Frankly speaking, I didn’t want to go to Laos. This lack of desire had no special reasons; it was most likely caused by my interior prejudices and, as I had later realized, by my ungrounded beliefs. This country is surrounded by famous Thailand, rapidly developing Vietnam, sparkling by its gold Burma and immense China, with thousands of unbelievable mysteries. Why travel to a region which has always been influenced by its neighbors and has lost its unique culture? It has no monuments, no beaches, no shops, no service…