"Beautiful Laos" Moretojr's photos around Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep

A TripAdvisorâ„¢ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Luang Prabang, Lao Peoples Dem Rep by TravelPod blogger Moretojr titled "Beautiful Laos" Moretojr's travel blog entry: "Sa-bai dee from Laos! And what a difference from Thailand. Laos only opened it's doors to tourism in the early 1990s, and it shows. You don't get hit by the tourist shops and hassled by the tuk tuk drivers in Laos. You don't have any coastline either as Laos is landlocked, and neither do you have many roads that you'd like to actually drive down (if you value your car or your stomach...). But what you do have is an unspoilt, mountainous country of 6m people struggling to survive since their country was literally blown apart by French invasion (and colonization), Siamese and Japanese occupation, the Vietnam war, civil war, coups and chaos. It's estimated that more bombs were dropped on Laos during the Vietnam war than were used during the whole of WWII, with the equivalent of one bombing run every eight minutes for nine years. The effect that this has had on the Lao people is indescribable. Until only very recently, if a helicopter flew overhead, the people would run for the caves, expecting to be bombed. The parents of people who are our age would have lived in caves for most of their lives, only coming out after dark. The danger from unexploded bombs and landmines is immense, with hundreds of people losing their lives every year, and any more maimed. The majority of the Lao people still live in tribes ...