big stone jars which have been there for an eternity. No one knows why or how the jars got there, but they're now one of the main historical landmarks of Laos. So you see, whatever kind of history you're looking for, you'll find it in Laos.

This year it came to my attention that a lot of people are obsessed with Thai food. It's good, I'll admit that much, but the food in Laos is the food that immediately comes to mind when I think of the best meals of this summer. The pizza is perfect, they're geniuses when it comes to potatoes and spinach, but the best thing ever was the pork with garlic, which was put on my table by accident one night. I ordered it every night after., it was just too good. The local specialty lap Lao was nothing special according to my dad, but still something to try if you're ever in the area. And if you're not sure what to do for breakfast or lunch, don't worry: the people of Laos have taken the art of the French baguette and brought it to the next level!


So long story short: good food, good views, loads of history. Sunshine for days in the rainy season and every step you take is a new adventure. What more could you possibly want? It's pretty much the perfect destination, one very few people have ever visited, but everyone who likes the unknown should visit asap. So go and give Laos some love. It deserves it.