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Laos Travel Blogs

Laos was under the control of Siam (Thailand) from the late 18th century until the late 19th century when it became part of French Indochina. The Franco-Siamese Treaty of 1907 defined the current Lao border with Thailand. In 1975, the Communist Pathet Lao took control of the government, ending a six-century-old monarchy. Initial closer ties to Vietnam and socialization were replaced with a gradual return to private enterprise, a liberalization of foreign investment laws, and the admission into ASEAN in 1997. To be updated

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By KateM
April 2nd 2006

Life in Laos

Asia » Laos

YoungMonk
Novice monk in Luang Prabang

My bamboo hut, perched 40 foot above the Nam Ou river, swayed violently on its stilt supports as the wind and rain lashed against it. Lightning lit up the inside through the cracks and the thunder crashed all around. I got up, dressed and packed my bags. For about an hour I sat in darkness ready for a speedy exit if I felt the hut was going to be blown away. The hut was in an idyllic setting surrounded by limestone mountains in a carless village called Muang Ngoi in northern Laos. A few hours earlier I had been watching the [View Full Entry]

By Rob W
April 2nd 2006

A journey along the Mekong

Asia » Laos

Tat Kuang Si Waterfall near Luang Prabang
Bottom

After an overnight bus journey from Bangkok to Nong Khai, I crossed the Thai Laos Friendship bridge over the Mekong River and into Laos. A short bus ride and I arrived into Vientiane, the capital city. After sleeping for most of the the day I had a look around, there is not much too see apart from the river and a few temples. Life in Laos relative to Thailand is a lot slower, for example there is hardly any traffic on the roads and given that Vientiane is the capital you would expect a little bit at least! So as I [View Full Entry]

By Hazzards Emergency Exit
April 2nd 2006

Laos PDR

Asia » Laos » East » Vieng Xai

Hungry?
Snakes, Rats, Crows. She'll even keep the flies off by waving a plastic bag tied to a stick. Luang Prabang - Laos

I have come to believe the collective national pastime for aging women in Laos is to aimlessly wander mountain roads with large bundles of firewood strapped to their backs. These women roam everywhere with scarved heads and weathered faces, occasionally giving me a 6-tooth grin as I pass by, whether I am traveling on a bus or whizzing by standing on the rear bumper of a truck. Whenever on the go, my transport weaved on tiny mountain roads to dodge these women, as well as herds of boney cattle and enormous water buffalo being prodded along by switch-wielding villagers. I rarely [View Full Entry]

By Chance and Teresa
April 1st 2006

Not in Thailand yet...

Asia » Laos » South » Pakxe

We're not in Thailand. Our flight had to circle FOREVER and then when we finally landed (and it was the scariest landing I've ever had to go through) we had to land in Laos. Oh yes, Laos. So we're waiting to get back on a flight to get us to Bangkok. We'll blog soon. [View Full Entry]

By chris macca
April 1st 2006

All Dylan's Fault (he kidnapped me and Lizzie)

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane

Anybody and Everybody who is reading this wit... this clasic, I hope you and yours are all in the very best of health. I am currently suffering from various ailments, though am in reasonable high spirits considering. Indeed at the moment I'm reasonably confident that I am curently in the recovery stage of my various illnesses. If you are the sort of reader that occasionally fears for my safety you probably shouldn't read on.... Some time ago now we were in the merry backpacker hub that is Luang Prabang (those of you who read my last blog may well remember [View Full Entry]

By Bo Taz
March 30th 2006

4000 Islands - Don Det

Asia » Laos » South » Si Phan Don

Don Det
This was the view from just about every side of the island

One last stop before leaving Laos. The 4000 Islands is an area on the Mekong just north of the Cambodia border. We stayed on the island of Don Det and wished we could have stayed longer - unfortunately the nearest bank is either in Cambodia or a long bus journey back up north. Don Det was a great chilled out little community, it felt like staying on a farm - pigs, chickens and cows everywhere! It's really a place to do nothing but watch the world go by from a hammock or mess around on the river. To aid the cilling [View Full Entry]

By Simmy
March 30th 2006

Week 10/11 Laos

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane

From Qui Nhon I cycled through more hills to Hoi An where we spent a full day relaxing. Hoi An is a shopping heaven....pretty much every shop is a tailors where you can have absolutely anything you like tailor made to your measurements for pennies. Had to get something made so went to Yalys and had a skirt and top made. Definately the place to go if you are on a mad clothes shopping spree, you could actually go crazy....The town is small but filled with small cafes and restaurants making it perfect to chill out in before cycling again. [View Full Entry]

By pjwyant
March 29th 2006

Floating Through Vang Vieng

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng

View from my room's balcony

After a great time in Luang Prabang, I along with guy I had split a room with, headed south to Vang Vieng. We ended up taking a minivan and knew everybody in it, because they all had been on the slow boat. Seeing people I knew from the slow boat virtually everywhere was a trend that would continue all through Laos. As ever the journey was interesting, in that about halfway through we pulled off so the driver could check on a problem. One of the tires was wobbling and so the driver took the wheel apart to replace the ball [View Full Entry]

By ossi
March 29th 2006

SUEDLAOS: MEKONG....WASSERFAELLE....DSCHUNGEL....KAFFEE UND MON-KHMER VOELKER........

Asia » Laos » South » Pakxe

Bolaven-Plateau
...der dschungel-highway, der uns zu den kaffeeplantagen fuehrt...

PAKSE.....MEKONGSTADT......UND STUETZPUNKT UM DIE REGION ZU ENTDECKEN....... ist eine quirlige, eine sehr angenehme stadt. hier hat man als traveller eine breite auswahl was das essen betrifft, was daher kommt, dass hier viele verschiedene leute leben. laoten, chinesen, vietnamesen und inder sowie ein paar europaeer. jede gruppe praesentiert eifrig ihre kultur und somit gibt's von lao laab ueber indisches curry, von baguettes bis zu nudelgerichten, steak und pizza fuer jeden geschmack was zu finden. spezialitaet ist der kaffe, der nicht weit von pakse gepflanzt wird und von 3 bis 4 plantage [View Full Entry]

By Mtain and the Pete Represent
March 28th 2006

Vang Vieng

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng

Tuk Tuk Madness
Pete's new profession

28th March Another early start as a tuk tuk is coming to pick us up at 8.30am to take us to the bus station for our minibus to Vang Vieng. In true Laos time fashion the tuk tuk turns up late. Nevertheless on goes our baggage and ourselves. The driver gets to the end of the road and then stops and gets out, chats to some guys for five minutes, and then sets off again. We then go round the corner to pick up some more travellers (Becks and Tim) who were some really nice Brits who are on a ten [View Full Entry]

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