Laos

One hundred years ago, French explorer Marthe Bassenne forged a path for solo female travellers in Indochina. Inspired by her diary, Susie Stubbs retraces her steps.

"You alone?" asked the owner of the guesthouse as I checked in. I nodded. "You no friends?" I shook my head. "You no husband?" I shrugged my shoulders and spread my hands in a gesture of helplessness. For the rest of my stay, this matriarch gave me a cuddle and a home-baked coconut cake every time we met, clearly pitying me as a lonely "falang" tourist.
Travelling through Laos, prying questions and genuine curiosity are the greatest irritants a female traveller is likely to encounter. One of Indochina's least developed countries and still - just about - off the beaten track, Laos' incredible landscape and friendly populace offer a balance of adventure and good company, making it a perfect destination for women adventurers.

And long has it been so ... in 1909, Frenchwoman Marthe Bassenne, the wife of a colonial doctor, kept a diary of her adventures - In Laos and Siam - as she travelled north from the capital Vientiane and across into Thailand. The ruggedly beautiful country she found was, she wrote, "the refuge of the last dreamers, the last loved ones, the last troubadours". Almost 100 years on, I set out in her footsteps to discover whether Laos was still as entrancing - and as welcoming to female travellers.

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