Blogs from Laos, Asia - page 548

As I made my north through Thailand, I pondered the numerous travelers that had raved about Laos, and decided to change my itinary and push on to Laos. However, as Laos is not reknowed for its transportation infrastructure, leaving Chiang Mai by minivan was merely the beginning of a long trek to get to Luang Prabang in Laos. In Chiang Mai, I was picked up by a minivan, with the events immediately following leaving me with a certain sense of foreboding about the upcoming ride. Right after being picked up, the young women sitting next to me worked herself into quite an elaborate tantrum when the driver asked her to close the window in a way that wasn't polite enough for her tastes, however, the driver wasn't rude, he just spoke broken English. As I sat ... read more

The journey from North to South went a lot quicker than planned. We stopped briefly in Vientiene, didn't think much of the city considering it was the capital, and made a dash for it south. We ended up here for a couple of days to check out the Ankor period ruins of Wat Phu Champasak. ... read more

Hello my Furry Fans, What a painfully dramatic title, eh? Not to worry though, the insurance should cover it and, as you will see in the below it proved for some good comment fillers. Indeed, this blog is a little lacking in terms of my incredible comedic wit and is really just to update those that care. I'm sorry that i have'nt published a blog in so long, but regretably we've been in the sicks/traveling or some other problem that has prevented such a possibility. We have now finished our time in Thabom and have commenced our traveling. To conclude our time there was truly worthwhile because while it wasn't crazy partying we really saw a deep insight into North Eastern Thai culture. At this poist your probably thinking you've heard it all before, but not ... read more

SAVANNAKHET.....2t GROESSTE STADT LAO'S.....MIT BEEINDRUCKENDEM HINTERLAND! die 120tausend einwohner, die sich aus ethnischen lao, vietnamesen und chinesen zusammensetzt, gehen es genauso gemaehchlich an wie ueberall in laos. die stadt wiederum ist gepraegt von franzoesischer kolonialarchitektur, gemischt mit vietnam style. das sieht manchmal so aus wie in einer westernstadt! auch savan' liegt direkt am mekong und wir beobachten daher dasselbe flussleben wie in vientiane oder thakhek. vormittags herrscht meist eine gewisse geschaeftigkeit in der stadt, gegen mittag wird's ruhig. die hitze, die von tag zu tag das quecksilber der thermometer hoeher steigen laesst, fordert ihren tribut. das ohnehin schon langsame land bremst sich noch mal um eine stufe ein, alle warten auf die daemmerung. auch die stechbegierigen moskitos, fuer welche der sonnenuntergang ein geheimer wecker sein muss,... read more

The Plain of Jars is named after the large stone "jars" that are scattered over the countryside. A bit of a Laos stonehenge, its not exactly clear what hey were used for. The area was heavily bombed by the US in the 60's & 70's and there is still loads of unexploded bombs found in the ground. The area around the jars had been partially cleared but we had to stick to the main footpaths. ... read more