Jaunted

Adventure Travel

Up In Smoke

March 6, 2006 at 10:00 AM | 0 Comments

How times change. Jeff Koyen is chronicling a foreign locale where there used to be drugs, as opposed to actively going there to do them. Vang Veng, in the north of Laos, has cleaned up its act and declared itself to be opium-free. You'd have to ask Jeff if the same is true for himself.

Laos is getting a lot of ink these days, and rightly so. It's now pegged as the next it destination in Southeast Asia, as Thailand gets more crowded and Cambodia reworks itself as a super luxury tourist spot, Siem Reap in particular. In part, this may be true because Laos is still cheap: $10 for a double room in a guesthouse with AC. Luxe digs go for about twice that price, and local food is also about a dollar.

Of course, now that its clean, it won't be long until a faux-opium den bar and restaurant opens in Vang Veng. That's how we know freedom is on the march.

[Image via TheRedLion/Flickr]

Related Stories:
·   Out From An Opium Cloud [NY Times]
·   Southeast Asia Overview [Tales of Asia]
·   Laos Change [Jaunted]