So I found out today that Thai and Laos are relatively similar in terms of culture, food, and language. I met some Thai Airways flight attendants at a waterfall which was severely overflowing due to the huge monsoons that have been hammering the area. Every four years they get an irregularly high amount of rain fall during the wet season. In Vang Vieng, where tubing is popular with tourists, the river had become so flooded and powerful that a Swedish girl flipped over in her tube and died when her foot got caught in the rocks. They had to suspend tubing for a while amongst the massive evidence of the rain’s impact as houses and buildings were left in disarray, bridges collapsed, and trees were strewn around like Godzilla had just sauntered through. At the waterfalls we were practically walking mid shin deep in water up the steps which are obviously not normally covered with water.
At dinner, we were talking about how a lot of the foods of northern Thailand and Laos are very similar. The use of sticky rice, formed into small balls with your hands and then dipped into the foods, is common in the northern half of Thailand and in Laos. The languages are also somewhat similar and the girls spoke Thai to the Laos people and they were able to understand Thai mainly because the only TV channels that they get are Thai. I also believe that at one point Thailand had ruled parts of Laos.
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