Getting around

With Laos's road conditions improving at long last, buses have begun displacing river travel, the traditional means of getting around. However, passenger boats still regularly ply the Mekong, Southeast Asia's ancient highway, and many roads are still potholed. Indeed, in some cases, they're downright dangerous because of local bandit activity. You only need to travel for a week or two in Laos before you realize that timetables are irrelevant, and estimated times of arrival pointless - wherever you go, the journey seems to take all day. For a guide to the frequency and duration of journeys between major destinations in Laos .

Other useful information for tourists (each section contains more specific sub-sections):