2 weeks in Laos

It was my 1st overseas volunteer trip and I was so excited, anxious and nervous at the same time. Overall it was a great experience as I met wonderful people from different countries, I got to mix with local and also get good and bad surprises everyday.
I got picked up and transported to the accommodation by tuk tuk. It's about 45 mins away from the city. It was dark with no adequate street lighting, no street lines, no speed limit, sure enough I witnessed a head-on collision after just 15 mins arriving in the country.
The accommodation complex was quite rural and there are shops where sell basic necessities like shampoo and body wash with limited choices. Things like skincare, mosquito repellent, contact lens solutions, body lotion, sunscreen, I recommend you bring enough.
I got sent to the airport by Vespa with my suitcase sitting at the front of the Vespa.
I do recommend using travel backpack would be an easier option.
I strongly recommend that you bring lots of tissues, wet tissues and travel size hand soap. Most of the toilets don't have tissues and soap.
If you have very sensitive stomach, be sure you take medication to help reduce the risk of travellers' diarrhea such as Travelan. And also no harm to bring re-hydration tablets as to the nature of the tropical weather, you will be sweating a lot.
Most of the restaurants have free wifi available, so if you are not attached to phone 24/7 you should be able to re-connect yourselves to the world whenever you are dining at a restaurant.
The local staffs were very helpful, food was the mix of Thai and Chinese.
Whatever that was, I took it with open mind and always had a good laugh at it.