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Introduction • Culture • Environment, History & Money • Activities & Transportation • Attractions & When To Go • Example Program |
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Real Asia Ltd. provides you tailor made holidays composed according to your specific wishes. We strive to show you the Real Asian way of living without the big tourist traps. Below pages gives you a good impression on the country. Just e-mail us if you have any inquiries. Real Asia starts here.
General Information
Laos is the least developed and most enigmatic of the three former French Indochinese states. After a decade and a half of isolation from the outside world, this landlocked, sparsely populated country is enjoying peace, awakening from its socialist slumber and admitting foreign visitors. The lack of foreign influence offers travellers an unparalleled glimpse of traditional South-East Asian life.
Facts at a Glance
| Full country name: Lao People's Democratic Republic Area: 236,000 sq km | ||
| Population: 4.75 million (growth rate 2.9%) | ||
| Capital city: Vientiane (pop 300,000) | ||
| People: 50% Lao Loum (lowland Lao), 30% Lao Theung (lower-mountain dwellers of mostly proto-Malay or Mon-Khmer descent), 10-20% Lao Sung (Hmong or Mien high-altitude hill tribes) and 10-20% tribal Thais | ||
| Language: Lao and Lao dialects (closely related to Thai), French | ||
| Religion: 85% Buddhist, 15% animist and spirit cults | ||
| Government: Socialist republic | ||
| Prime Minister: Sisavat Keobounphan Phan Van Khai | ||
| President: Khamtai Siphandon | ||
| Visas: Fifteen-day visas are now available for US$30 on arrival at Vientiane's Wattay International Airport and at the International Friendship Bridge at the Nong Khai border crossing between Laos and Thailand, though you'll need to meet a series of conditions to get one. Fourteen-day tour visas are generally issued through authorised travel agencies rather than embassies; Lao embassies occasionally issue visas to individuals, but there seem to be no hard and fast rules. | ||
| Health risks: cholera, dengue fever, hepatitis, Japanese encephalitis, malaria, rabies, typhoid | ||
| Electricity: Electricity: 220V | ||
| Weights & Measures: metric with local variations in rural areas |