Blogs from Laos, Asia - page 565

See for your self, Vientiane in pictures. Firstly the Arc de Triomphe (a la Lao). This structure resembles the French ediface, although there are only two roads branching from the road around it. When I was there, school children were playing hide and seek, chasey and other games in and around the arched entrances, and upstairs in the look-out area. There were gardens and a fountain nearby, and a steady flow of traffic going past - but nowhere near the volume of the major roundabout in Paris. I took in a some viewing or architecture ... like this building. It was immaculate. The gardens were carefully manicured, the house in perfect condition. The name on the sign ... The Asian Development Bank Commission! Temples and museums are significant architectural exemplars. The following shots are from the ... read more

1.12. Presun do Laosu Tak dnes sa nam vdaka skvelemu Zuzkinmu planovaniu podaril riadne velky presun: Dostali sme sa na jeden sup z Thajska az do stredu Laosu. Vstali sme o piatej rano v Chang Rai, aby sme stihli skory autobus do Chiang Kongu, co je hranicne mesto medzi Thajskom a Laosom. Pestrofarebny autobus ako z cirkusu nas tam priemernou rychlostou 30km/h dostal za 3 hodinky.. Potom sme si zobrali tuk-tuk (motorova trojkolka) k rieke Mekong, potom lod cez Mekong a boli sme v Laose. Sikovne sme sa vyhli zlodejom co nam ponukali vybavenie viz, sprostredkovanie kupy listku na lod a podobne okradacky a tahali sme sa priamo na colnicu. Chvilu byrokracie na hranici a dostali sme viza. Ked Zuzke vydavali peniaze za viza, supli jej medzi dve pekne dolarove bankovky jednu ktora vyzerala ako toaletny ... read more

Having survived the night in Bangkok, and the early morning flight into Laos, I found myself accommodation in Vientiane. Located in the thick of things, yet on a quiet street, this guesthouse is clean and pleasant with a range of travellers passing through. Venturing into Vientiane First thing was a reconnaissance by foot (although my feet complained later) ... I discovered Vientiane's very own Champs Elysee! Yes, in the middle of a majestic boulevard-type road (I am convinced it is the only oe), there is a structure not-unlike Charles de Gaulle Etoile. I climbed the stairs and saw the view, with far fewer tourists than its Parisian counterpart. In addition, the underside of the dome is decorated in true Asian style. (Photos available - a few difficulties with the technology here, not recoginisoing a USB port ... read more

Hello again! So...I would say nothing exciting has happened in my first few weeks as I have actually been working quite a bit...but...as predicted strange things do happen to me. More on that later I guess. Finally you can see some of the photos from my previous blog after I arrived and there are a few others as well..... I headed up to Luang Prabang for my first weekend here. Geraldine (CARE Laos) and I took Robert (CARE Aust) for a trip to see a project site where CARE is implementing an HIV/AIDS prevention project targeting youg people from a few ethnic groups in the area. Luang Prabang is amazingly beautiful. It is a town nestled in the middle of the mountains, and was the ancient capital of Laos. I was actually there about 7 years ... read more

Hi all...here's our third installment on our travelblog and today my friends we'll be concentrating on our journey through Laos.....so get a coffee and a biscuit and sit back and enjoy the read!!!!! Before we could enter Laos, we had to stay overnight in Chiang Kong in North Eastern Thailand.....There’s not much to do there to be honest so all our mini bus went for drinks and Man Utd were playing Spurs so we had a few drinks and watched that and also played a bit of jenga (a great drinking game by the way)....All was going good until someone changed the TV channel and Edo (a fellow backpacker from Israel) started asking "where’s the football" and gesturing to the TV..... Of course Leanne, being the nice person she is and despite the few drinks she ... read more