Laos Holidays

Southeast Asia's sleeping beauty is waking up to foreign tourists again after decades of isolation. Be among the first to explore this easy-going land of ancient temples, tropical forests and colourful mountain tribes before it embraces the commercialised ways of its Indochinese neighbours and the pace of life here moves from a lazy stroll to something much less magical.

Laos is a landlocked country nestled between China, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It was one of the most important states in the region until the 16th century but has been dominated ever since by its near neighbours and its colonial conqueror, France. In 1954 the country gained full independence but was then dragged into the Vietnam War, resulting in the rise to power of the Communist Pathet Lao who still rule today. The climate here is distinctly tropical, and Laos has one of the most pristine natural landscapes in Southeast Asia, home to an extremely diverse animal kingdom from leopards and sun bears in the north to the endangered Irrawaddy dolphins of the far south. Theravada Buddhism is a dominant presence in Lao culture and an inherent feature of daily life, while Lao cuisine reveals its twin influences of the spicy dishes of Northeast Thailand and the bakeries of France. Follow the Mekong past the World Heritage Sights of Luang Prabang and Wat Phou, the mysterious Plain of Jars and the capital Vientiane to the "four thousand islands" of Si Phan Don to fully appreciate the world?s latest must-see destination.