Allure of Unknown Laos

That Luang

Khong Island

Pak Ou Caves

Today’s travelers, though generally less intrepid, are still pioneering what will be tomorrow’s upscale tourist destinations: Laos is no exception. The ancient Royal Capital of Luang Prabang, Muang Singh on the Chinese border, Vang Vieng & Tha Kaek, tucked away in sculptured limestone mountains and Si Pan Don (Four Thousand Islands), in southern Laos have all become popular destinations.

Travelers continue to put Laos on the map, in a way even decades of war failed to do. Today cosmopolitan Vientiane exhibits an amalgam of Lao aristocratic and French colonial influence, giving visitors an authentic old-world view of Laos. Exquisite Lao or European cuisine can be enjoyed in elegant accommodations. Some old French colonial buildings are now charming hotels, and many new hotels have been built as well. Today, with the inroads of foreign travelers, there are luxurious and tasteful places from the Chinese border to the southern tip on the Cambodian frontier. Whether you prefer 5-star travel or the back-road route, you will find wonderful, friendly places to stay throughout Laos today, amidst cultures nearly as old as the hills.Undisturbed by man, tigers and elephants still rule the rain forest through much of Laos. Comparable in physical size to Thailand and Viet Nam, Laos’ population of 6 million represents only a tiny fraction of the population of the neighboring Thai & Vietnamese giants! There is a lot of wild, open space here – less than half of this small nation has ever been explored & surveyed! Most of Laos is truly virgin, known only in part to indigenous hill-tribe hunters. It is one of the few countries in the world where nature still has a chance, one of the few places where one can experience nature ‘intact’. Eighty percent of Laos is mountainous, covered by lush vegetation, huge tropical hardwoods, and home to more than a 100 species of wild animals and several hundred species of birds. Laos remains a virtual paradise, still naturally and spiritually intact, while the rest of the world whirls in confusion, at an increasingly frenzied pace.