Luang Prabang, 22-03-2008. I feel sweaty, I feel like a fried tomato but walk the 5 km. to Wat Santi Chedi. Some sort of local ceremony is in full swing so I respectfully keep my distance wandering around the grounds of the wat and the wat being on a hill, admiring the views. My respect for the local ceremony pays off when some people come over and offer me free noodle soup and cups full with some greenish looking liquid mixed with cubes of ice. Good tatste actually!!! [View Full Entry]

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Luang Prabang, 23-03-2008. I start my climb up to the 100 m. high hill where Wat Phu Si is located, by first visting Wat Pa Huak. The murals and mosaic facades inside Wat Pa Huak are impressive and colorfull but I'm desperate to get to the top, see Wat Phu Si so I give them less attention than they deserve. Even though I'm dressed in long jeans and a shirt with long sleeves - the locals don't really appreciate us farangs inside their Buddha temples dressed in shorts and singlets - , there's hardly any persperation on my body when I [View Full Entry]

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Luang Prabang, 24-03-2008. I walk the two km. to Ban Talat Phosy, mostly to see the chinese market that my Lonely Travel guide tells me is there. The difference between Luang Prabang and Ban Talat Phosy is startling. The village is just down the road from Unesco's world heritage town Luang Prabang but the conditions of this tiny village are horrific. The smells of fresh and old human faeces are overwhelming, the sides of the main road are litteraly alive with rubbish - I can see big and well fed rats nearly the size of an Asian cat scurrying among this [View Full Entry]

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Vang Vieng, 26-03-2008. I enjoy the view over the river while having breakfast. Only mere meters away a herd of stray buffalos comes out of the reed beds to have an early morning drink at the river. The beautifull karst terrain is covered in mist no doubt due to the heavy rain that woke me up this morning. The white South-African born Scottish dopehead, hyperactive last night when we had dinner together with the Finnish ladies, is very tranquil and shanty-shanty this morning. From his bulging eyeballs I guess - correctly - he has been smoking pot already at this early [View Full Entry]

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Luang Prabang, 20-03-2008. Three near misses with local trucks, I gave up counting the number of broken down busses and trucks along side the road, small little hamlets glued to the mountainous karst terrain, the occasional patch of rice paddies and small piglets coming out of nowhere trying to cross the road - if they become roadkills the livelyhood of a whole family will be gone in the blink of an eye!!! From Vang Vieng the road slowly winds its way up surrounded by stunningly beautifull mountains, never mind the 257 km. trip took well over 7 hours, and then back [View Full Entry]

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Luang Prabang, 21-03-2008. Walking around Prabang centre last night, I got dragged into what apperently was the Isreali House in Luang Prabang. A bit like the Holland House during world soccer I guess. A party is in full swing, a glass with several shots of whiskey is pushed into my willing hands. Nobody is sober any more in this place, even the children look intoxicated. Everybody wants to say hello, they all wanna know where I'm from, my name, my nationality. More shots of Red Label follow and I'm getting quite drunk. I say "Lachraim" - cheers in Hebrew, the only [View Full Entry]

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Now it was that time everybody looks forward to at one point in their lives - the journey to the 'relaxed' country of Laos. This started by getting into a minibus in Chiang Mai without any seatbelts but lots of legroom. During this few hour journey, where Holly was convinced the driver was falling asleep and I started thinking about death, we stopped at a small shop in the middle of nowhere with many samples of nuts. We also stopped in a market with some women swatting away flies with butterfly nets. In retrospect, could have been catching them for farming [View Full Entry]

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He has gazed upon the slopes of Chomolungma without fear! Crossed the Sahara by camelback! He has danced with cobras in Marrakesh! The señoritas of Andalucia sign psalms of his stamina! Here, our hero is undone --- by the duplicity of a shirtless Chinaman! Read on!! PART ONE Where our hero tames the tigers of Kanchanaburi, and bridges the river Kwai. His heart pounded but our hero's hand was steady. The beast yawned archly, fangs glistening in the afternoon sun. Its yellow eyes shone with homicidal malice and canyon walls stretched dizzyingly upwards. Our hero inche [View Full Entry]

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WARNING: Long one!!! First night in Van Vieng was pretty uneventful... I ordered my meal with the girls in a restaurant where you sit on cushions and they play just Jack Johnson (I loved it) and they forgot my order after we waited for an hour. I hit the street for noodles and had to throw them out. Attempt number 3 at supper.. crepe with peanuts and chocolate. I wanted a drink to make up for my lack of supper and we ordered a bucket of moijito. It tasted like black licorice.. Went to bed early b/c we booked an [View Full Entry]

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our final morning in vientiane we trekked to the bus station to get details on a local bus instead of paying tourist rates for a vip air con bus... in the sweltering heat its not that nice wandering the streets i must say... but we found it and so had transport for a fraction of the price and a few hours to kill before departure. we had seen a poster in a cafe about an exhibition on land mines and unexploded bombs and the work thats going into helping victims of these who have had to have limbs amputated, and this [View Full Entry]

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