This entry was written in Luang Prabang on 19 August because there was no electricity in Sam Neua when I was there. This was a really interesting town. In order to save time I flew from Vientiane on Lao Airlines. The landing was spectacular because it's just a little airstrip in the middle of the mountains and the airplane was really small too - just 17 passengers. It was pretty exciting and much more fun than a normal commercial flight. The town itself is fascinating. Hardly any tourists come here and the ones that do are mainly passing through on their [View Full Entry]

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Oh well, perhaps I should nuance yesterday's remark on the convenience of having 15 ATMs in Vientiane and how very easy it is to get along with a VISA card. 15 ATMs? yes Are they working? not since 2 pm today, the lines are down and the fast internet cafe is down as well (so no pictures...) Moral of the story: always have some cash on you. Tomorrow I leave for Sam Neua and who knows what I'll find there in terms of internet. Hopefully it will be a pleasant surprise and some enterprising Chinese will have opened a speedy internet [View Full Entry]

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I am sitting here in the air conditioned, high speed, cheap and convenient Planet Internet right next to the fountain. So it appears that they do indeed have everything here in Vientiane. Even obnoxious and noisy Dutch tourists - there is one on either side of me and they are talking over my head really loudly. I suggested that they might like to sit together as there are empty spaces but I guess it's just so much more fun being annoying. And that is why I am going to give Vang Vieng a miss and really get away from the crowds. [View Full Entry]

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Je suis bien arrivee a Vientiane. Le vol avec Air Asia etait impeccable et puis une fois a Udon Thani j'ai pris le bus (150 baht) jusqu'au Friendship bridge ou j'ai eu un visa pour 30 jours et ensuite avec deux autres voyageurs on a partage un taxi jusqu' Vientiane. Et puis comme j'avais reve j'ai bu une biere Lao au bord du Mekong. La ville me plait enormement. C'est petite et moins chaotiaque que Bangkok. Et on y trouve tout ce qui est necessaire pour bien vivre y compris le vin de paille a 69 dollars le bouteille et au [View Full Entry]

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Went to the floating market today, c'est completement touristique mais demain je pars pour le Laos ou j'espere trouver un peu moins de touristes et un peu plus de calme. [View Full Entry]

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Everything is fine in Bangkok except that I can't find anywhere to upload my photos (lot's of the machines here are really old and slow...) and they are always the best part of any post. Anyway I've just typed in some general outline things and I'm going to continue my quest to find someplace with a fast machine. Update, I found a v v fast internet place right down the street; the only thing I still can't do is edit or crop... Today was Khao San Road (depressing and dreary) and MBK (never saw so much junk in my life). Also [View Full Entry]

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I finally arrived, the guesthouse (New Siam II) is nice and I have big room with AC and a TV. It's really much nicer than I expected. Not many photos today, just too tired. And my first impressions of Bangkok - after reading so many warnings about the heat and noise and pollution it is a pleasant surprise - the heat is not so bad and I can sleep with just the fan, also there is a breeze. My room is really quiet I can't hear anything going on elsewhere. I think things have been greatly exaggerated. As for the pollution, [View Full Entry]

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I got off to a great start by trying to take a picture of the plane before we boarded - they yelled at me. I am sure all the real spies had their cameras hidden... And then the voyage here was so long. From 8:30 am Paris time when I left for CDG until 14:30 Bangkok time when I arrived at the hotel it was 25 hours, 6 of which were spent hanging around the boring Bahrain airport. I must say I am disappointed with Gulf Air - we had a three hour delay in Bahrain and didn't even get a [View Full Entry]

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Je pars demain pour Bangkok et c'est maintenant que je demande à tous mes amis francophones de me pardonner mon très mauvais orthographe...je ne suis pas sur qu'une fois sur place j'aurai le temps de écrire et puis de faire un spellcheck avant de poster. Ma vaiise n'est pas fait, je n'arrive pas à me concentrer sur mon boulot et demain matin à 11h30 je décolle. D'abord Bahrain pour une halte de 3 heures et puis Bangkok où j'arrive le dimanche matin à 9h heure de Bangkok. So, I'm leaving tomorrow, I'm really getting excited and I definitely can't concentrate on [View Full Entry]

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This morning I went to the US Embassy here in Paris to renew my passport. It should come back to me in two weeks. A new fresh passport is an exciting thing - when it expires in ten years where will I have been? (Thailand and Laos for sure and I hope some other interesting places as well. Anyway, speaking of the US Embassy it is sad but true that in the 20 years I’ve lived in Paris they’ve really gone downhill. Does anyone remember the Marines? Used to be that they were the ones who checked you through to whatever [View Full Entry]

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