Beerlao also comes in glass bottles for a standard US$0.35 to US$0.45 for a 630mL bottle (prices can be much higher in tourist hotels or restaurants). Look for the tiger's head on the label.

A smaller 330mL Beerlao is also available in bottles or cans. Heineken and Tiger beer from Singapore come in 330mL cans, costing the same as a 660mL bottle of Beerlao.

In the northern provinces bordering China, various Chinese brands of beer are available - these generally cost about 40% less than Beerlao (but are about 80% less drinkable!).

Distilled Spirits

Rice whisky (lao-lao) is a popular drink among lowland Lao. The best kinds of 111O-lao, are said to come from Phongsali and Don Khong, the northern and southern extremes of the country, but are available virtually everywhere, at around US$0.15 to US$0.30 per 750mL bottle.

Strictly speaking, lao-lao is not legal but no-one seems to care. The government distils its own brand, Sticky Rice, which costs around US$I a bottle.

Lao-lao is usually drunk neat, with a plain water chaser. In a Lao home the pouring and drinking of lao-lao at the evening meal takes on ritual characteristics. Usually towards the end of the meal, but occasionally beforehand, the hosts bring out a bottle of the stuff to treat their guests.

The usual procedure is for the host to pour one jigger of Lao onto the floor or a used dinner plate first, to appease the house spirits. The host then pours another jigger and downs it in one gulp.

Jiggers for each guest are poured in turn; guests must take at least one offered drink or risk offending the house spirits.

In rural provinces, a weaker version of lao-lao known as lao-hai (jar liquor) is fermented by households or villages.

Lao-hai is usually drunk from a communal jar using long reed straws. It's not always safe to drink, however, since unbolted water is often added to it during and after the fermentation process. Tourist hotel bars in the larger cities carry the standard variety of liquors.

Wine

In Vientiane there are decent French and Italian wines abundantly available at restaurants, in shops specializing in imported foods and in a few shops which sell nothing but wine.

You will also find a limited selection in Luang Probang, Savannakhet and Pakse. Wines of Australian . American, South African, Chilean and other origins are so far sadly neglected.

Whatever the origin, wines in Laos are much less expensive than in neighboring Thailand be cause the import tax is much lower.

Luang Prabang is famous for a type of light rice wine called khao kam, a red tinted, somewhat sweet beverage made from sticky rice. It can be quite tasty when properly prepared and stored, but rather moldy-tasting if not.