Country Info
- Vientiane
- Capital
- Kip (LAK)
- Currency
- 5,635,967
- Population
- LA
- Country Code
Laos Slideshow
Travel Blogs from Lao Peoples Dem Rep
The Plain of... whatever! We rode a motorbike!
This is a top pick! ... return to the guest house in one piece and with the knowledge that motorbike is the best way to travel here. We drink beer Lao and are serenaded by Crazy Mr Kong on guitar. The highlight is his rendition of 'Hotel California'. (To be done with heavy ...
Coffee with Koffie
This is a top pick! We arrived in Paksong after 2 bum bruising trips on a sawngthaew, Laos's version of a minibus. It’s really just a pick-up truck with a roof over the back and 2 benches down the sides. They then cram in as many people and as much stuff as they can. ...
Unexpected stopover
This is a top pick! There isn't a lot to do or see in Tha Khek other than a normal largish Laos town, which is why we hadn’t planned on spending any time here other than an overnight stop on our way to Kong Lo caves (I assume it will be the next entry!). However, I ...
A Non-Christmas-y but relaxing start to Laos
This is a top pick! So Laos, Starting off in the 4000 islands... Don Det being the island of choice. We didn't do much for the first couple of days...other than lying about in hammocks, reading and enjoying the view of the Mekong...oh and enjoying the food...one of ...
The Eagle has Landed
This is a top pick! 3/11/2011 We leave Don Det in the morning saying goodbye to Key and threatening to take Julie with us. The boat takes us to the mainland and we wait forever (we really should be used to that by now) for the bus. Our too cool for school driver who takes ...
Chill out in Viangchan
This is a top pick! We arrived in Vientiane at about 6pm and were surprised to find all the cheap to fairly cheap guesthouse options full. We wandered around for a bit and even had a very helpful old Frenchwoman come up to us and ask if we were looking for a room. "Yes" we ...
Goodbye Vietnam, Hello Laos!
This is a top pick! ... one lane across and the wetserners start to exchange horror stories they have heard about being stranded for 48hours on Lao bus journeys for similar reasons (although the Lao people are prepared for such eventualities and supposedly food, beer and ...
From Thai to Huay Xai - days 49 to 50
This is a top pick! ... for the owning family gathered around a TV. We took a table at the river's edge and ordered our first-ever bottles of Beer Lao. A few glugs in and we began to realise our mistake of sitting by a river after dark; we hurriedly escaped from the ...
Motorbikes, santa and plans for NYE
This is a top pick! ... they were fully booked and they couldn't even spare a turkey Sarine the bastardos...so we settled for a burger and a pitcher of Beer Lao instead. I rang home, very excited to speak to my family but also feeling a little homesick (the most home sick ...
Long road to Laos
This is a top pick! Here we are in Laos! We left Dien Bien Phu at 5.30am this morning on what initially seemed like an empty spacious bus. 90 minutes later we were still only 10km from the bus station and were piled up with huge bags of rice noodles, vegetables and ...
Vicious Vientiane (Weather-Wise)
This is a top pick! ... facility mainly for victims of unexploded ordnance from the Secret War. During the Vietnam War, the mighty USA carpet-bombed Lao because it was a valuable transit route. Millions of bombs were secretly dropped on anything that moved and if ...
Adventures In Vang Vieng
This is a top pick! On the slow snaking road to Vang Vieng almost every house and tree were covered in dust. Still the hills and valleys made for some scenic views. On arrival we had lunch with a nice American / Mexican couple we met in Cambodia while applying ...
Dumbo(s)
This is a top pick! ... is that the site sits right next to a fast running river, upstream from which we can see small rapids. We have a brilliant Lao lunch of vegetable rice wrapped in banana leaf, before Lei, Bhan and the two guys looking after the site begin ...
THE LOOP - day 4
This is a top pick! ... catchup despite only being able to hear here in one ear and have the sound an video cut out every 10 seconds - good ol' Lao! Once back at the Travel Lodge we have a congratulatory beer over dinner to celebrate not dying on the roadS of ...
We are all... like fish.
