Destination: Laos
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FABULOUS FESTIVALS
Laos boasts a couple of festivals a month year round, not to mention public holidays. Here are the most impressive.
- Makha Busa (Full Moon) (national) February
- Bun Wat Phu (Champasak) February
- Vietnamese Tet & Chinese New Year (Vientiane, Pakse and Savannakhet) February-March
- Bun Pi Mai Lao (Lao New Year) (Luang Prabang) April
- Bun Pha Wet (national) March
- Bun Bang Fai (Rocket Festival) (national) May
- Bun Khao Phansa (national) July
- Bun Awk Phansa (national) October
- Bun Nam (Boat Racing Festival) (Vientiane, Savannakhet, Huay Xai) October
- Bun Pha That Luang (Vientiane) October-November
GREAT THRILLS
Sometimes you just need to get a little wild with it.
- Braving the road from Sainyabuli to Hongsa
- Climbing Phu Asa by elephant
- Crossing the Lao-Vietnamese border at Nam Khan
- Eating a full-power tacm maak-hung (green papaya salad) with your fingers
- Kayaking the Khammuan
- Riding a longtail down the Nam Tha
- Rock-climbing at Pak Ou
- Scaling a cliff to reach Muang Sui's coffin cave
- Sharing a jar of lao-havi (jar liquor; home-brewed rice wine)
- Trekking in the Nam Ha National Protected Area
GREAT BOOKS
Compared to other countries in Southeast Asia, not that many books have been written about Laos, but we think you'll find these 10 to be enjoyable and enlightening reads.
- Another Quiet American, Brett Dakin
- A Dragon Apparent: Travels In Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, Normal Lewis
- A History of Laos, Martin Stuart-Fox
- Mekong, Milton Osborne
- The Politics of Ritual and Remembrance: Laos since 1975, Grant Evans
- Poppies, Pipes, and People: Opium and Its Use in Laos, Joseph Westermeyer
- The Ravens: Pilots of the Secret War of Laos, Christopher Robbins
- Shooting at the Moon, Roger Warner
- The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down, Anne Fadiman
- Stalking the Elephant Kings: In Search of Laos, Christopher Kremmer
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