LAOS

TRAVEL GUIDE

Culture Smart! Laos offers in-depth information to visitors seeking a genuine experience, including essential insights and advice on local customs and lifestyle. The information, collected through research and the experience of living and working in this beautiful country, is also of great use to businesspeople and prospective investors.

Once known as “the Kingdom of a Million Elephants under the White Parasol,” Laos is a landlocked country of great contrast and beauty in the heart of the Indochinese peninsula. Dominated by the mighty Mekong River, it has dense forests, mountain peaks that soar above the morning mist, and a fascinating combination of glorious Asian temples and iconic French colonial architecture. This multiethnic land of gentle people, struggling to survive in a sometimes harsh environment with the most basic of facilities, is attracting more and more enthusiastic visitors each year. Formally a one-party socialist republic, Laos has ambitious industrial development strategies and today is a member of ASEAN and the WTO.

Visitors quickly relax and enjoy the vibrancy and colour of bustling marketplaces with their aromatic spices, tropical fruits, and huge wicker baskets containing many varieties of rice. You may glimpse a group of monks of all ages wandering past in flowing orange robes, and later hear their chanting emanating from within the temple walls. Passing a line of children in school uniform, chattering and laughing noisily, you will always be greeted with a gracious bow and “sabaidee.” Whatever the purpose of your visit, in Laos you will always be met with warmth, courtesy, and hospitality, and feel completely safe.