This is a top pick! ... , in her Swiss-German accent, "Yes, on the bus in Switzerland I look at everyone and I think, we are all... like fish." We like Judith. We finish the evening with dinner, beer and Judith's introduction to Lao Lao and shithead. ...
Laos - Overview
This is a top pick! ... rather arid and uninspiring, but Laos failed to captivate us. Don't get me wrong, the people are warm and friendly, Beer Lao is an enjoyably cheap tipple and the baguettes from the charming street vendors are spectacularly good, as is the potent coffee ...
Lost in Lao
This is a top pick! It is interesting how it is called, Lao People's Democratic Republic, seeing as the Communist flag sways in the air in every corner of the country. What is a Democratic Republic? Perhaps it is a third world communist country with 2-ply toilet ...
Unexpected Charm of Luang Prabang - days 52 to 61
This is a top pick! ... before having dinner together. Some hours later we met and decided to look for one of the several restaurants that offered 'Lao barbeque', which Lauren had been keen to demystify. We realised why the dedicated restaurants are few and far between ...
A Totally Tubular Experience
This is a top pick! ... to team up with 2 cool chicks, an Aussie and a Kiwi, and we shared wanderlust stories over Indian and French cuisine. Lao left an impression on me unlike any other country had. I had met such wonderful people who made my experience both memorable and ...
Exhausting Luang Nam Tha
This is a top pick! ... Udomxai because it is a town without much to see or do, mainly inhabited by Chinese road workers building highways in northern Lao. Not surprisingly then, phase two was a fast, winding and perfectly paved road, better than most two-lane highways back ...
Lost In Lao, Part 2
This is a top pick! ... Do Fa discotheque. On a mission to party, we entered the cavernous club with black lights and age old Christmas decorations, danced to Lao pop and closed the place down well past midnight. The club was empty when we arrived but just as soon as the club ...
The Cave
This is a top pick! ... chat as no-one had any English in the family so we sat around watching Thai soap operas with the kids and then drinking lao-lao (Laos poitín) with the dad and a lot of pointing and laughing trying to have some sort of conversation. Television has ...
Vang Vieng
This is a top pick! ... inner tube and floating down the river. The 3.5km route is littered with bars all offering to pull you in and sell you Beer Lao and food. The bars are all competing for the travellers custom in the most unconventional way we've seen yet. Each one had a ...
Riverside R&R
This is a top pick! From Luang Prabang we headed north in a full 13-person minivan / sardine can (half Lao people and half tourists or Falang as we are called by locals). At the jungle restroom stop Jason suggested a seating rearrangement which made things much more ...
THE LOOP - day 1
This is a top pick! ... of laughter. Claire does too, and says, "each to their own Mr Tun Tun." After some Lao Lao and banter with some 'patang' playing Lao guys who are also staying in the guesthouse, we go off to bed. ...
Stop...... Hammock Time
This is a top pick! ... with which to mop our brow..... Now that's class. True, not all was perfect; they showed a Thai film dubbed over into Lao without English subtitles, and there was an impromptu drinking contest a few seats behind us between a fifty year old Aussie and a ...
Let's do that again! Or not...
This is a top pick! We were talking about how the travelogue's been getting stale, and were thinking about how we could spice it up. Drawing inspiration from tv we planned a wedding, then a funeral, then just opted for the border crossing from HELL!!!! (see, we know how to ...
Claire bums bikes.
This is a top pick! ... Blue Lagoon. For dinner we manage to find a really quiet place with amazing views of the river below where we see two young Lao boys practising their own tubing with their flip flops in hand as paddles. One of the best features of this ...
Pen or money
This is a top pick! ... written to us encouraging us to do this) goes completely out the window. As soon as she walks in she is greeted by two smiling Lao ladies, with identical uniform and makeup. Jo says, "I wanted to make sure it is possible to get a boat across to Don ...
Luang Probing (in honour of Soph's brilliant typo)
This is a top pick! ... for the next day (7hrs) and end the day by talking about how we weren't too blown away by Luang Prabang, (but this is probably because Nong Khiaw is hard to beat), whilst drinking Lao Lao and playing cards by the river. ...