Welcome to Elastic Time

For as long as I can remember, I had wanted to visit Laos. And I made several attempts to execute this plan. I come from India which is way below in the powerful passport index,. This meant that I need to apply for a visa wherever I wish to travel at least 3-12 months in advance. So I began with a quick Google search in the early 2010s. Few websites cropped up and I diligently filled few forms hoping that someone was reading them. And then I waited and waited for some hard-working Laotian to reply to me, But I did not get a mail like Tom Hanks!. So I ended up travelling to other countries in between, A few years later, I remembered my Laotian dream and made another valiant attempt at securing a visa,. This time I was lucky and was soon able to secure an e-visa

It was a dark evening when I landed in the sleepy Unesco World Heritage city of Luang Prabang.. The city being small, I was able to find my hotel, Sala Prabang with little trouble. I was put up in the annex portion of the hotel. I was excited about the next few days as I had a busy schedule with boat journeys to hidden caves, monastery visits and the much awaited visit to the mysterious Plain of Jars.

My first trip was a visit to the Pakou Caves on the banks of the Mekong river. I was going to be picked up my the tour agent at 8am. I woke up early and had a very nice breakfast in the open restaurant by the river bank and was in the hotel reception by 730am. The clock struck 8am and a young local entered the hotel. I was very impressed as I assumed he had come for me. But this was not my man.. And what followed was a very long wait. As the minutes passed, I got worried and kept checking with the receptionist if someone was waiting for me at the hotel annex. But no luck there either. Sensing my growing restlessness, the elderly proprietor of Sala Prabang came across with a nice cup of coffee and asked me when my tour was about to begin. I told him that it was supposed to be at 9am and it was already 930am. He gave a hearty laugh and told me not to worry. You have come to Laos my dear. Do you know what LET means in Laos? I confessed I did not. He said it stands for Laos Elastic Time. Time has come to a stop here, So there is no need to get stressed. Just sit by the river side and enjoy the coffee. Your tour agent will be here soon. And true to his words, the tour agent arrived around 1030am, didn’t mutter a word of apology and asked me to ride as a pillion without a helmet. What the heck I said. I might as well do this. After all, I am on Elastic Time for the next week.