Standing at the crossroads of Sinitic and Indic Southeast Asia, Laos boasts a rich cultural tapestry woven of ethnic strands from all over the region and from eras past and present. French influences - morning coffee and baguettes, stylish tailleur shops - survive in the ex-colonial districts along the Mekong River, while the great Angkor empire has left behind striking, still-revered stone temples on the slopes of the country's most sacred peak. Perhaps most remarkable of all are the great expanses of wilderness Laos has been able to preserve despite external pressures from near and far. After four centuries of intermittent war with Cambodia, China, France, Thailand, USA and Vietnam, Laos - the Land of a Million Elephants - is enjoying its hard-won peace. With the Soviet-installed hammer and sickle gone from the national seal, Laos now charts its own course, and its free-market economy attracts a steady trickle of investors from all over the world. Yet it remains perhaps the most enigmatic and least visited country in Southeast Asia.
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- Joe Cummings for AAA Destination Discovery
Standing at the crossroads of Sinitic and Indic Southeast Asia, Laos boasts a rich cultural tapestry woven of ethnic strands from all over the region and from eras past and present. French influences - morning coffee and baguettes, stylish tailleur shops - survive in the ex-colonial districts along the Mekong River, while the great Angkor empire has left behind striking, still-revered stone temples on the slopes of the country's most sacred peak. Perhaps most remarkable of all are the great expanses of wilderness Laos has been able to preserve despite external pressures from near and far. After four centuries of intermittent war with Cambodia, China, France, Thailand, USA and Vietnam, Laos - the Land of a Million Elephants - is enjoying its hard-won peace. With the Soviet-installed hammer and sickle gone from the national seal, Laos now charts its own course, and its free-market economy attracts a steady trickle of investors from all over the world. Yet it remains perhaps the most enigmatic and least visited country in Southeast Asia.
- Joe Cummings for AAA Destination Discovery
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Must See
- #1 Luang Prabang
- #2 Nam Ha Protected Area
- #3 Plain of Jars
- #4 Wat Phu Champasak
- #5 Si Phan Don
Skip It 'til Next Time 
- #1
Vang Vieng
- #2 Muang Ngoi
- #3 Vieng Xai
- #4 Hong Sa
- #5 Lao National History Museum
