A land of contrasts
To visit Laos in south-east Asia is to glimpse a country that's a sometimes uneasy mixture of ancient, spiritual and modern, writes Brendan Daly.
Clasping their simple chalices, they move soundlessly through the dawn. Their shaved heads slightly bowed and their saffron and burnt sienna robes piercing the half-light, around 100 bare-foot monks walk in a single-file procession through the awakening streets.
To their right, kneeling on small mats, holding round baskets and huddled in little groups along the footpath, are a few locals and lots of tourists who, as the monks pass by, pick sticky rice ...
