And there is also the pleasure of using Internet telephony to talk to relatives who have gone to the capital, Vientiane, or even abroad.

And there is also the pleasure of using Internet telephony to talk to relatives who have gone to the capital, Vientiane, or even abroad.

There are also plans to extend the line into Vientiane but, given the difficulties in opening this tiny stretch of track, that could be many years off yet.

Today, Tony from the Vientiane International School in Laos asks the scientists about how long we - or our descendants - might live.

Compared to its neighbors in Southeast Asia, Laos is small, poor, and landlocked, except for the Mekong River, which flows past its capital, Vientiane.