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Introducing Laos
After years of war and isolation, Southeast Asia’s most pristine environment, intact cultures and quite possibly the most chilled-out people on earth mean destination Laos is fast earning cult status among travellers. It is developing quickly but still has much of the tradition that has sadly disappeared elsewhere in the region. Village life is refreshingly simple and even in Vientiane it’s hard to believe this sort of languid riverfront life exists in a national capital. Then, of course, there is the historic royal city of Luang Prabang, where watching as hundreds of saffron-robed monks move silently among centuries-old monasteries is as romantic a scene as you’ll experience anywhere in Asia.
Away from the cities, there is so much more to see; the Plain of Jars in Xieng Khuang Province, the forested mountains of Northern Laos, the gothic limestone karsts around the backpacker-haven Vang Vieng and in the deep south, past the market town Pakse, is Si Phan Don (Four Thousand Islands), where the mighty Mekong spreads out and all the hammocks are taken.
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Latest headlines for Laos
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Asia takes first step on modern 'Silk Route'
22 June 2009 12:08AM
The first link in a modern Silk Route from East Asia to Europe is created with the opening of borders in South-East Asia to goods lorries, reports the BBC's Vaudine England.
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Laos tackles transgender taboos
18 June 2009 12:19AM
In Laos, a new strategy to stop the spread of HIV/Aids is forcing officials to recognise a marginalised group, transgender men known as "katheoy", Jill McGivering reports.
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People of Laos suffer bomb legacy
10 June 2009 12:01AM
The BBC's Jill McGivering looks at the legacy of unexploded ordinance in the remote villages of Laos.
