How Time Flies.

Time. It seems that as I get older, it goes faster. When looking for a blog topic tonight, I searched through some old travel folders and stumbled across a car I had photographed in Laos. I had to look at the time stamp to recall when it was, and turns out it was almost exactly 2 years ago! While I don't doubt the date on the photos, I had to run through two years in my head to accept that it had been that long ago.

The trip itself was fantastic; two weeks traveling from the capital, Ventiane, up the Mekong River on a two-day riverboat journey and then to visit the breathtaking Vang Vieng and Luang Prabang districts. As usual, my trip was peppered with some fantastic automotive sightings, notably a visit to the Royal Cars Exhibition at the National Museum (also the former Royal Palace).

The car that caught my eye wasn't one but two old Mercedes 280 sedans in the lovely, lazy riverside city of Luang Prabang. The black beauties appeared to be in hotel service, shuttling customers to and from the hotel and bus and train stations. This wasn't the only hotel using old cars, which fit perfectly with the ritzy, colonial feel of the classier hotels in town.

I am no classic Mercedes expert, but I know what I like, and these stately sedans feature excellent proportions and gorgeous chrome trim from tip to tail. While we stayed at a very nice hotel, it didn't have any cars to shuttle us around, so we had to settle for bicycles and scooters! It turns out bicycles were a great way to see the city while scooters made it easy to tour the breathtaking countryside, so a car wasn't necessary.

​If anyone is considering a southeast Asia trip one day, I highly recommend Laos. It is a relatively little-known country landlocked between Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam, China and Myanmar. Development is connecting cities, towns and villages with roads, though much of the country still relies on the Mekong river for travel and transportation, giving it an authentic and historic feel.

During the serval days we stayed in Luang Prabang I walked past the Mercedes 280s several times. It appeared that they got use as they were never parked in the exact same spot, and they were slightly dusty. I would much rather see an old car used than parked on a pedestal and never moved. With the few roads, traffic congestion and generally slow-paced reality of Luang Prabang, there's no reason these big Merc's won't be transporting hotel customers in style for years to come.

This little nostalgia tour put a smile on my face for many reasons. It reminded me how much I love heading out on an adventure and exploring, and brought back some fantastic memories of trips I've taken and cars I've seen. Time will tell where my next destination is and what mysteries it will hold...