Laos is a naturally beautiful country with nearly three quarters of its land uninhabited mountains and forested hills, and it is home to the Khone Papeng, Southeast Asia’s largest (and spectacular) waterfall. The word Laos means "land of a million elephants", and the Asian elephant is the national animal. Along with elephants, tigers, leopards, rhinos, and sun bears are also native animals.  Despite being the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia, Laos enjoys the many gifts of the Mekong river which downs the western border with Thailand and creates thousands of little islands as it branches into small rivers and flows through the country. Laos is one of the few remaining communist states in the world (there is a nationwide midnight curfew), and one of the most ethnically diverse (over 150 ethnic groups made up of low-landers, up-landers, and high-landers) nations in mainland Southeast Asia. The staple food in Laos is sticky rice (yum!), in fact they eat more sticky rice than anywhere else in the world, and it is known for its fabulous coffee - traditionally served in plastic bags!. Laotian is the main language spoken in Laos, the second main language is French, owing to French occupation from 1893-1953, and it is still taught at schools today. 

The ancient city of Luang Prabang is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and one of the spiritual centres of Laos, with a many monasteries and temples. Tak Bat (alms giving) is a daily religious tradition in the town, where monks walk down the street in total silence to collect food and other offerings from local people.

Theravada Buddhism is the dominant religion in Laos. There are over 22,000 monks living there, and around 5000 temples/monasteries. Laos has one of the world's highest concentrations of monks found anywhere in the world.

Satsana Phi (religion of the spirits), is the traditional indigenous religion of Laos. A complex belief system, it has many unique Gods and deities and ascribes spirits to inanimate objects (animism). Satsana Phi also includes Hindu, Indra & the Trimurti (Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva) and ancestor worship. Festivals and ‘spirit houses’, provide opportunities for worship which  is said to assist with balance between the natural and supernatural worlds.