This landlocked country, in the south-east Asian peninsula, has borders to its north with China, to the east by Vietnam, the south by Cambodia, to the west by Thailand, and to the north-west by Myanmar.

Most of the western border of Laos is demarcated by the Mekong River. The, north of the country is mainly, inhospitable forest-covered mountains, except for the rolling grasslands, of the plains of Vientiane and the Plains of Jars.

Visitor come to see silent processions, monks in robes of bright burned orange, who live at a refreshingly unhurried pace, or see the Mekong River come alive at dawn with the simple day to day lives of its gentle people. In the capital you will find faded French-colonial mansions and coffee shops.