Country Info
- Vientiane
- Capital
- Kip (LAK)
- Currency
- 5,635,967
- Population
- LA
- Country Code
Laos Slideshow
Travel Blogs from Lao Peoples Dem Rep
A History Lesson in Understanding
This is a top pick! ... when they find out I'm American. Visiting the six caves newly open to visitors, and thinking how we forced the heroes of the Lao people to live without electricity in these cave houses for SIX YEARS I sure wouldn't blame them if they were resentful. ...
Secret Laos - with the Imaginative Traveller
This is a top pick! ... ending appearance of these things. A little more depressed about our earlier field trip, we drowned our sorrows in the local Lao Lao, and a rat tried to commit suicide by jumping from the high beams. A... Vang Vieng is backpacker central Laos ...
Monk style
This is a top pick! ... in the city. The streets are a colourful mix of crumbling French colonial architecture, guest houses, restaurants and tired looking Lao housing. Lads aged six to fourteen walk along in their tango orange robes, skinhead hair cuts and school bags always ...
Bathing two ton puppies.
This is a top pick! ... and some toast. The only thing I don't understand is that they serve nescafe 'coffee' while Loas is famous for coffee Lao. A bit disappointing I thought. It was funny to see how the two Dutch girls tried to stick to a typical Dutch breakfasts of yogurt ...
Pakse
This is a top pick! Arriving in Siem Reap Airport we got another look into what life off the back-packer circuit is like. Clean, comprehendible and calm, it was lovely. Although I did get a good rate to call 'The Unites States Kingdom'?!?! Then it all went downhill. I went ...
The wheels on the bus...
This is a top pick! Back on the road again, and boy, what a road! I'll never complain about the two hour drive from DC to Cville ever again! From Vang Vieng back to Vientiane (4 hours), Vientiane to Phonsavon (9 hours), Phonsavon to Sam Neua (8 hours), and Sam Neua to ...
Chapter 38: Metro Laos
This is a top pick! ... a worse DJ. Watching the people dancing in the club was amazingly fun, though, as it was a mix of balding ex-pats and Lao prostitutes. Today we bought early morning bus tickets to Savannakhet (sp?) for tomorrow, and I have no idea what to expect from ...
Another world...
This is a top pick! ... forrest. Afterwards we participated in a welcoming ceremony where yellow cotton was tied around our wrists and we each took shots of Lao Lao. Once the proceedings were finished we sat in a circle and took turns singing. It was magical.... Millions of ...
Luang Prabang
This is a top pick! ... agreeing to come back the next evening! The following day we completed another walking tour. Taking in heaps of Wats and Lao-French Colonial houses, all the while keeping my eyes pealed for potential cafés for my 'day of fun' the following day. ...
NORTH THAILAND AND LAO
This is a top pick! ... connoisseur. Unlike it's neighbour in Thailand it receives relatively few tourists which means you can really get in touch with the Lao people and culture. We're certainly glad that we've come here before the tourist hordes inevitably add it to their ...
Madame Sassypants in the Capitol
This is a top pick! ... pathways. My path took me to a French-style cafe called Cafe where I sat on the balcony overlooking a main boulevard, drinking Lao coffee with milk and sugar and enjoying a croissant with cheese and ham. How imaginative to call a cafe Cafe. That ...
Transit Huay Xai and leave Laos
This is a top pick! ... you see the roads and the dust. We were determined to leave here today and get to Chiang Rai if possible though. We left Lao and got a longtail boat over the Mekong/border to Thailand. Felt like a bit of an uneventful leaving of Laos and don't ...
(Not) Painting The Town Red
This is a top pick! ... , a fertile area of plantations, forests and waterfalls as well as home to a number of Mon-Khmer ethnic groups as well as Lao coffee. Unfortunately not enough people had signed up for one which with a minimum of 4 people even when including myself still ...
Sunrise Monk Walk
This is a top pick! We hear the drums at 4:30 am, it is time for the Monks to awaken for their morning mediation. This goes on for about 1 ˝ at which time they begin to get their "baskets" and get ready for their morning walk though the town. The local people each day ...
