In the mountains of North East Laos - the steep cliffs mean you definately DON'T want to be in the back when moving!
Laos used to be known as the land of a Million Elephants. Now as little as 1600 remain and about 560 of them work in the forest harvesting timber.
In the 1970s during the Vietnam war Lao was heavily bombed by America and even today farmers and scrap collectors will pick up a UXO bomb and it will explode. Often children thinkthey are toys and pick them up to play with, this can result in serious injury or even death. In the Laos' capital Vientiane they have set up a permanent exhibition which raises money for people who have lost limbs and makes them an artificial one. People now use UXO bombs in day to day life and if you look into a traditional Laos house almost all the metal is a form of bomb.
Laos is one of the least populated countries in Asia with approximatley 5,622,000 people living there in August 2007 and a third of them lived in cities like Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet and Pakse. The Laos' word for hello is 'Sabai Dee' and thankyou is 'Cop Chai'.
One of Laos' main tourist attractions are the Plains of Jars there are 3 sites of them and no one knows why they are there. If you are looking at the Plains of Jars you have to be cereful of UXOs and there are markers indicating where you can go. The Plains of Jars are located in Phonsovanh. Another of Laos' tourist attractions is That Dam Stupa, it was built to stop the Siameese invading in the 1820s but when they did. That Dam Stupa was blamed. Nowaday no one looks after it anymore and what was once coated in a layer of gold is now black and covered in moss.
In the 1970s during the Vietnam war Lao was heavily bombed by America and even today farmers and scrap collectors will pick up a UXO bomb and it will explode. Often children thinkthey are toys and pick them up to play with, this can result in serious injury or even death. In the Laos' capital Vientiane they have set up a permanent exhibition which raises money for people who have lost limbs and makes them an artificial one. People now use UXO bombs in day to day life and if you look into a traditional Laos house almost all the metal is a form of bomb.
Laos is one of the least populated countries in Asia with approximatley 5,622,000 people living there in August 2007 and a third of them lived in cities like Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Savannakhet and Pakse. The Laos' word for hello is 'Sabai Dee' and thankyou is 'Cop Chai'.
One of Laos' main tourist attractions are the Plains of Jars there are 3 sites of them and no one knows why they are there. If you are looking at the Plains of Jars you have to be cereful of UXOs and there are markers indicating where you can go. The Plains of Jars are located in Phonsovanh. Another of Laos' tourist attractions is That Dam Stupa, it was built to stop the Siameese invading in the 1820s but when they did. That Dam Stupa was blamed. Nowaday no one looks after it anymore and what was once coated in a layer of gold is now black and covered in moss.
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