David Siskind | Sunday, 18 January 2026
Laos is the only place I’ve visited where the yellow hammer and sickle dropped out on a red flag is widely and prominently displayed, often close to rag-tag commercial establishments. Laos is one of only five one-party CP nations, the others being China, North Korea, Vietnam, and Cuba. It clearly has a hybrid economy. The internet is uncensored and the kids are fashion savvy. KPop influence is everywhere. I understand other aspects of life are in transition.
Healthcare is undergoing changes. There isn’t much infrastructure outside Vientiane - clinics, hospitals, diagnostic equipment. Still, 94% of citizens are covered by a single payer with co-pays, but foreign nationals, are outside the system. I got to sample it.
Last year after a week with Paul, my feet puffed up mightily. But piloting the Ronan on my own this year left them slim and beautiful until I reached land. After a flight to Chiang Mai a lot of walking and then to Vientiane I found my right calf pretty swollen. The asymmetry freaked me out. I was thinking DVT and didn’t want to stroke out so on arrival in Vientiane took a ride to a local “international hospital” to rule it out. It cost me $1750 which will likely be reimbursed by my Allianz travel policy. For that I spent nine hours in the cleanest, quietest, sparkling ER I’ve ever experienced. I was served by a bevy of lovely and kind doctors and nurses who laughed at all of my jokes despite understanding none. I got D-dimer blood work, an ultrasound exam and a CT scan from soles to belly button. And got DVT ruled out. Probably just aggravated an old meniscus tear. Or popped a Baker’s cyst - look it up. I’ll be following it up in Cambodia. More medicine there.
We’re in Luang Prabang as I write. It’s a town generating most of its wealth from tourism which lifts the standard of living but seems to distort some traditions. For instance, the monks alms parade - sweet but tailored for tourists. A small group of maybe 70 monks circled a couple of blocks over and over again as if there were hundreds. There was a scene like that in HELP! They had me fooled but one of our party was following.
We walked the night market here starting off at a smoothie stand. A Chinese geezer speaking Mandarin next to me was buying a bottle of clear liquid - a homemade rice whiskey. He insisted on giving me a pour immediately curing my aching right knee. Jackie and pals went shopping while I sat nursing my drink and toasting my new bud. It’s the unexpected stuff that makes travel a gas. He even gave me a second pour and some tasty snacks.
Two days ago we spent an hour driving to a private art museum. Almost all the pieces were large replicas of eclectic Buddhist (and even Egyptian) originals carved from giant waste hardwood stumps. They were well crafted but a vanity collection for sure, reminding me of Hearst castle or Carlos Slim’s museum (Mexico city) without the antiquity. Rich people! The building was enormous and situated in the middle of a featureless shallow lake. There were fish (tilapia?) eating some sort of pupae near the margins. I tried and sort of succeeded in getting some photos. I wish I had my three weight with me. I understand there is some flyfishing for giant snakehead and jungle perch here using poppers - even sight fishing opportunities but tough to search out. Also some blue-lining in clear headwaters. Mostly tenkara.
I’ll be home to Los Angeles next week assuming it’s still there and I get green-lit by the docs in Siem Reap for the long flight.
Cheers and jeers,
David Siskind