Laos, is a beautiful country with a great deal to offer. It typifies the traditional mystical images of South East Asia, with saffron-robed monks, rickety old bicycles, and golden temples, with a backdrop of tropical river islands, remote villages, stunning rice paddies, and held together by the mighty Mekong River. Despite all this, it is the overwhelming friendliness of the people which leaves a lasting impression.

Laos has so far survived the redevelopment, which has overpowered its neighbours in recent years. Traditional simple wooden village homes, colonial-era shop houses, and mouldering monasteries all remain and traditional customs are also firmly intact including monks collecting alms at daybreak and traditional looms weaving richly coloured silk can be heard in most villages.

Laos is the most bombed country per capita in the world, but it doesn’t faze the locals who transform bomb casings into flower pots and bomb craters into fish ponds. Other fascinating places to visit include Wat Phou, and the Plain of Jars continues to fascinate visitors with its stone urns and catastrophic war history.