ipernity: All across Laos by Wolfgang

This set presents some of the pictures I shot during our last journey through Laos, my fifth visit in this amazing country. Every time I visit Laos since this quiet and somewhat sleepy country opened its borders for tourists some 20 years ago, I am impressed with new fantastic experiences.
This time, I organized a tour with the help of an old Laotian friend from Luang Prabang who lived and studied in Halle/Germany during the DDR era. I met him 18 years ago when he was our tour guide in Luang Prabang.
At first I planned on using my own car from Thailand, but soon it was suggested to me not to enter Laos with a Thai license plate. Its a great pity that Thai cars do not have a good reputation in Laos due the highly reckless driving habits of a few Thai drivers that crossed Laotian territory during a street race to China and Tibet. Laotians drive carefully and defensively, and we never encountered an aggressive situation in 1500 km of driving through the country.
When we crossed the border at the friendship bridge near Vientiane after easily obtaining visa on arrival, we noticed a clear increase in tourists compared to our last visits. Many backpackers who are interested in Laotian culture and people are discovering the country off the beaten tracks.
Laos suffers under horrific memories of the 1964 to 1973 war, and the remains are still very obvious. I am showing some photos of the cruel history that came with the attacks of a mighty nation for the wrong reasons.
One highlight was the visit to a Hmong village. Its habitants were very shy and reluctant meeting and talking to us. One of the great benefits of digital photography is that the people can immediately look at the pictures and see themselves on the display - it instantly makes for a much more relaxed atmosphere.
Everyone who likes travelling to a country that is not yet spoilt by mass tourism and the bad attitudes of uneducated visitors, and everyone who likes amazing landscapes and friendly people will appreciate visiting this admirable nation with its only 6 million inhabitants.