About Laos

C urrency and Language in My Country       In Laos, ‘Kip’ has been our currency since 1952. If we calculate from dollar to kip, 1 dollar is about 8,000 kips. In Laos many years ago we used to have coins in our currency, but now because of the chronic inflation there are no coins currently in circulation. We only use 500, 1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000 kip banknotes to trade in markets. The man who is in the Lao banknotes is Kaysone Phomvihane who is known as our first Prime Minister of the Lao People's Democratic Republic from 1975 to 1991.     Apart from that in Laos, people use Lao language to communicate and write in our country. As you can see in the picture. These are the letters or alphabet that we use to write. It’s very similar to Thai. So that’s a reason why a lot of Lao’s people know and can understand Thai too.

  One of My Dreams       Travelling has been a big part of my life and my dream. I have a dream since I was a kid to travel around the world. One of my dreams is to see the Aurora Borealis or northern light in Finland.        It’s an amazing natural light display in the earth’s sky. I have heard that there are a lot of places and countries where we might see this fantastic lights. I’m one of those people who love to sit and watch the sky and the stars at night time. I really love to see a beautiful colorful sky. I can’t imagine if one day I’m there and watching the real northern light. It would be like a dream come true. Apart from Finland another place where we might see these magical northern lights are also in Iceland, Alaska, Yellowknife in Canada, Norway, Greenland, New Zealand and Northern Sweden. People also mention about the specific time when we can see these beautiful l...

Lao traditional dance movement         Another unique thing about Laos is our typical traditional dance. Lao people called “Fon”. It simply requires the dancers to move their arms, legs and hands in circular motion. “Fon Lam Vong” is another specific type of Lao traditional dance. “Fon Lam Vong” has movements similar to “Fon” but it is more detailed. All dancers have to dance in a circle, that’s why Lao people call it “Lam Vong”. “Vong” in Lao mean circle. “Lam Vong” is normally enjoyed at parties, family gatherings, celebrations, and ceremonies. I already talked a little bit about Sinh, which is our traditional garment for women. The traditional Lao garment for men is Salong. As you can see, in the pictures, people will wear these garments when they have a performance or when they have a special ceremony.                    ...

Things to do in Vang Vieng that you can’t miss        I really want to recommend you more touristic attractions in my country, Laos. The place that I am going to talk about is called Vang Vieng. Vang Vieng is a small town that has so many activities to do, plenty of restaurants where you can try some Lao food. Vang Vieng is the right place for your relaxed vacation. There are a lot of natural places and adventure activities that you can experience.       The things that I really love to do when I go there is kayaking along the Song River (Nam Song)       People like to go tubing down the Namsong River, go cycling around Vang Vieng, go hiking to the Pha Ngern Mountain viewpoint,  ride in a hot air balloon to see the view around this amazing town. A lot of people say that Vang Vieng has the cheapest price for riding a hot air balloon. ...

                                                        My Wonderful Homeland          Today I’m going to talk about my country Laos. Laos is one of the wonderful countries in Southeast Asia. There are a lot of beautiful places, and touristic attractions that want you to visit. Some people might not know where Laos is. Laos is in Southeast Asia, bordered by Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand.       Our capital city is Vientiane and it’s also my hometown city. If you come to visit Laos I would recommend you to visit Luangprabang, it’s one of the nice cities to go to. It’s located on the northern part of our country and...