Aaron's Worldwide Adventures
Deep in the forests of southern Laos, a place where few travelers venture, lies an ancient relic. A relic that is instantly recognizable as the work of the Khmer Empire, who ruled over much of Southeast Asia during the Middle Ages. They left behind some very impressive religious sites, the most famous of which is Angkor Wat […]
Peak travel periods tend to be based around weather. People head to Southeast Asia in the fall and winter because it’s the dry season. Chances are you’ll have better vistas and sunnier weather, but have to deal with hefty crowds. Traveling during the off-season (in the case of Southeast Asia, the monsoon season) can be […]
After nearly two weeks of mostly doing things the “tourist” way in Laos, I was determined to get myself to Thailand the “real” way. There were plenty of opportunities in Pakse for VIP buses that went all the way to Bangkok, but I wanted nothing of that. My plan? Catch local transport to the Thai-Lao […]
I’ve always had a stigma about returning to places I’ve already been to and Laos, to some extent, reinforces that point. My 10 days in Laos 3.5 years ago were some of the most memorable moments of my previous 5 months in Southeast Asia, hence my desire to return. I loved Laos, and I still […]
I don’t even know how I can begin to sum up just how wonderful the past few days have felt, as I got some well needed rest & relaxation. In Lonely Planet’s description of Si Phan Don (literally, 4,000 islands), they say that there must be some rule that the further south in Laos you […]
Greetings from a very small, sleepy river town called Champasak. I’ve covered a heck of a lot of ground in the last 12 hours, which you can see on the map on my homepage! Last night, of course, I was in Vientiane, about 850km to the north, where I boarded my so-called “VIP Sleeper Bus.” […]
Sunday began as a rainy day in Vientiane, a rarity in what has otherwise been a drought-laden dry season (so much so that the slow boats I took three years ago are not running due to low water levels in the Mekong). The rain was short lived though and soon gave way to sunshine and […]
It was a hot, hot day in Vientiane, the not-so-bustling Lao capital, as my new Aussie friend and I set out to explore the town by foot. Our new Japanese friend had to do a “visa run” across the border to Thailand (as in his stay in Lao was about to expire, so he simply, […]