The Rough Guide to Laos (2011)

The fourth edition of the Rough Guide to Laos  was published in January 2011. It is written by Jeff Cranmer and Steven Martin, with additional contributions from Emma Gibbs and Steven Vickers.

For the record: my evaluation of this book is based on two visits to Laos. The first time we went to southern Laos (Pakse, Champasak, Si Phan Don, and the Bolaven Plateau). The second time we went to northern Laos (the capital Vientiane and the old capital Luang Prabang). My evaluation of the book is based on the chapters about these places – plus the chapters with general information and historical background.

As far as I can tell, this guidebook is a reliable and useful tool for anyone who wants to visit this small land-locked country, whose shape on the map looks a lot like Italy. Here are some of the many points which are covered in the book:

1. Citizens of Asean (and Japan) can enter without a visa, but all other nationalities must have a visa to enter the country. Most nationalities can get the visa on arrival, but it must be paid in cash and with US dollars (or Euros or Thai Bath), and you must provide a passport-sized photo of yourself. The price of the visa depends on your nationality; it ranges from 30 to 42 US dollars (page 23).

2. There are several warnings about UXO, i.e. unexploded ordnance from “the secret war” which was a part of the second Indochina war (1954-1975). On pp. 152-153 the authors mention the UXO information centre in Phonsavan, which is run by MAG (Mines Advisory Group), a British organisation that has been helping to clear Laos’s unexploded ordnance since 1994.

3. The authors also pay attention to environmental issues, such as deforestation and the problems related to hydro-electric dams (pages 302-303).

However, the book does not mention the current and highly controversial project, the Xayaburi dam, which has been the subject of several articles in the Bangkok Post since 2011.

4. In the section about the history of Laos there is a separate sidebar about “the secret war” and the Hmong, the tribal minority which was recruited by the CIA to fight the Pathet Lao resistance movement (page 279). The text includes a reference to the Hmong general Vang Pao (who was born in 1929 and who died in January 2011).

5. The chapter about the south includes several maps of the area which support the text very well, for instance a map of the area around Pakse on page 235 and a map of Si Phan Don, the 4,000 islands, near the Cambodian border, on page 243. The map on pp. 238-239 shows the layout of the ancient Khmer temple Wat Phou, located a few km south west of Champasak. The map on page 240 shows the location of the Wat Phou lintels, while the sidebar on the next page helps you understand the decorations on these lintels.

I like this guidebook, but I have to mention a few things which bother me:

(a) The former special zone Xaisomboun, which is located ca. 50 km east of Vang Vieng, is shown on two maps (pages 6 and 148), but it is never mentioned in the text. In this area the CIA built a “secret city” called Long Cheng, from where the Hmong and the CIA conducted their “secret war.” Long Cheng is not mentioned either.

The special zone and the “secret city” are mentioned in Lonely Planet’s guidebook to Laos. Here is a link to the seventh edition of this book which was published in December 2010: Laos: A Lonely Planet Guidebook.

(b) The price level for local transport in Pakse mentioned in the book is unrealistically low. On page 231 we are told: “Expect to pay 5,000 K for short inner-city journeys.” But all tuk-tuk drivers demand at least 10,000 and often 20,000 for a short ride. You can bargain with them to get a lower price, but I do not think they will go anywhere for 5,000 K.

(c) The chapter on the north includes a separate sidebar with information about how you can go sailing on the Mekong River (page 201). But the chapter on the south does not say much about this topic. Specifically, it does not mention the two companies which arrange a cruise on the Mekong River in southern Laos, from Pakse to Si Phan Don. The first version runs for three days, while the second runs for five days. We tried the short version which was an interesting and enjoyable experience.

Both cruises are mentioned in Lonely Planet’s guidebook to Laos.

Apart from these minor flaws I think this guidebook is a reliable and useful tool for anyone who wants to visit Laos.

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Jeff Cranmer and Steven Martin,

The Rough Guide to Laos,

Fourth edition, 2011, 335 pages

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