#  >  > Travellers Tales in Thailand and Asia >  >  > Laos Forum >  >  MeMock does Laos

## MeMock

Well not really as it was a business trip and for only 4 days, 3 nights but the doggy asked me to take a few pics so here they are.

Being my first time I was surprised as to how much cheaper it was then Thailand - basically half the price for most things.

The grog was even cheaper! $7-$12 for bundy rum, jim bean, jacks etc etc a bottle.

The food was dirst cheap and i found the loas food the same as thai but the western food much better value then Thailand.

All in all a place worth going back to have a tourist look around.

I flew into Vientiane with thai airways first thing in the morning and was met by my brother and a laos bloke who has been helping us purchase some trees.

Here is where we went.



The first day was spent driving to laxsao near vietnam. On the way we look at a few plantations.

Here is my brother in a 'meeting' with a few locals.

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## MeMock

The first village we visited was 30 minutes from the main road up in the mountains. The place was spotless, no rubbish at all to be seen. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for some of the other places  :Sad: 





Outside our accommadation the first night - $20 for three rooms. All passable, same sort of value you would get for a 600 baht room on khoa san road.

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## MeMock

measuring some trees that we had bought a few months previous.



We were at a elevation of almost 600 metres and it basically rained the entire time.





Whats more important? A house or a tv dish? Gotta get those thai tv channels from across the border! The dish cost about 1200 baht.

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## MeMock

Some of the places where really hard to get to, others we simply couldn't as the river was up to high.



The second day after measuring heaps of trees we drove back to the capital.

Stayed at Mali Namphu Guesthouse for $15. Included breakfast but i gave that a miss and went to the scandanavian bakery instead - yummy!

Outside the bakery.



The next day was again looking at plantations on our way to vangvian which I soon discovered is a backpacker hippy hang out. Here is the river in town.



stayed the night there and the nex day was back to the capital for my flight back to Bangkok.

On the way i saw this interesting load. I wonder if they made it home or not?

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## Marmite the Dog

I think you need an editor, mate.

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## gusG

Good one mm, whats the deal with the trees?

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## MeMock

> I think you need an editor, mate.


I think you need to learn how to give compliments.  :Smile:

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## MeMock

> Good one mm, whats the deal with the trees?


We buy em young and fatten em up and sell them in 2 years time.

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## Marmite the Dog

> I think you need to learn how to give compliments.


Learn to spell tricky words such as 'too' and 'next' and I will.

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## buad hai

> I think you need an editor, mate.


Remember, he's rich and you're not....

Nice thread Memock. Nice to see you back in the real world again.

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## MeMock

> Learn to spell tricky words such as 'too' and 'next' and I will.


Learn to look past small insignificant points in your life and you will be a much happier person.

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## Marmite the Dog

> Remember, he's rich and you're not....


B'stard!  :Sad:

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## Jet Gorgon

Thanks, Memock. The pic of the bakery brings back fond memories. Van Vieng -- ya the caves and the ganga smoke and the new-age hippies. Spent alot of time in Laos. Loved it mostly.

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## Marmite the Dog

> Learn to look past small insignificant points in your life and you will be a much happier person.


I am very happy taking the piss out of rich Aussies.

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## MeMock

> Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
> 
> I think you need an editor, mate.
> 
> 
> Nice thread Memock. Nice to see you back in the real world again.


Thanks buad hai.

See marmers - it isn't that difficult  :Smile:

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## Wayne Kerr

Great stuff mate ... if you ever need a field assistant please let me know. Would love to spend some time exploring that part of Laos.

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## terry57

nice photos mate,

vang vieng used to be very quiet before it got in the lonely planet and is   
a stunning place still. 

there are restaurants in that little town that play repeats every night of  " Friends " the stoned backpackers get in there and watch them.

jeez,

i'm still a backpacker but that done my head in learning about that.

laos is still a great destination outside high season.

did you try the dark ale. ?

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## MeMock

As I walked past - out of 3 pubs near my hotel 2 were playing friends and the other southpark, bloody weired it was.

As for the dark ale- I sure did and it was delicous.

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## buad hai

> Thanks buad hai.


You're welcome.

Send me money.

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## sharon

> Learn to look past small insignificant points in your life and you will be a much happier person.


This is quote of the year for me.  Thanks.

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## stroller

> Thanks, Memock. The pic of the bakery brings back fond memories. Van Vieng -- ya the caves and the ganga smoke and the new-age hippies. Spent alot of time in Laos. Loved it mostly.


