Lao Bảo is a small town in Hướng Hóa District of Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam, located in the North Central Coast region, near the border with Laos. Its population is approximately 30,000. Lao Bảo is the last Vietnamese town on National Route 9, which runs westwards from Dong Ha near the Vietnamese coast over the Annamite Range into Laos. The road was constructed in 1930 by the French colonial administration to connect the towns along the Mekong River to the Vietnamese coast.