Tour De Laos
This is a top pick! I just want to start out this blog by thanking everyone who has taken the time to comment, donate, or read my blogs. It really keeps me motivated and reminds me that I have a family. Travelling alone is really the best thing to do in a foreign country; ...
There And Back Again
This is a top pick! ... of Vientiane even if we did only have time to see a couple of the sights. Pen coming from Issan could also speak fluent Lao though meaning getting around would be easy anyway and despite only living a short drive to the border had never been to Laos ...
Slow boat down the mighty Mekong
This is a top pick! ... one street beside the Mekong river, and on the opposite bank lies land-locked, sparsely populated Laos (or more correctly, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic). Our guesthouse for the one-night stay before crossing the river into Laos is a beautiful tradional ...
Happy Birthday to Me!
This is a top pick! ... Then we caught a tuk tuk to the airport for our Lao Air flight to the capital, Vientiene. We were a little skeptical of flying on Lao Air as we had heard some stories but it was actually a really good flight. It only take 30 mins to fly to the capital ...
Miss Whiplash? I don't.
This is a top pick! We woke at about 10am and I (Andrew) was still drunk. I also had a few drinking injuries predominantly a bit of whip lash (no it wasn't that good a night I mean a bit like after a car crash). I was aching and took about 2 or 3 hours to sober up. We must ...
The French Connection in Luang Prabang
This is a top pick! ... down again and proceeded with a full body scrub and milk bath. Meg, still naked and feeling slightly violated worrying what the Lao girl thought about Aussies being so carefree, left the massage place a little stressed and feeling sticky from the milk. ...
Vang Vieng dump or paradise?
This is a top pick! This place really splits the traveling community. The lonly planet does state that you will either love it or hate it, in my opinion it's a bit like marmite there is no in between. Now we fell into the Hate it camp. We hated it that much that we ...
Mellowing Out
This is a top pick! ... border. The next morning we caught a local bus to Nong Khai (still in Thailand), then hired/haggled a tuk-tuk to the Lao-Thai Friendship Bridge. After crossing the Thai border, we caught another bus to the Lao border to get our visa, and ...
Raining in Laos
This is a top pick! Luang Prabang was one of those black hole places you encounter while away - you don't want to leave but have no reason to stay. More than anything this town made life incredibly easy, so much so that we almost forgot we were traveling. ...
Stranger In A Strange Land
This is a top pick! ... stamped from Thailand, and then board the tiny boat/canoe to cross the Mekong, and arrive a few minutes later in Lao, or more properly, The Peoples Democratic Republic of Laos - you do of course realise any country with the word democratic in it means the ...
Illegally crossing international borders
This is a top pick! ... backpack. We of course got stamped in legally and paid the US$30 fee to get 14 days in the People's Democratic Republic of Lao. All the red and yellow hammer and sickle flags were a clear reminder that this is the first communist country I have ...
Oh My Buddha!
This is a top pick! Wednesday 7th April We got up at 7am and headed down for breakfast. Now the French once ruled Laos and one thing that makes this obvious is their bread! They have delicious baguettes and French sticks! We had warm baguettes with butter and jam for ...
An Interview with Monk Vieng Say
This is a top pick! He was sitting outside one of the many ornate wats here with an "English for Lao" textbook in his lap. "Hello! Where are you from?" He asked. As I have learned here in Luang Prabang this is prelude to a monk wanting to practice his English. I was much ...
Floatin' Down the Mekong
This is a top pick! After a two day, 300 kilometre journey down the Mekong River we've arrived sore arsed in the ancient temple city of Luang Prabang, Laos. Packed like white sardines, Ellen, I and about fifty Europeans made the trip sitting on hard little plank seats in a ...
Day 70
This is a top pick! After breakfast Arjen took the initiative and started negotiating for the bikes. Apparently there are only three to rent and there were six of us so that meant doubling up on the bikes. I didn't fancy my first motorbike driving experience to involve a ...