Scam in Laos (Bus ride from Savannakhet to Pakse) Never second-guess! We caught a bus ride from Savanakhet to Pakse. A ride that was supposed to take 4 hours (and easily could have without all the stops) turned out to be more than 6 hours. The bus driver and his business minded wife (complete with trusty clipboard) stopped constantly along the way picking up and dropping off people, parcels and other goods while other buses sped by. In particular, one stop took almost an hour at a rice refining shop where “the sidekicks” loaded the bus full of bags of rice. [View Full Entry]

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Making our way to the South of Laos On the tourist trail, certain people attempt to lock-in fat profits in particular situations. Take a busload of tourists arriving at the bus station as an example. One thing we noticed about Laos’s transportation was that drivers set a price per person instead of by vehicle. When we arrived in Vang Vieng there was only one Tuk-Tuk at the bus station. Another thing we noticed was often they wouldn’t compete. So, despite the fact that many Tuk-Tuk drivers were around, only one would be available for service. The rest would sit around and [View Full Entry]

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A broken down bus on a lonely bumpy road was something we did not want to experience knowing we had a long ways to go before arriving in Luang Prabang. When another bus pulled over we did not think twice and hopped on the bus heading to Luang Prabang. After a total of 15 hours on the road we finally made it. The journey was long, slow and windy but we had to find energy to search for a hotel in the dark with a black thunder cloud hovering above. After a long bargain to get a ride to the road [View Full Entry]

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After a few days in Huay Xai we decided to head farther North to Muang Sing. We caught the bus to Luang Namtha for 55000 Kip which climbed and twisted through jungle clad mountains. Then we changed buses to Muang Sing 30000 Kip. It was a long twisting journey that passed some beautiful jungle hills/mountains and through roadside villages. The journey to Muang Sing was a really windy gravel road through a narrow jungle mountain pass that eventually opened out onto a large flat valley. It was not the most pleasant ride with a sore back but the jungle valleys and [View Full Entry]

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Getting close to the border where the bus dropped us off we realized the tuk tuk drivers set a price for taking tourist to the boat. The pricey short tuk tuk ride took us to the boat launch. We got on the boat for another pricey fee and made across the river to Laos. Locals know how to cash in on tourist!!! When we were in Huay Xai the immigration check was in a small white building handing out visas. Geoff didn't even have to show his face to the officers and accepted his passport when I handed all the documents [View Full Entry]

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Flying back into Bangkok from Myanmar we decided to take it easy in Thailand. The rest of the time spent in Thailand was mostly relaxing, eating and sleeping. In Bangkok the large Siam Mall was pretty much our second home. We went to the mall almost everyday and spent our time at a cozy internet cafe or we went to a really nice movie theatre in the mall. We also ate at the mall's cafeteria quite often. The cafeteria was not the typical food court back in Canada but this one in Siam Mall was massive. The lay out concept resembles [View Full Entry]

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We decided to do one more morning visit before we caught the overnight bus back to Yangon. We started a little later but still managed to make it for sunrise. Our horse cart driver from the day before said his brother will take us around instead, which was fine by us. Nice of him to share the wealth. In the end we were glad as he chose some really beautiful places to take us. We went to the same temple in the morning as the day before so afterword I pointed on my map from the guide book that we'd like [View Full Entry]

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From Monywa we crossed a hot and dusty plain to Pakkoku stopping shortly for us to pick up a couple of giant mangoes. We were unnerved to see our driver enjoying a drink or two with his meal. Along the road we were stopped twice to present passports so the immigration police could jot down our details. At Pakkoku a Myanmar couple, wearing neat western clothes and both carrying cellphones, invited us to share a horse cart. Along the way we passed an old teak monastery shaded by big Tamarind trees and saw the beginnings of a market/festival taking place but [View Full Entry]

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We were up early and ready for our scenic tour for the day. Si Thu greeted us at the guest house with the driver he had already arranged to take us. We quickly grabbed a quick bite of bean plata, roti and a cup of milk tea at the tea stand in the alley next door. A good kick of caffeine from the strong milk tea and we were ready for a noisy rumbling tuk-tuk engine. It was a very interesting ride, passing locals cycling and walking with goods into town, we crossed a very new bridge over the river and [View Full Entry]

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A few days in Monywa gave us the opportunity to see the daily life of Myanmar citizens as well as check out some interesting religious/tourist sights. The first night in Monywa we went for a nice stroll down Strand Rd alongside the Chindwin River. Despite the dusty walk it was still a really nice sunset. We finished off the night having a creamy bowl of real ice-cream at the "Cold Drinks Shop" near the glowing gold Shweaigon Paya in front of us. The next day we spent the morning walking around the market and hired a tuk-tuk for the afternoon to [View Full Entry]

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