By the time yesterday morning rolled around, I was so sick and tired of Vang Vieng I wanted to get the hell out of there pronto! Unfortunately, sleeping was one of my priorities, having had several sleepless nights in the past few days, so I slept past the first bus departure of the day. The […]
Category: Laos
I awoke this morning ready to do the one thing you simply have to do in Vang Vieng…tube down the Song River. This simple act has reached legendary status as one of the must do activities on the Southeast Asian backpacking circuit, and, though I’m no fan of Vang Vieng, I might as well try […]
Well, I can’t say that I wasn’t warned. L0nely Planet flat-out states it in their text. Vang Vieng is, at best, backpacker hell! A small little town that seems to exist solely for tourism and nothing else. So what is to draw people here, you may ask? Well, the surrounding karst scenery. But unlike Yangshuo, […]
Luang Prabang holds a special place in my heart. Aside from my adventures in road travel (that involved 3 songthaews, a boat and a collapsed bridge), it was the highlight of my last trip to Laos and for good reason. I have some great memories of this place, ranging from the fantastic French bakery where […]
This was the day that would never end. It began early in Luang Nam Tha, as I arose at 7:15 this morning, hell bent on getting a bus ticket to Luang Prabang. Of course, the bus station was now 6km from town, essentially forcing you to buy a ticket through an agency (one must wonder […]
Greetings from the serene world that is the Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR, or Laos as it’s most commonly known!). This is my first time returning to a place I’ve already been to and I must say, it’s quite bizarre. I only have vague memories of my days spent in Luang Nam Tha (Lou-ang […]
Wow, I can’t believe my time in Laos is coming to an end! It’s felt like so much longer than 10 days! You know, most of the other backpackers I’ve encountered were doing large trips of the whole region over a span of several months (did I tell you about the Swiss couple who was […]
As charming as Luang Prabang is, I do have one major complaint–the tourists. Or for that matter the fact that it’s a tourist-oriented city. For most people here, all they see us for is money, and sellers constantly hound you to buy stuff! For example, during the span of my dinner last night, 10 little […]