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Safety: the majority of Laotians are passive, good natured people and pose little or nothing in the way of threats to the safety of visitors. The country do;es however have something of a reputation for danger and while most visitors are unlikely to experience any problems, they should still be aware of potential danger areas and situations. Civil unrest is not unknown in Laos with the most recent event being the bombing that occurred at the ASEAN Summit in November 2004.

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The Laos leg of the circuit generally go;es from Luang Prabang down to Vang Vieng and then onto Vientiane with some travellers going further south to Si Phan Don. During this time, the weather is hot during the day and cooler at night with little chance of rain although relative humidity can be quite high making it a hot and sweaty affair if you are travelling on public buses.

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Language: Lao is the official language spoken in Laos and is a tonal language, very similar in many ways to the language spoken in neighbouring Thailand. The dialect spoken in the northeast of Thailand is, in fact, so similar to Lao that the two languages are often considered one and the same.

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Recommended hospitals:

Vientiane is perhaps the only city with half-decent medical facilities and even they fall a good deal short of Western standards although there are reputable health care centres operated by some foreign embassies. Alternatively many travellers seeking serious medical attention opt to cross the border to Thailand where the standard of medical care is significantly higher.

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Business needs: few visitors come to Laos purely on business and opportunities for foreigners to conduct business in the country are somewhat limited. Some visitors may come for the purpose of buying goods for import-export purposes but will find very little in the way of assistance from locals towards the facilitation of this end.

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