Luangprabang

             A small nation, about 600 mi.(965 km.) long and in some places barely 50 mi (80 km) wide, Laos is a land of dense jungle, rugged mountains, fertile floodplains,and overpowering beauty.Streams cascadedown the mountains,feeding the region's most important river, the Mekong,and flooding the rice paddies that supply the bulk of the nation's food

               Laos was a power in the region from 1353 to 1707,when it ruled over parts of present-day China, Cambodai,Myanmar(Burma), thailand and Vietnam.it became a French colony in 1893, won its independence in 1953,and remained a kingdom until 1975 when a Communist government abolished the monarchy.Laos's ruling Communist party-the Lao people's Revolutionary party-permits Laotians to run privately owned businesses alongside state-run enterprises