yakovgolyadkin

You mention that you've worked as an archaeologist in Cyprus. Have you ever worked with Dr. Sarah Costello? More of a personal question than anything else. She's a former professor and good friend of mine and she's worked as an archaeologist in Cyprus, and other areas in the eastern Mediterranean for years.

I'm a college student about to be pursuing a graduate degree focusing in Laotian and Vietnamese history. Sadly I was unable to get to any of your tour locations, as I live in Houston and couldn't make the trip.

More of a general question about Laos: why is it that Laos is so poorly studied and understood in comparison to other countries in South East Asia? In my studies I've found a wealth of studies on Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, etc., but precious little on Laos. It seems that for every 500 books on Vietnam there are 50 on Cambodia and maybe 1 on Laos. Is there something about the culture or the country that makes foreign study difficult there?

Additionally, as someone who is planning on spending a great deal of my life in the region, what are things that a foreigner with no understanding of the language and an inadequate knowledge of the culture do to help both survivors and with demining and other such campaigns?