TRAVEL WATCH Laos Unplugged While the big time is a long way off, the little things make Laos a great place to visit Detour Green Island is a sparkling paradise, a volcanic island where the sea is always blue and the weather sunny and warm Web Crawling A website of visitors' tales that offer a varied perspective on the local travel experience

LAOS TRAVEL
(www.visit-laos.com)

SITE INSIGHT The official site of the National Tourism Authority of Lao, this should be every traveler's first stop. You can find all you need to know about visas, entry regulations and other requirements, as well as information on festivals and events plus some handy language tips. The website includes links to a good selection of visitors' tales that offer a varied perspective on the local travel experience.

LAOS NET
(www.savannanet.com)

VIRTUAL LAOS With links to Laotian MP3s, audio files of Lao phrases and hundreds of pages of pictures and tips on traveling around the country, this is one of the most comprehensive sources of info on Southeast Asia's only landlocked country. The site outlines Laos' ancient history and devotes extended sections to the country's French and American influences. One glaring omission: there's no mention of the lack of religious and personal freedom under the communist regime.