Political Background:
Since 1975 the country is a people’s democratic republic following the model of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The Lao People's Revolutionary Party is the central body that governs the country.
Laos is divided into 16 provinces, each made up of several districts.

Accomodation:
The hotel infrastructure in Laos is nothing like that of neighbouring Thailand. Comfortable or even luxury hotels can be found in Vientiane and Luang Prabang. Some cities like Savannaket, Phongsavan, Houessay or Pakse can offer decent hotels. The other cities (Luang Namtha, Oudomxay, Phong Sally, Samneua, Attapeu) have only very average accommodations. Outside of these major cities standard accommodation is not available. However, if accompanied by a guide, it is always possible (if not interesting) to sleep in village huts where the inhabitants will be most happy to offer you traditional hospitality.

Food:
Lao cuisine is rather close to Thai cuisine in its use of numerous herbs and fragrant ingredients. It is however much less spicy. In addition French, Chinese or Vietnamese cuisine can be found in the cities.
If you are seeking gastronomic thrills, travel out from the big towns and you will be able to taste all types of strange food: porcupine, varieties of snakes, bat or coagulated buffalo blood. If this culinary practice is not your cup of tea, you can easily find dishes based on rice (khao nhyao), chicken, duck, fish, buffalo, pork and varieties of vegetables.

Means of communication:
Except for 2 or 3 main axis, there are no asphalt roads. General conditions are bad, especially during or immediately after the rainy season. The waterways are usually navigable and it is relatively easy to find boats or dugouts to go from one town to the next. However it is possible that during the low waters season (May/June) certain parts of the rivers are cut off.

Means of locomotion :
By bus :
This is the most common means of transport in Laos but you should not expect to find buses which go by Western standards. The best buses run between Vientiane- Luang Prabang- Oudomxay- Luang Namtha, between Vientiane and Savannaket, Vientiane and Pakse. The level of comfort is equivalent to what we had in the West 30 or 40 years ago. Everywhere else the buses are either canvassed trucks set up with wooden benches or small pick-ups where passengers, goods and even animals are jam-packed in the back. Taking into account the conditions of the roads network which are tarred only on the portions between very big towns, travelling by bus is often tiresome.
By plane :
This is the quickest and most comfortable means of travel even if certain types of planes servicing medium-sized towns may surprise you.
By boat :
This is one of the most practical means of transport. The Mekong River and its tributaries are indeed navigable most of the year round. However the fast boats (small Thai-made outboards equipped with a powerful motor) are more expensive for tourists because of their long legs and bulky luggage which take up the space of two or three Laotians. Slow boats, huge barges roughly converted for passenger transportation, often offer only the most rudimentary comfort. It is often a great experience to take a dugout to go from one town to the next, especially during the low waters season. The mastery with which these pilots navigate their rudimentary and hard-to-handle vessels through rather difficult rapids is astonishing.

Festivals :
The proverbial nonchalance of Laotians disappear during the numerous festivals (bouns) which are sprinkled along the Laotian calendar. Besides the big festivals which are celebrated nationally, you can also attend numerous festivals which are celebrated only in a certain region or village. In general whenever there is a full moon, one of these bouns take place.
The most important festival is the Pimaye new year celebrated by the Loum Laotians (from the plains) which is usually held in mid-April and gives place to fervent religious ceremonies as well as the masses going wild, especially in Louang Prabang.
The new year of the ethnic minorities usually falls in the second half of December or the first half of January. This is the time for some very special ceremonies which are only held for this occasion (seesaw games, dances of the Laoseng tribes….)
Let us also mention the festivals of the That Luang in Vientiane and of various That peoples in the provinces (November full moon), the dugout festivals in September/October at the end of the rainy season, the fireworks festivals in May, the beginning and end of the Buddist lent in July and October, …
Most of these festivals give place to huge popular gatherings, often with lots of food, drinks, songs and dances.

Not to be missed :
Some places which are amongst the most interesting in Laos: Vientiane, Luang Prabang, Phu wat (Champassak), Urns Plaine, Bolovens Plateau, Khône island/ Pha Peng Falls, Vieng Xay/ Samneua region, the Mekong River, Nam Ou.
However the two biggest treasures of this country are without a doubt its nature: primary forests, mountains, rivers, animals,… and its ethnic minorities which live there. It should be noted that it is not easy to reach either this virgin nature or its populations which live far away from roads. For this type of travel it is necessary either to invest lots of time and energy (in particular knowledge of the forest, the language and dialects) or to be accompanied by people who have a good knowledge of the subject (who are very hard to find, contrary to what you may be told by the pseudo guides you come across in tourist spots). On this subject, you should know that the Lao Tourism Authority issues guide licences to those having had a (quick) training. The various "brown" guides who offer you their services (often more expensive than the licensed guides) often do not have the capacities needed to obtain an official licence.