The American-sponsored invasion of Laos last February was ostensibly directed at cutting off the main supply route from North to South Vietnam--the Ho Chi Minh Trail. For years before the invasion the United States had engaged in extensive bombing of the trail; enough bombs have been dropped on it to have rendered the entire U.S. Interstate Highway System impassable, yet the trail has survived.

What is it that makes the Ho Chi Minh Trail so durable? Is it the superior quality of North Vietnamese tarmac? The answer is much simpler--there is no Ho Chi Minh Trail. The name itself was invented by Americans. The Ho Chi Minh Trail is not a trail, but rather an area not under American control; and that area is called Laos.

Vientiane, the administrative capital of Laos, is a small, tired city of 130,000 people. Three main streets, each with about 10 shops, run through the town. It is a city with little in the way of grandeur, having been the furthest, last, and least developed outpost of French colonialism.

Dominating the northern half of the city is a 200-ft. high copy of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. It is slightly orientalized, and built out of American concrete. The original name or it was the Monument to Victory, however this title was dropped several years ago for the present one: Monument to the Dead.

About a fifth of the land area of Vientiane is taken up by what is called the USAID compound--the center of operations for the United States Agency for International Dement in Laos. All American aid to Laos--military or otherwise--comes under the title of USAID, due to the 1962 Geneva Agreement which forbids all foreign troops and advisors, instructors, and foreign civilians "connected with the supply of war materials."

In defiance of the Agreement, large numbers of Chinese Nationalist troops supported by the United States remained after 1962, along with Thai and South Vietnamese troops. The CIA, whose active participation in fighting the Communist forces of the Pathet Lao is barely disguised, now goes under the name USAID Annex.

Other evidence of the CIA presence is also given by Air America, nominally a private company which contracts solely with the CIA. Air America has its own private air strip in Vientiane and its own pilots, many of whom were former officers in the U.S. Air Force who have resigned their commissions for the duration of their stay in Laos.

Air American is primarily involved in flying supplies to the CIA's guerilla army, the Clandestine Army of Meo tribesmen led by General Vang Pao. Recently, due to expanded CIA operations, Continental Air Services, a division of Continental Airways, has also been flying supplies for the CIA.

Besides its military functions, Air American also comes in handy to those who want to travel cheaply. Travel in Laos cannot be done by land. Almost all of the countryside is under the control of the Pathet Lao or in question, and thus not safe to travel in for anyone with as questionable attributes as white skin, no knowledge of Lao, and a passport issued by the United States or one of its allies.

The United States and its ally, the Royal Lao Government headed by Prince Souvanna Phouma, control about six cities, including Vientiane (which is officially neutral), Luang Prabang, the royal capital, and several small "strategic hamlets." The rest of the country, or about 98 per cent of the area, is subject to continual bombardment from U.S. jets.

The only way to travel between the enclaves of American control is to fly. There are two airlines that link the cities of Laos--Royal Air Lao and Air America. Via Royal Air Lao the 150-mile flight between Vientiane and Luang Prabang, on a DC-3, costs about five dollars. On Air America it is free, if you are a persuasive and persistent hitchhiker. I was lucky enough to get on one of Air America's cargo planes going to Luang Prabang. The plane was stuffed full of crates and peasant refugees, being readied for resettlement in "strategic hamlets."

Summer nights in Vientiane before the monsoon comes are hot and muggy and seem to drag on forever. After 8 p.m. bored Westerners and occasional wealthy Laotians congregate in one of the city's small bars, the most notable of which is White Rose's. With only about ten small tables, White Rose plays host to male refugees from America's involvement in Laos--USAID workers. Air America pilots, correspondents from the American press, eleventh-hour French and U.S. businessmen.

People drink imported beer, smoke tobacco and grass-which is legal in Laos--and fondle girls provided by White Rose. The girls are often Thai and Vietnamese, considered to be more aggressive than Laotians.

For the price of a beer a girl is yours to fondle without restraint. For another 200 kip--about 40 cents--she will take off all her clothes, sit beside you, or jump on top of you at your urging.

Yet another 200 kip and she will put on the show that is the favoritie of the crowds that come to White Rose's. She will light a cigarette and insert it in her vagina. With her legs spread in front of you she will contract her muscles and repeatly draw the cigarette in and out. For each addition 50 kip you give her she will insert another cigarette. The maximum is seven cigarettes at a time.