What is solo travel? (8) Laos

(5) Laos

It is a landlocked country located in the middle of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. 71% of the country is covered with jungle, preserving the best natural environment in Southeast Asia, and is bordered by the Mekong River to the west and the Annam Mountains to the east.

Although most of the country is mountainous, it is not as high as the Alps or the Himalayas, but it includes an alpine area with 11 peaks over 2,000 meters above sea level, and although it belongs to the subtropical climate zone, there are few typhoons, and the rainy and dry seasons are distinct.

It rarely rains all day during the rainy season, and showers and squalls often fall every day, so the dry season is dry and hot, but there are no tropical nights, and even if the temperature is about 40 degrees Celsius in the middle of the day, it is said that the heat subsides to some extent when you go under the shade.

As indicated by the name of the country, apart from most of the population, the Lao people are also home to many other ethnic minorities, but if we consider the Isan people living in Isan in northeastern Thailand as the same ethnic group as the Lao people,

The population of the Issan is 22 million, which is about three times larger than the actual population of Laos, so it can be said that this is like Tajikistan, Mongolia, and Azerbaijan. The land area is 1.1 times larger than Korea, but the total population is only about 7 million people.

It seems that the competition for survival is not as fierce as other developing countries and backward countries. Unlike communism, which does not recognize religion, Buddhism is not recognized as the state religion, but there are surprisingly many alternative holiday systems, such as 90% of the people who believe in Buddhism.

Like China and Vietnam, it has introduced capitalist elements extensively, but time has almost stopped due to a lack of basic infrastructure, with Vientiane in the central part of the country as its capital city, Luang Prabang in the north, and Pakse in the south as well.

Glutinous rice is preferred over glutinous rice as a staple food, and when you eat rice in Laos, you can feel that the rice is sticky, unlike other Southeast Asian countries or South Asian countries.

Laos is a place of beautiful natural scenery and peaceful atmosphere. It is said that beer is surprisingly delicious during travel, and beer brands such as Beer Lao and Nam Kong are famous.

In addition, restaurants and some supermarkets may accept US dollars or Thai baht with Lao kip, but you may not accept the bill if it is slightly torn or severely crumpled, such as graffiti.

In addition, Laos is known to have good security for a developing country, but due to the recent increase in tourists, there are many theft crimes such as pickpocketing, and foreigners should be especially careful because they are committed by foreigners from neighboring countries rather than locals.