I made friends with a Brit while in Luang Prabang who was coming to Vang Vieng with me, where healthcare is non-existent. He'd been sick with food poisoning for a few days and still felt a bit lethargic and unwell, so he was convinced it was malaria. Since we were going to be off the grid in Vang Vieng, we went to a hospital in Luang Prabnag to get it checked out. (For the record, I knew he didn't have malaria.)

It was an interesting experience, but the hospital itself really exceeded my expectations for a country like Laos. When we first walked in, there was no clear entrance for the ER, but the ICU was just a room off the front and I thought "oh my god, here we go. A two room hospital" but it was actually way bigger than expected. They weren't fussed with getting his details or medical history, but for 160,000 kip (Us$20) they gave him a malaria test and a CBC panel. As expected, the tests came back negative and just showed that he was dehydrated.

He was absolutely a hypochondriac but it was a cool experience to see the inside of a Laos hospital - without being there for a serious reason. As a Brit, he was really passive about the care he was getting and later said it was nice to have a "bossy American" pushing them along. 😂 afterwards we celebrated his malaria-free state with a Laos BBQ where you cook the food yourself in a fondue-like broth. We got a spicy buffalo meat and it was delicious!!