Every guide book we've read lists Loei as a concrete wasteland; a town of no significance not worth a second glance. Julija wanted to see it anyway, mainly because of the Chateau de Loei Winery, which is one of the only established wineries in SE Asia. I was immediately proud of myself for negotiating a 30B tuk-tuk ride to our guesthouse, an unheard-of fair for such a distance. Our guesthouse, Sugar GH, was charming and clean, run by an attractive young Thai girl, who our soon-to-be friend, Seth, from Alaska, became enamored with. We took a nice walk around town and [View Full Entry]

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The Chinese new year was fast approaching and one resolution the people of the East make every year is to de-clutter. I think these last two years I may be taking this custom a little too seriously as after clearing away my property, car, stuff and now internal body clutter I felt it was time for me to de fragment and empty my muttering mind with a seven day consciousness enema. I found an organisation that seems to be right up my street, it is called The Middle Way they practice a form of Buddhism I had never heard of before, [View Full Entry]

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Loei is a provincial cow town. In the showrooms on the access road coming into Loei, there are only a few more mopeds and pickup trucks on display as tractors and roto-tillers. Mine is among the few Western faces in town others have seen. When passing in front of a high school schoolyard for boys, they point at me with index fingers extended, “Farang, farang!” Stares around town are commonplace. I feel like the featured caged zoo animal of the month at Busch Gardens. When I arrived by tuk-tuk at my guesthouse, I asked the proprietress if she had a room. [View Full Entry]

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