If every tourist in Laos bought five-hundred scarves there would still be at least two left for each and every citizen.Guide books are an absolute necessity for the kind of travel that we do. They are the road map for our overall travel plan. We're staying at the guide book recommended Haysoke Guest House in Vientiene. The walls are paper thin and the air inside reeks of Chinese cooking. Yes guide books are a necessity but, almost everything you read in ...

After a two day, 300 kilometre journey down the Mekong River we've arrived sore arsed in the ancient temple city of Luang Prabang, Laos. Packed like white sardines, Ellen, I and about fifty Europeans made the trip sitting on hard little plank seats in a boat that was built for thirty people.When we entered Laos, we changed $80 worth of US money into Kip, the currencyof Laos. In return we got two pounds or about 3 inches of paper money- justover $800,000 Kip. ...