Phonsavan, a dusty, one-street kind of town, is the base for exploring the Plain of Jars, a hilly valley area dotted with clusters of ancient stone jars dating back some 700+ years and not-so-ancient B-52 craters dating back to the cold war era. Phonsavan, and the Plain of Jars in general, seemed to be in the midst of a nasty cold snap. Come nightfall I was freezing my cahoonies off. I took a whizz and there was so much steam you'd think a hot shower had sprung ...

After five days in Luang Prabang I think I've done just about everything there is to do here. Actually, that is a complete lie. I haven't done anything here. I was too cheap to pay the 20,000 kip (not even $3) to see the main palace, or Wat Xieng Thong, the main temple of the city, or the wat at the top of the hill that overlooks the town, called Wat Phou Si (pronounced "What p**** . There is also a p**** hotel and at least one p**** restaurant. Heh heh.). To be ...

Long distance buses in Laos don't offer much in the way of decent food. The bus stations offer the same fare of boiled eggs on skewers and fried chickens which the masked sellers, always women, hold up on sticks and wave in the dusty air, trying to attract the attention of the seated passengers through the bus windows. The chicken looks tempting until you realise just how much diesel exhaust fumes and red dust grit must add to the flavour. If it's not that it's s...

After Don Det it was Champasak, the ancient outpost of one of Indochina's many long-extinct civilisations, the Khmer, and the seat of the pre-Khmer Chenla before them. It was a relief to find that the majority of the country's inhabitants aren't twenty-something white backpackers after all. Champasak is lowland Laos life at its best, and a little off the beaten track, being fortunately skipped by most travellers in their rush to get to the north of the country....

Laos, at least the southern half, feels remarkably similar to outback Australia. Very flat, very hot, very dry. I feel I have to keep reminding myself where I am. I'm sure if you came here in monsoon season, though, it'd be a very different story. And of course, some things are still the same. The pot-holed roads, the dust, the dykes and dried-out paddies, the 50cc motorcycles. Laos has a reputation for being chilled out. "Forgotten" is another word often bandied...