Highways
In Laos, there are 21,716 km of highway, of which 9,673.5 km are paved, leaving 12,042.5 km unpaved. Driving in Laos is on the right.
Laos has constructed a new highway connecting Savannakhet to the Vietnamese border at Lao Bao, with funding coming from the Japanese government . This has greatly facilitated travelling across Laos. This highway can now be traversed in a few hours, while in 2002 the trip took over 9 hours along a very bumpy (and scenic) route.
Laos is connected across the Mekong to Thailand by First and Second Thai-Lao Friendship Bridges. Vientiane is linked to Udon Thani using the First Friendship Bridge. The Third Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge began construction in March 2009 linking Nakhon Phanom province in northeastern Thailand and Khammouan province in Laos. It was completed on November 11, 2011.
Laos opened a highway connection to Kunming in April 2008. The Fourth Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge is under construction and is hoped to be completed by December 2012 linking Kunming to Bokeo, Laos and Chiang Rai. It will reduce the travel time to 5 hours. This is a cooperation between Thailand, China and Laos.
Read more about this topic: Transport In Laos
Famous quotes containing the word highways:
“That is the land of lost content,
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.”
—A.E. (Alfred Edward)
“That is the land of lost content
I see it shining plain,
The happy highways where I went
And cannot come again.”
—A.E. (Alfred Edward)