Since visitors today still find Hanoi shabby with the lingering odor of soviets, it's interesting to read that in all of Vietnam, Downie found the appearance of this city transformed the most in the span of a few years. The wood-fueled buses disappeared, private cars and shops multiplied, outdoor lights were installed, and clothes became brighter and more fashionable.
* A wayward Marxist state of mind
It’s still a terrific country for tourists. Laotians are chatty and relaxed, with neither the rapacity of the Vietnamese nor the trip-wire tempers of the Cambodians.
Perhaps inspired by the American journalist Bob Woodward, Kremmer claims to have extracted the fatal details from a Pathet Lao cadre during a fantastic meeting deep in the heart of the Lao gulag. For anyone familiar with Laos, the telecommunications and logistics required for such a meeting are inconceivable.
Susan J Cunningham 