Blogs from Vang Vieng, West, Laos, Asia

Laotian food is really something special, sure in most countries you could go out for dinner and a show. However, when you step into Laos, the Dinner is the show. Performance plays a big role in Laotian cuisine. You’ll likely find a spectacle in every Laotian market, from reckless rolled icecreams to expertly carved fruit, But there’s one show you simply can’t miss, and its performed by the Superheroes of Vangieng, The Sandwich Ladies. It really doesn’t take long to spot the Sandwhich ladies, Their stalls are everywhere around Vang Vieng. All with the same menu and prices, they stand ready from dusk to dawn behind a giant hotplate, the main stage for their creations. It’s a sandwich fairly similar to their own Laotian Bahn Mi called Khao Jee Pate, but customized to fit a pallet ... read more

When the buffaloes fight, it is the grass that suffers… ~ Lao Proverb HE SAID... Today we were travelling south from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. After bearing witness to monks collecting alms from devotees (and non-devoted tourists) in the old city centre of Luang Prabang, we made our way back to Hotel Legend in pre-dawn darkness to finalise our packs and prepare for a gruelling seven hour road trip to Vang Vieng. We settled in the hotel’s dining area around 7am, where I enjoyed a reasonably simple breakfast of muesli, omelette, tea, toast and jam, along with a couple of glasses of the ubiquitous orange cordial that is a steadfast component of every Thai and Laos breakfast buffet. After a quick trip in a songthaew (a converted pick-up truck with benches down either side) to ... read more

October 9 – Our alarms were set for 5am today so we could get to the giving of alms for the monks that takes place between 5:30-6:00am every day. The monks leave the monastery and collect rice from people on the streets that have come to donate, which is traditional in Buddhist culture. We did not participate but watched from the other side of the road to be respectful, unlike some tourists who were right up in their faces taking pictures in shorts and tank tops. We met a med student from a nearby village called Villi who wanted to practice his English with us. He was very nice and showed us a video with a light festival and boat race that is happening next week. It looks very cool but we won’t be able to ... read more

No worries about the kayaking. A few little rapids made it a teensy bit exciting as we followed the guide. Nothing like white water rafting. I only got splashed at the front a couple of times and we ran aground once avoiding the long tail boats coming flat out up river towards us. The scenery was spectacular with the vertical limestone Karst mountains rising vertically on one side of us and lush green bush on the other. We passed two or three large Hotel construction sites on the way down to cater for the rapidly increasing tourist trade from China and South Korea. Occasionally we were accompanied by groups of young backpackers who went much faster than us, leapt in the water, or fell out, or who were chilled out ‘tubing’ with the flow. There was ... read more

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "neglected tropical diseases" (or NTDs) refers to a diverse group of communicable diseases that are prevalent in tropical and subtropical conditions and affect over one billion people annually, often in the most underdeveloped regions of the world. The term "neglected" is used to differentiate these diseases from the three communicable diseases that typically receive a much greater portion of international research and treatment funding: HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria. While there is neither a precise nor exhaustive list of all neglected tropical diseases, as of 2017 the WHO had prioritized twenty such diseases: Buruli ulcers, Chagas disease, dengue and chikungunya, dracunculiasis, echinococcosis, yaws, foodborne trematodes, African trypanosomiasis, leischmaniasis, leprosy, lympathic filariasis, onchocerciasis ("river blindness"), rabi... read more