Blogs from Laos, Asia - page 7

Luang Prabang - every time I say that I want to say ‘kipperbang kipperbang’ - a reference only older folk might get. Once ensconced in the hotel we sauntered out, following the river Mam Khan down to the Mekong and headed to ‘the Bamboo Restaurant’ which had been recommended- and boy was it good (and so hot I nearly cried). The next morning we found yet another temple - Wat Xiengthong, a 16th century temple with glass mosaic decoration. The afternoon was spent just wandering as the town had such a civilised and comfortable feel about it. Late afternoon we got onto a SA SA cruise boat and floated along the Mekong for a couple of hours in beautiful weather to watch the sun go down. Interestingly the SA SA cruise was different to the other ... read more

Can it be that time already? We can't quite believe it! Today, we leave Vietnam and move on to our next country in Indochina, namely Laos and the city of Luang Prabang, in the mountainous north west of the country. The tour does return to Vietnam to fly home in a week's time (when our group of six, together with one other (Christine, the lady who had the unfortunate fall at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum all those 'weeks!' ago), have three days or so to relax on a beach east of Ho Chi Minh City), but for now, we say goodbye to this land 'South of China' and move on to, what is often called, 'The Jewel of Indochina'. Our one hour flight to Laos departed at 12.50 pm, and with the drive to the ... read more

Luang Prabang also has oodles of temples and oodles of things for tourists, although also has the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, French colonial influence, interesting element of the morning alms procession by monks (who collect their food for the day) and all sorts of fantastic scenery. Due to sediment from the limestone in the hills, some of the waterfalls are a spectacular blue color (and you can swim in them! but they are not warm :). In a completely random coincidence, I also met up with some friends I met years ago in Africa here - it's an oddly small world sometimes.... read more

Our first stop was the Pha That Luang which is a gold-covered large Buddhist stupa in the center of the city of Vientiane, Laos. It is believed the stupa dates back to the 3rd century, but has been destroyed and rebuild many times. It is generally regarded as the most important national monument in Laos and a national symbol.... read more

After a very stressful time of job hunting with some jobs being successful but not being able to work out and some just not to my desire at all, I finally landed myself a teaching position at a new school in Vientiane, Laos. After suggesting you need probably a day or two maximum in Vientiane in a previous blog, I now find myself living here. Funnily enough, while living here, I have also come to discover there's a bit more to this city than I originally gave it credit for. Luckily for me, as I am working here, I have landed myself, from day one knocking on my neighbours house and meeting my flatmate, with four amazing humans in my life who I now consider my Laos family. It is with these fantastic girls I have ... read more