The 2-week Peregrine tour I took featured a week in Laos & a week in Cambodia. The tour began in Vientiane, then we flew to northern Laos, then came back to Vientiane by van. We then flew to Siem Riep in Cambodia & spent a couple days there visiting Angkor Wat, then flew to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia for the rest of our tour.

I will provide some background information about Vientiane in my next journal. Meanwhile, here's an intro to Laos.

LAOS: Intro: Laos is a forgotten land. Few people know it's a viable travel option, or what there is to see & do here. Laos is one of the few Communist countries left in the world, so part of this ignorance is due to the shroud of the communist government which became politically & economically isolated after taking power in 1975. In fact, tourists were not allowed access to Laos until 1988. But times have changed. Following in the footsteps of its more prosperous neighbors, Laos is making a concerted effort to build its fledgling tourism industry, & the world is slowly discovering what the country & its people have to offer.

With agriculture as its primary industry, Laos remains one of the poorest countries in the world. Laos's designation by the United Nations as a "least-developed country" ensures an influx of money from both foreign governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Much of the aid is spent on developing the country's infrastructure such as roads, although roads are still primitive by Western standards. Getting from point A to point B can be an adventure, which is part of Laos's allure. They will take you to places that are well worth some minor discomfort.

A few days spent wandering the streets of Vientiane, a perennial candidate for the "sleepiest capital in the world" crown, & watching the sun set over the mighty Mekong River, makes a good introduction to "Lao time." A couple hours north of Vientiane, you'll find the backpacker town of Vang Vieng which is set on the Nam Song River & surrounded by striking karst peaks. Its a great base for kayaking, trekking, & caving. Further north lies Luang Prabang, the ancient capital. With its almost three dozen temples, French colonial architecture, & rich history, Luang Prabang is a magical town, a deserving UNESCO National Heritage Site, & is not to be missed. Another area in the north that has generated a lot of interest is the remnants of an even older civilization in the mysterious Plain of Jars in the heart of Xieng Khouang province. [We visited all of these locations & I’ll cover them in subsequent photo journals.]

With these recent infrastructure developments & rising tourism, many fear for the natural & cultural resources of this peaceful land-locked nation. If Laos follows neighboring Thailand's model, as it does in many areas, its forests & waterways may be further exploited. Although Laos still portrays the exquisite sight of traditional Southeast Asian life now missing in neighboring nations, ethnic villages may sadly become human zoos if packaging tourism for mass consumption is not controlled. By working with United Nations agencies, the Lao government is taking steps to see that rural development proceeds slowly in order to protect these vital resources.

The Lay of the Land: Landlocked Laos, which is roughly the size of the state of Utah, shares borders with China & Myanmar (formerly Burma) in the north & the northwest, Cambodia in the south, Thailand (Siam) in the west, & Vietnam in the east. A good chunk of the country (70%) is mountain ranges & plateaus, & about 55% of the landscape is pristine tropical forest. The mighty Mekong River, the lifeline of the country, is its major corridor for transporting goods & services, & the source of its hydroelectric energy. With an estimated population of about 6 million, Laos is one of the most sparsely populated countries in Asia.

The Lao People & Culture: A recent study by Russian ethnologists has concluded that there are more than 100 distinct ethnic groups in Laos, although it is commonly believed that Laotians fall into 68 different groups. Only 47 groups have been fully researched & identified; sadly, many are disappearing by attrition or intermarriage. These groups fall into three categories. The lowlanders (Lao Loum), the majority group, who live along the lower Mekong & in Vientiane; the low mountain dwellers (Lao Theung) who live on mountain slopes; & the Lao Soung hill tribes, or montagnards. An amazing 80% of the population lives in villages or small hamlets practicing subsistence farming.

Religion: The earliest Lao religions were animist, and most hill tribes still practice this belief, often in combination with Buddhism. However, Buddhism predominates, & 60% to 80% of all Laotians are practicing Theravada Buddhists; temples & stupas dominate the architecture of even the smallest village. Laotians worship regularly and can often be seen making temple visits. Most young males spend at least 3 months in a wat monastery, usually around the time of puberty or before they marry.

History: This ancient land was controlled by Thailand (Siam) through most of the 19th century until it became part of French Indochina in Southeast Asia. [French Indochina was formed in 1887 & initially included three Vietnamese regions as well as Cambodia. Laos was added in 1893. ] In 1953, Laos declared its independence from France, & in the typical manner of new nations, civil war & internal conflict followed which in Laos lasted for some 20 years. During this period, the communist Pathet Lao, which had formed in neighboring Vietnam, took control over most of eastern & northeastern Laos.

The Vietnam War: As the civil war & the wider Indochina conflict intensified, the U.S. began its secret bombing campaign over eastern Laos, targeting communist bases & the Ho Chi Minh Trail. I was shocked to learn that from 1964 to 1973, the U.S. dropped more tonnage of bombs on three northern provinces than were dropped on the whole of Europe during World War II. It is estimated that an average of one bombing run was flown every 8 minutes for 9 years. [Our tour guide, Lah, lost his whole family to the raids, including his pregnant mother. He was raised in an orphanage.]

With the U.S. trying to end its involvement in the region, a ceasefire was reached in 1973, and by 1975, with the U.S. fully withdrawn, the whole of Laos fell to the communist Pathet Lao, & the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR) was formed. Draconion political & economic policies ensured, including the relocation of many members of the previous government, including the royal family, into "re-education camps" (the king died within 4 years). An additional 10% of the population fled the country, with an estimated 250,000 eventually settling in the U.S. Because most of its citizens were lacking in education & useful training, Laos emerged from that conflict as one of the poorest countries in the world.

Although Laos suffered brutally throughout its colonial history & most horrifically during the Vietnam War, the Lao people, like the Vietnamese, want to move on to peace & prosperity rather than dwell on the past. It's very unlikely that an American will be approached with recrimination, but memories are still fresh. Lao people, however, still deal with the fallout of war, literally & figuratively, due to many unexploded bombs (UXO) that litter 50% of the country.

The economy & tourism: During the 1980s and 1990s, progressively more liberalized economic policies were introduced to stir the stagnant economy, producing a more capitalist system. The government could not ignore the tourist boom occurring throughout Southeast Asia, especially in neighboring Thailand, so tourism was also embraced . Improved relations with Thailand have helped Laos court the tourist dollar. Tourist arrivals grew from 33,000 in 1991, to over one million in 2005, bringing in almost US$150 million & making tourism one of the leading sources of foreign exchange.

Unfortunately, the relaxation of economic policies has not gone hand in hand with the easing of political controls. Although they have been inept at implementing strict socialist doctrine, the communist People's Revolutionary Party retains a stranglehold on power to this day.

Conclusion: Laos still remains relatively isolated & underdeveloped. Life throughout the country is slow-paced. Most people come to Laos and make a brief tour of Vientiane & the UNESCO World Heritage city of Luang Prabang, with perhaps a brief detour to the mysterious Plain of Jars. But those who make the effort to explore further afield are rewarded with luscious landscapes, friendly people and unique glimpses of a country hardly changed for over a century.

Good Lao info source: http://www.sino.net/laos-tourist-guides/index.html