Laos

After his family fled Laos for America, Yia Vang was at first embarrassed by his family's home cooking. Then he learned to embrace it, and found that many others were willing to do the same.

A new book by Joshua Kurlantzick examines how the U.S. involvement in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s transformed the CIA from an intelligence-gathering organization into a war-fighting one.

Laos is in the interesting position of remaining aligned with the increasingly-shut out North Korea and forging closer ties with South Korea and the U.S.

In a historic visit, the president pledges to double funding to clear the many unexploded bombs that are leftovers from the Vietnam War.

North Korean karaoke videos in the background, decent food and a free copy of the works of Kim Il Sung: a dispatch from inside one of Pyongyang's currency-making outposts.

In a historic step towards rebuilding relations with the poor, heavily-bombed nation, the president will join other world leaders there, after wrapping another big global meeting in Hangzhou, China.

That's the nickname for a Laotian man named Manophet. He died from a brain clot five years ago, but his spirit lives on. As one kid puts it, "I should learn, I should try. I love Lone Buffalo."