Blogs from West, Laos, Asia - page 362

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Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane December 9th 2005

It's the people that you meet when you're walking down the street ... ... in you're neighbourhood! This was it for three days. The people ... comprise market stall owners, passers-by and some children (playing in the dirt street-side) a mother and baby! Some will smile for the camera. Some say no to photos ... Lasting images of Vientiane include ... * tuk tuks * bananas * french colonial influences * temples * busy streetscapes Farewell to the capital and on to the old capital Luang Prabang!... read more
Market seller - talat sao, Vientiane
Street kids, Vientiane
Mother and child, Vientiane

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang December 9th 2005

Tourist town with charm Luang Prabang, the former capital of Laos, is one with many beautiful architectural and cultural features. The French influence not withstanding, there are many temples here and respect for religion and art. Temples line the main streets and are locations of gilded adoration (of Buddha) as well as being the hub of each neighbourhood. Around this hub, the religious and social activities of the associated area are centred. Much beautiful decoration is evident here as well. Monks are all male, dressed in saffron-coloured robes and are varied in age from perhaps primary school to very old. I have been careful about my contact with them as a sign of respect. No touching. No direct eye-contact. However, if they approach - and a couple have, it is an opportunity for conversation and learning. ... read more
Temple from inside 2
Temple art
Temple art 2

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane December 8th 2005

Life as I know it, Vientiane I am preoccupied with life and how it is lived in other places. So what follows are shots of shops! Yes a shopper to the core - 'cept that what I did here was window-shop. In fact, photo shoot is what I did - did not even cross the threshhold of most. First frames are from shops on the way to the cooking course ... "les commercants de la rue"! ... read more
Morning markets -  meat!
Shop scene
Shop scene 2

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang December 8th 2005

We met Jane & Adrian for breakfast at the lovely Luang Prabang bakery (good chocolate danishes but not as good as Vientiane's!). Then headed up Fousi mountain to see what we could see. It cost us 10,000 kip ($1) each which seemed steep but there were loads of things up there. Namely, a couple of wats, a buddha cave, buddha's foot print, many buddha statues including cross-eyed & fat-bellied. Unfortunately, there were also 2 stump-tailed macaques tied to some tree branches, for some unknown purpose. On our return to the main thoroughfare we decide to arrange a trip to the nearby waterfalls. This involved very amusing haggling between Luke, Ade & a minivan driver that ended up with us paying a "Special shhhhh secret price" where we couldn't tell anyone else on the trip how much ... read more

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane December 8th 2005

Buying food at the morning markets The photos that follow are of stands within the marketplace. All under one roof, the stands were lit by bulbs strung along overhead. In some places you needed to stoop under the roof. In others you could stand tall. The ingredients were available from stalls that specialised in different items. So some just sold bananas, others chickens (plucked, cleaned and ready for the kitchen cleaver) or chicken meat in various cuts, pork meat, beef, spices and curry pastes went together, vegetables and herbs together, and of course dry goods together - rice stalls (various varieties sold from the sack), noodles and packaged goods ... eg their coconut milk came from an UHT pack! ... read more
Undercover market2
Undercover market 3

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane December 7th 2005

A day for chilling out, and soaking up Lao, its food and activities. It started out with a tuk tuk ride to Thongbay Guest house - a traditional Lao style home. This is where the one of the cooking courses was on offer. 'licious Lao lunch There were three of us in the class, a couple from the UK and me. We started out by choosing the menu: spring rolls, Laap chicken, and chicken curry. Then to the market we went. (have photos - will show in other entry need - to burn to CD etc). It was a morning market and at 10 am we were after the rush, so it was easy to pass through the aisles of food. Stalls specialising in bananas, or curry paste and other condiments, meat stalls (like you would ... read more

Asia » Laos » West » Vang Vieng December 7th 2005

The journey from Vang Vieng to Luang Prabang passes through some beautiful scenery. It winds up & down hills, passed mist covered & jagged karst peaks. There are lots of Hmong people in their traditional brightly-coloured attire with zillions of babies strapped to backs. Their stilt houses built right by the road & hanging over the cliff edges. On arrival, we discovered that Luang Prabang, being easily accessible by plane, is full of tourists. This meant a trek around the hostels to find a decent room. Luckily we found Chittana up a little lane & bagged ourselves a decent double for $4 a night (we had seen some grotty ones for $7). Our guesthouse was promptly filled & we heard several people enquire, including one trying to negotiate the cost of the one available room at ... read more

Asia » Laos » West » Luang Prabang December 7th 2005

Sorry about our lack of communication over the last little while. Tara and I have spent the last 15 days in Laos and absolutely loved it! We would have stayed a lot longer if our visas hadn’t expired which meant we had to head into Cambodia. Laos was a dream country to visit; one of those places that you don’t really believe still exists in the world. Beautiful people, beautiful scenery and wonderful traveling companions made this one of the best experiences we could have ever asked for. I just wanted to let people know that we are still around and the details of our latest adventure will be posted shortly. Meanwhile, I have added some more pictures to our gallery…sabadee! ... read more

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane December 7th 2005

Now my second day over the border to Laos. Since you last heard from me I've spent two sleepy, rainy days in Krabi with Rikard and Lisette, then escaping up north to Bangkok. Amazed by what unexpected things an unplaned day alone in Bangkok could bring. I had a great time! I thought I'd just float along, trying to let the environment lead me and I never got very far without beeing caught up in something... I made friends with some locals and had a free breakfast since they were celebrating their Kings birthday, or more correctly they were celebrating the days before it! They really are fanatatic about their royal family. I made a little dirty deal i must tell you about... I met two frensh and one thai guy visiting a few temples. They ... read more

Asia » Laos » West » Vientiane December 6th 2005

French influences More delights of Vientiane began with breakfast. The French influence is not well regarded if you believe the way the national museum presents history. However, for some (moi) the benefits can be seen in much more hedonistic passtimes ... delicate, croissants that melt in your mouth ... a pastry so thin that one is not enough, and two with two cafe lattes made from Lao coffee was a scrumptious start to the day ... Got into organisation mode, arranging courses and making ... yes ... plans! Ended up with more footslogging first thing - shops, and national musuem to bone up on the history of Lao. It seems there have been many who have invaded this country, from the people of Siam, to French colonists and lest we forget those imperialist Americans. No wonder ... read more
Vientiane streets
Vientiane streets (2)
Ciew from the inside of a tuk tuk




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