Blogs from North, Laos, Asia - page 28

We arrive at Muang Ngoi Neua at around lunch time. A small village set along side the Nam Ou river and at the foot hills of Mount Phaboom. There are restaurants come pubs along the river, with amazing views. We all find a place to stay, then head on for lunch and beers. On the trip we met a few more people, one Croatian who lived in South Africa for 10 years but now lives in Canada, Sasha, another couple from the UK and Ireland, a Israeli girl, a Hungarian girl and Nina, who has been with us from Sapa. While having lunch I ask the waiter where we can get some fishing line? I had bought hooks in Dien Bien Phu and was keen to fish. Chris, Sasha and I were up for fishing and ... read more

Afternoon all Just got into Laos this morning. We crossed from Chang Kong to Houa Xai and are about to set off on our Gibbons Experience tomorrow morning.We came up from Chang Mai yesterday which is about a 7hr bus journey, and not the nice kind of buses. Chang Mai itself is a very nice city i have loads of photos but they are all i cant upload them cause they are on a different format. but i hope these ones work well for you. we basically went for a trek with elephants and after that we went white water rafting which was amazing.. i think we will be looking to do that again around asia. Houa Xai was the town u cross the Thailand Laos border and its quite a small town with nothing much ... read more

Sabaai-dii - Greetings from Laos! After exerting ourselves by trekking in Chiang Mai Lee and I decided to head to Laos for some much needed relaxation time. We'd booked ourselves onto the 2 day Mekong sailing trip, and prepared ourselves for the fact that the journey probably wasn't going to be any fun. Before reaching the border crossing we spent the night at Chiang Khong, Thailand. The grim guesthouse made it straight onto the top of our Ropey Accommodation leader board with its stained walls, insect-filled bathrooms and alarming acoustics. Thank God it was only for one night as I might have had a sense of humour failure had one more insect jumped at me as I tried to shower. The Thai / Laos border crossing went fine, and I was thrilled with my needlessly elaborate ... read more

Jes, ilmastoitu nettipaikka! Olemme nyt Luang Prabangissa, (tuli viimeksi hieman vaarinkirjoitettua) joka vaikuttaa hieman travelleri ghetolta, mutta ihan viihtyisalta sellaiselta. Pari katua on aivan taynna guesthouseja ja lisaa rakennetaan koko ajan, joka paikasta kuuluu nakuttelu. Mekong virtaa kaupungin ohitse ja houkuttelee uimaan, silla taalla on hyvin kuuma. Kuitenkin jos menee lahemmaksi katselemaan vetta, uintihalut katoavat, koska se on hyvin kellertavan ruskeaa. Pohjoisemmassa nakyi auton ikkunasta ihanan kirkasvetisia jokia. Onneksi paasemme Vang Vieniin parin paivan paasta, jossa parasta on juuri ensimmaiset uintimahdollisuudet talla reissulla. Tama kaupunki on myos temppelien kaupunki! Koko kaupunki on Unescon maailmanperintolistalla nimenomaan arkkitehtuurinsa ansiosta. Etenkin temppelien arkkitehtuuri on hyvin taidokasta ja myos ranskalaistyyliset vanhat talot ovat hienoj... read more

Ahoy there my hearties!!! I was so excited about coming here because it's the gateway town to base yourself for a trek into the Nam Tha National protected area of primary jungle and home to Tigers, Various Primates, Elephant, you get the idea. So upon visiting various different trek operators to find the best trek and deal in town the whole thing started to look a little dismal. Firstly being two of only a few foreigners in town there were no groups to make up numbers to keep the cost down so for us to go into the area for a 3 day trek the cheapest was nearly $300!!! $300 here is like GBP1000 at home, second for this fee all the companies do is take you into the heart of the small southern part of ... read more