Peaceful street scene in lazy Vang Vieng

Vientiane and Vang Vieng

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November 30th 2006
We arrived in Vientiane, Laos' capital. This small, peaceful place was far from our expectation of a capital city. Its sparse population represented the country as a whole: Laos has six million inhabitants compared to the similar-sized Vietnam with around eighty-two million! Laos is one of the least visited south-east Asian countries, having only recently opened its borders. This followed a tumu ... read more

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane

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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 Pathe... ... read more