Nearly everyone I had met on this backpacking circuit who had been to Vientiane, Laos didn't have much to say about it. They mentioned that there just wasn't much to do there and it wasn't all that exciting of a city (the capital city, no less). This was the perfect description I needed to justify for a couchsurfing experience. If you can't find much to do somewhere, just stay with a local who will show you around and give you a better experience than you can have in a city with tons to do. This is what I did in Vientiane.
Leonard was my host, a retired American expat nearing his sixties who's been living in Laos for about 10 years now. He lived in a village outside of central Vientiane where you don't see any foreigners. This was always a recipe for my favorite kind of traveling experience; outside the city with locals constantly staring at you in utter confusion, with no idea why you are where you are thinking that you're probably lost. This was a common look I got on the way to Leonard's house, but I made it and had a great couple nights stay there. The first night he took me out on a little bar crawl that he likes to take guests on, and we had a great time touring some of the local beer gardens that he frequents.
Leonard is one of the most generous people I've met. He's worked in hospitals most of his life and specialized in criminology, counseling troubled juveniles and various other criminals during the better part of his career. He truly cares a lot about the well-being of people, and it shows when we're out at the beer gardens. Most of the servers at these beer gardens are teenagers that have left their home villages in search of work to earn a very small amount of money for their families. They live in very poor, dorm style accommodations in the back of these establishments trying to get by. So Leonard always tries to bring some light in their lives by showing up with plenty of character, offering them drinks and giving them tips, knowing full well that in this part of the world tipping actually goes a long way.
He calls these boys his "sons," and treats them as such. It's a pretty cool thing to see and it's easy to tell that Leonard is making a difference in these kid's lives, just giving them something to look forward to and putting a smile on their face. It was pretty special to just be part of it and contribute for a couple nights, and I thought it was a pretty memorable part of the experience. We had a lot of fun and even did a bit of karaoke. I couldn't tell how well I did because most of the people there just sort of stared at me, probably in confusion, after I finished singing "Hotel California" by the Eagles on stage. I thought it was hilarious and it was one of the more memorable karaoke moments I've had.
One of the particular things that happened that really displayed Leonard's generosity and overall care for people was when he received a couchsurfing message from a young Korean kid that was looking for a place to stay in Vientiane. Apparently he had never couchsurfed before and had almost nothing on his online profile. No pictures, no info, no references, hardly anything. He also mentioned that he was flying in just after midnight and needed a ride. To me, this would've raised numerous red flags and I probably would've stayed away from it. But for Leonard, he saw this as an opportunity to help. So he messaged the kid back, but with no reply we weren't sure if he had found a place to stay yet or not. So under Leonard's decision-making, we decided to drive about 40 minutes to the airport late the second night to see if we could find this kid as he got off the plane. We didn't know exactly what he looked like, so we would just say "couchsurfing! couchsurfing!" as we saw each young-looking Asian male walk by. It actually ended up working, as the kid noticed us and asked us if Leonard was the one on couchsurfing. Miraculously, we were able to pick him up from the airport and go back to Leonard's place to give him a place to sleep. He was really thankful for our help and turned out to be a real person after all. I saw this as a pretty respectable thing that Leonard did, just because I probably wouldn't have done it because of all the ambiguity behind who this kid was. But Leonard's instincts saw someone that genuinely needed help and he ended up being right.
So Vientiane ended up being a pretty cool place after all. It would be hard for me to recommend it to someone if they weren't staying with Leonard, but it sure was a memorable experience for me. And I'll be sure to take something away from that experience.
Leonard was my host, a retired American expat nearing his sixties who's been living in Laos for about 10 years now. He lived in a village outside of central Vientiane where you don't see any foreigners. This was always a recipe for my favorite kind of traveling experience; outside the city with locals constantly staring at you in utter confusion, with no idea why you are where you are thinking that you're probably lost. This was a common look I got on the way to Leonard's house, but I made it and had a great couple nights stay there. The first night he took me out on a little bar crawl that he likes to take guests on, and we had a great time touring some of the local beer gardens that he frequents.
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| The entrance to one of the many festive beer gardens that Leonard frequents, this one being his favorite. |
He calls these boys his "sons," and treats them as such. It's a pretty cool thing to see and it's easy to tell that Leonard is making a difference in these kid's lives, just giving them something to look forward to and putting a smile on their face. It was pretty special to just be part of it and contribute for a couple nights, and I thought it was a pretty memorable part of the experience. We had a lot of fun and even did a bit of karaoke. I couldn't tell how well I did because most of the people there just sort of stared at me, probably in confusion, after I finished singing "Hotel California" by the Eagles on stage. I thought it was hilarious and it was one of the more memorable karaoke moments I've had.
One of the particular things that happened that really displayed Leonard's generosity and overall care for people was when he received a couchsurfing message from a young Korean kid that was looking for a place to stay in Vientiane. Apparently he had never couchsurfed before and had almost nothing on his online profile. No pictures, no info, no references, hardly anything. He also mentioned that he was flying in just after midnight and needed a ride. To me, this would've raised numerous red flags and I probably would've stayed away from it. But for Leonard, he saw this as an opportunity to help. So he messaged the kid back, but with no reply we weren't sure if he had found a place to stay yet or not. So under Leonard's decision-making, we decided to drive about 40 minutes to the airport late the second night to see if we could find this kid as he got off the plane. We didn't know exactly what he looked like, so we would just say "couchsurfing! couchsurfing!" as we saw each young-looking Asian male walk by. It actually ended up working, as the kid noticed us and asked us if Leonard was the one on couchsurfing. Miraculously, we were able to pick him up from the airport and go back to Leonard's place to give him a place to sleep. He was really thankful for our help and turned out to be a real person after all. I saw this as a pretty respectable thing that Leonard did, just because I probably wouldn't have done it because of all the ambiguity behind who this kid was. But Leonard's instincts saw someone that genuinely needed help and he ended up being right.
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| The Presidential Palace, one of the few interesting buildings that there is to see in Vientiane. |
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