I am sure we've met before! :Smile:

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## MeMock

> Originally Posted by MeMock
> 
> Learn to look past small insignificant points in your life and you will be a much happier person.
> 
> 
> This is quote of the year for me.  Thanks.


Why thankyou!

marmers - where are you?

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## Jet Gorgon

> Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon
> 
> 
> Thanks, Memock. The pic of the bakery brings back fond memories. Van Vieng -- ya the caves and the ganga smoke and the new-age hippies. Spent alot of time in Laos. Loved it mostly.
> 
> 
> I am sure we've met before!


hehe I can give directions to the ganga sellers in Vientiane and Luang Prabang's markets, if anyone wants. Not that I smoke.

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## bulgingballs

> Originally Posted by Marmite the Dog
> 
> 
> Learn to spell tricky words such as 'too' and 'next' and I will.
> 
> 
> Learn to look past small insignificant points in your life and you will be a much happier person.


Life can sometimes indeed just be too serious to be taken seriously. Definitely a gem of a quotable quote this one. Great one MeMock! :goldcup:

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## MeMock

I'm not sure who your are bulgingballs but I like you already!

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## Marmite the Dog

Bumping old threads usually gets deleted...

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## kingwilly

particularly if they make one of the Dawgs look silly !

 :rofl:

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## Marmite the Dog

> particularly if they make on of the Dawgs look silly !


You're not too bothered about appearing silly, obviously.

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## MeMock

> particularly if they make one of the Dawgs look silly !


not hard is it  :Smile:

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## mrsquirrel

How do you buy trees in Laos then?

Is it easier than Thailand? Do you one the land outright or not?

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## MeMock

Hi Squirrel.

We are using a small company in loas to source and purchase the trees for us. They don't charge for this service because they have a vested interest as they are the only company allowed to sell the kits (a type of poison injected into the tree to help bring on the heart wood)

We have only purchased the trees (around 5 years old) not the land. However we have got a 5 hectare block (approx 30 rai I think) that we have leased for 20 years. This already has some trees which we will harvest but will mainly be using it as a research block.

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## Butch72

Hi MeMock - may I ask what is the name of the village where your brother's plantation is?  I am familiar with that area and recognise the places and landscapes in your photos. 

Agarwood is a fascinating investment, especially if you can use the technology to induce 'mai dam' development. I trust you have good land tenure arrangements and hope the 'mai dam' price stays high - the market certainly seems to have high demand.

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## MeMock

Hi Butch,

Glad to hear of someone else who has heard of the trees and yes I do hope the prices stay high although I think they are only going to increase at this stage.

My brother and I have actually started a company so will let you know when we are ready for bigger investors (once we have proven it can work)  :Smile: 

Land tenure is a big problem however especially in what is still a commo country. We are working through it and haven't invested too much yet as we are still testing the waters.

We have a few small plantations scattered around the place but Ban lakxao is the main place we are spending out time.

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## Butch72

MeMock - I tried sending the following by PM - but I don't have that privilege due to low post count. So I'm posting here instead. Apologies for discussing details of your business in a public forum......

Hi MeMock,
I was asking about the village name because I know of there are a few developments in the Lak20 area and that there are various concessions which GoL is selling for land in the area. In general, the compensation paid for such 'compulsory purchase' of land is way below market rate!

I guess you have covered all of these angles before buying - but it's still a concern. I am sure you know of the massive cassava concession owned by a Chinese co. in the area - yet to be planted and also the hydropower project planned there - which will flood quite large areas of land.

By the way, I'm not looking to invest - just offering some friendly advice....I've been in Laos for 15yrs now and know of some of the things you're going through.

Best,
Butch

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## ralphinlaos

I've lived in Laos for the past nine years and have enjoyed most of it.  No hassle.  Low traffic.  No noise (I live in the country).  Lovely people.  

When I lived just outside Vientiane, there was a guy (an NGO, I think) who was trying to grow strawberries.  He had a huge tract of land and was out on it working all the time.  It's so hot here, I cannot see how he had any success with strawberries (although I do think they grow them in Pakse - or Paxan, I'm not sure).  

And another guy trying to develop some sort of solar-power business here; I wonder whatever happened to him?

Laos is a great place to live if you are self-sufficient and do not need constant entertainment.  A very simple life.

Ralph

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## MeMock

Hi Butch, sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I really appreciate your concern and the information that you have provided me.

It really is a tricky situation what goes on in Laos. Think how bad Thailand is... now double it.

We have got a lot to learn thats for sure. We are still going ahead in small steps and I will be over there in November for our first small scale harvest so will have a much better idea after that as to what direction to go in if any at all.

What have you been doing in Laos for 15 years?

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