When Dervla Murphy mentioned that Laos was to be her next destination, most people looked a little puzzled. For this country hardly ever hits the headlines, although its small population played a significant part during the Secret War (the covert operation carried out by the US, running parallel to the Vietnam War). In 1975, at the end of the Vietnam War, a Communist government took over and tourists were excluded until 1990 - not that many had ever put Laos on their itinerary. Dervla's plans to trek though the high mountains, far from the country's few motor roads, soon run into complications, for which a variety of explanations are given, both comic and sinister. After injuring her foot she buys a Thai-manufactured bicycle, which purchase spawns new complications and a few hazards in the mountainous provinces of Xam Nuea and Xieng Khouang. However, the machine proves useful as a bag carrier while Dervla goes on her one-footed way. Frustrated trekking plans, torn ligaments and a defective bicycle might, in any other country, induce gloom and despondency. Not so in Laos, where the people more than compensate for everything that goes wrong. Kindly, gentle and welcoming, Dervla finds their laid-back nature infectious. However, Laos is no Shangri-La. The persisting problems bequeathed by its recent past are tragic and other problems loom, threatening its immediate future. Dervla leaves Laos in a melancholy mood, but grateful for having been privileged to glimpse a unique culture on the verge of extinction.