The Best of Cambodia & Laos

186
LAOS IN DEPTH
9
ART & ARCHITECTURE
liberalizing in terms of economic freedom
and making the country more open, while
still keeping an iron grip on political
power. Close relations with Vietnam have
been maintained but have become more
balanced by a closer relationship with the
Laos is a landlocked nation that covers
236,800 sq. km (92,352 sq. miles),
roughly the size of the state of Utah or
Great Britain. The country is divided into
16 provinces. It is bordered by Burma to
the northeast, Cambodia to the south,
China to the north, Thailand to the west,
and Vietnam to the east. Its location has
often made it a buffer between neighboring
states and empires, as well as a crossroads
for trade and communication.
Laos is mostly mountainous, with steep
terrain, narrow river valleys, and little
agricultural potential. Seventy percent of
its land is mountain ranges and plateaus.
These mountains extend across most of
the north of the country, except for the
plain of Vientiane and the Plain of Jars in
Xiangkhoang Province. The south of the
country contains large level areas in Savannakhet
and Champasak provinces that are
well suited for extensive wet rice cultiva-
ARCHITECTURE
Architecture in Laos is a real mix. In the
countryside and villages, people live in
wooden houses simply constructed. In the
flatlands these house tend to be on stilts
(as in Cambodia). Structures in larger
towns are much different. There are exquisite
temples built in a number of styles
that are very close to that of North Thailand.
Generally with Lao wats, the roof
reaches very low—almost to the ground in
an elegant arc. There is also plenty of dark
3 LAY OF THE LAND
Thais (who are, after all, ethnic cousins).
There has been occasional dissent with
some bombings and shootings, which the
government blamed, almost certainly spuriously,
on Hmong rebels.
tion and livestock. Much of Khammouane
Province and the eastern part of all the
southern provinces are mountainous.
Together, the alluvial plains and terraces of
the Mekong and its tributaries cover only
about 20% of the total land area. Only
about 4% of the total land area is classified
as arable. Forests have declined dramatically
in the last 40 years due to logging
and slash-and-burn agriculture.
With an estimated population of nearly
5.7 million, Laos is one of the most
sparsely populated countries in Asia. Natural
landmarks include the Annamite
Mountains along the border with Vietnam,
as well as the Mekong River, which
flows from China and along Laos’s border
with Thailand. About 55% of the landscape
is pristine tropical forest, sheltering
such rare and wild animals as elephants,
leopards, the Java mongoose, panthers,
gibbons, and black bears.
4 ART & ARCHITECTURE
wood and gold. A wander around Luang
Prabang is a rewarding experience if you
have an interest in Buddhist temples. They
are simply stunning.
The other element to the mix that
makes Luang Prabang and Vientiane so
beautiful is the French factor. Whether
they did it intentionally or not, the French
created beautiful buildings all over Indochina,
and Laos is no exception. In Vientiane
or Luang Prabang, these buildings
look cared for and preserved. In other less