Laos - our summary (by Joe)

After four weeks travelling from the very north to the southern border, we both really liked Laos.

Louang Phabang (UNESCO World Heritage city) and the Mekong (especially the 4000 island region in the south) are truly world-class traveller destinations.

Laos is a poor country, yet the people are (seemingly) content, healthy and very very friendly - we found it peaceful, very safe and warm towards us. It may be poor by all statistical analyses, but demands of visitors no pity.

Yet the real 'thing' about Laos (its unique attraction) is that it is only in the last 10 years (after years of xenophobic socialist rule) that it opened up to tourists or to foreigners of any sort. There remains real novelty in visiting the country (novelty for both 'the visitor' and 'the visited').

Tourists to Laos' confident and commercially-savvy neighbour, Thailand will continue (for a few years yet) to find a trip to Laos a fascinating excursion just across the border, yet also into a different world.

But once the 'novelty' fades ... (?)

Joe