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.