Laos\u2019s lifeline is the Mekong River, which runs the length of the country. Most people visit the country as part of a wider trip in the region, often entering from Thailand and following the Mekong further south. However, Laos alone rewards further exploration, and with a little more time it\u2019s not hard to feel like you\u2019re visiting places where few Westerners venture. Stretching from the forest-clad mountains of the north to the islands of the far south, there\u2019s enough here to keep you occupied for weeks, and still feel as though you\u2019d barely scratched the surface.<\/p>\n
Colourfully dressed hill tribes populate the higher elevations, while in the lowland river valleys, coconut palms sway over the Buddhist monasteries of the ethnic Lao. The country also retains some of the French influence it absorbed during colonial days: the familiar smell of freshly baked bread and coffee mingles with exotic local aromas in morning markets, and many of the old shophouses of its larger towns now (appropriately) house French restaurants.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Laos\u2019s lifeline is the Mekong River, which runs the length of the country. Most people visit the country as part of a wider trip in the region, often entering from Thailand and following the Mekong further south. However, Laos alone rewards further exploration, and with a little more time it\u2019s not hard to feel like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":18138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-laos-overview"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n