Well, we arrived here on a very quick decision to leave Vang Vieng. Because the roads, we were told, were horrid, we took a chance on a minibus that was about to leave almost immediately as it held only a lone driver and us. We had heard stories of people throwing up and did not wish to be involved. The road was not that bad, we do come from New Zealand, so it was a surprise to find the road so well sign-posted before s-bends and the like. I thought it would be much worse. There were some major pot-holes [View Full Entry]

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Hi all! Welcome to our continuing journey...Moving on from Luang Farang we headed to Phonsavan to check out the mysterious Plain of Jars by public bus, If you've read prior entries you will know that buses are usually adventures in and of themselves. The highlights of this particular journey were a stop in a small village where a walk through one of the kitchens revealed the lunch fare- including monkeys and monitor lizrds. Needless to say we were thrilled to have packed bread and cheese! The road was 8 hours long through about 3 million curves at approximately 1500 meters up. [View Full Entry]

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Finally out of Hanoi...I get on the plane excited for new and beautiful Lao. What's this? the stewardess is handing out arrival forms? what's this? it says visa number. I grab my Laos Lonely planet. Sure thing. You need a visa to get into Laos and you're supposed to apply for it in advance. My heart is pounding, my hands are sweaty. I contemplate trying to explain to the stewardess the situation but decide against it. I rationalize that the worst thing that can happen is A) they send me back to Vietnam B) make me take a flight somewhere [View Full Entry]

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Okay, so I never was the best at saying grace - but only now do I really, really understand how lucky we are to have food - and water - so readily available - with so little effort. Unlike Chiang Mai which is incredibly touristy and now almost farcical, with traditional villagers now westernised and ‘play-acting’ their old roles, we had heard that Laos was a lot less developed, less changed, and much more ‘authentic’. We had originally hope to travel to the North, more remote parts of Laos, like Muong Sing, to really get a flavour of how Laotian hill [View Full Entry]

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We've been in Lao for over a week now! From the moment we arrived over the boarder from Thailand we have loved it. It's true what they say about it being like Thailand before it got too touristy. For those of you with poor geography, Laos is a land locked country, but has lots of rivers including a big stretch of the Mekong. On the way to Loas we had to stop off in Khon Kaen (6 hours by train) to get our Vietnam visa (two BORING days). Then we travelled up to Nong Khai (another 5 hours on the coach). [View Full Entry]

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Part 11 February 1 Luang Prabang I think you can develop a tendency in writing to seek to entertain, even if that means leaving aside some of the truth. But a blog seems like it should be more of real time reporting than an edited essay of highlights. While it seems like travel should be full of only the most pleasant times, at least for me, there are times when my innate characteristics get in the way of enjoying some of the special opportunities we are so lucky to have. One of the most predictable challenges for me is the transition [View Full Entry]

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Since we left you, we’ve found our favourite city so far - and had some amazing, humbling experiences in the process. With Lonely Planet describing Luang Prabang (LP) as a ‘jewel...preening herself’ and as a ‘gem’ we new it had to be pretty good. It was great. Not (yet) as touristy or developed Laos moves at a much slower, more relaxed pace than its neighbours. You are hassled less by people trying to sell you things you don’t want, there is less traffic, noise, smells, and more time to relax and enjoy yourselves. There is so much to tell you a [View Full Entry]

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We loved Luang Prabang and were reluctant to leave after a few relaxing days. It comes a close runner up to Chiang Mai on our list of favourites. Laos is so beautiful with its stunning hills with limestone peaks. Gorgeous and much of it untouched. We've tried to spend as much time as possible doing things in the outdoors, and the weather is flawless. Cool mornings and evenings, but hot days. Our last 2 days in Luang Prabang we spent at a gorgeous waterfall 30km's from town called Kuang Si Falls. We took a taxi there- the ones i've mentioned earlier [View Full Entry]

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You'll have to bear with me. Just one moment while I rant about the front page of this website. It lists many different entries from various points around the globe. Some are really interesting and others rather mundane. But today there is an old posting from New Zealand. You may remember our trip to NZ which was marked by frequent and troubling rain. There was also a paucity of marine life as we missed seeing both penguins and whales. So today there is a posting with pictures of the penguins which we did not see. These are exceedingly rare so [View Full Entry]

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Part 10 January 28 Huay Xai The adventure begins, or actually hits its stride as we enter Lao (no one here uses the 's' as this was only added by the French). Along with about 100 other assorted travelers, which is quickly becoming 120 as they pack more and more on this 100 foot long, 10 foot wide boat, built with 40 closely cramped wooden benches made for 2, and now another 30 or so plastic chairs in the aisle, and another bunch sitting on the floor. This is the slowboat tour down the Mekong River to Luang Prabang, slated as [View Full Entry]

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