Memoirs of a Lost Gaijin

About 30km outside Vientiane is the Ban Pako Ecolodge. Along the Nam Ngum River, it's a wonderful getaway from the capital. It features bungalows with a river view, and you can swim, tube down the river, trek to a nearby village, have a sauna or bath in the jungle, get a massage, or just plain relax and enjoy the scenery. It also has quite tasty Lao and Western food. Plus it practices ecotourism, which means that all the materials and food used and served at Ban Pako comes from the nearby villages, and the electricty (only about 2 hours in the evening), is generated from solar panels. From Ban Pako's website:

"To us ecological thinking and environmental protection is of great importance. All energy used at Ban Pako is produced by our own solar cell system, every building on our premises are built out of eucalyptus tree and bamboo from our own plantation.

Ban Pako runs its own developement program for the surrounding villages. We are helping them to raise their living standard without harming the natural forest by activities as growing vegetables, improving the small schools etc. As a guest you are a part of this by taking one of our tours since some of the money goes directly to our village fund.

In our restaurant you can among other dishes enjoy our famous red curry knowing that it is as far as possible produced by farmers living nearby. In this way we know that there are no unnecessary transports or chemical use and we also financially support the villages around us."

Kudos to Frida Guldberg and Jesper Lejfjord, the current managers from Sweden, who are most hospitable hosts.