Geo: 19.8967, 102.144Our hotel recommended that we visit the falls. The neighbour has a tuk-tuk and the hotel owner arranged the transport. It was an older vehicle but quite serviceable except just our luck - another flat tire! The young fellow was very apologetic and it did not take him long to change the tire.The falls are about an hour away so riding in one of those vehicles is a bit of a "jarring" experience. Also, it seems that seat belts are not a big deal here.The bear recovery centre was very interesting. Some cultures refine a medicine from the bile of a bear. They are captured - usually by snare traps - and then kept in cages as long as they continue to produce the bile. After that they are killed. The bears in the ... read more

Geo: 19.8967, 102.144We took a taxi back to the airport for our flight today. We were having difficulty getting our future flight to Vientiane booked so we managed to find the Lao airlines office and got it sorted out. Today we are flying Lao airlines which seems to be the major carrier in Laos. It is our second trip in a turbo prop - these are typically one hour flights - no jets.We have entered another country so we had to do the entry visa and currency exchange thing again. We wonder why Canadians have to pay more for visas than US citizens. Luang Prabang is a major change for our previous locations. This is a much smaller place but seems to have a lot of character. We didn't arrive until about 4:30 so haven't had ... read more

Geo: 18.7905, 99.005We discovered the name of the city means new (Chiang) city (Mai).This morning we were picked up by a local tour company for a morning tour. Our first destination was to the Hmong Hill Tribe VIllage. These people were once dependent on growing opium which is no longer permitted. The current agricultural product is coffee. However, it seems that the real cash flow is as a tourist destination. There were numerous shops selling a variety of items some local and some I suspect are imported. There was an example of a typical hut used in the past. The village is very high up in the hill country and the road twisted and turned becoming narrower all the time. The next stop was probably half way down the mountain to the DoiShep Temple which dates ... read more

Geo: 16.7791, 96.1483As was mentioned before we are in Chinatown. The streets are somewhat like a department store laid out by streets. Each separate street or area of a street is department for specific merchandise. Also, medical services are somewhat different. Lots of storefront pharmacies which I suspect sell a variety of drugs - not sure if prescriptions are needed. Also we walked past a walk-in endoscopy clinic. I would be very concerned about the sterility of the equipment. On our way to our return visit to Bogyoke Market we walked past the Anglican Church. Outside there was a fellow flying a drone which had a camera attached and his tablet on the ground recorded the video. After seeing the Chinese Market it is obvious that the Bogyoke Market is geared more to the tourists. A ... read more

Geo: 16.7779, 96.1478Last day in Bangkok - a city of 11 million people. Vancouver is a small town in comparison. We took a taxi back to the airport which was a 30-45 minute trip for about $ 20.Bangkok airport is a very interesting structure. It is basically a metal frame with glass and fabric. It seems it is like an exterior skin and the interior is built independently and the exterior is not dependent on the interior. From the outside it looks somewhat like a caterpillar.We had a bit of a wait and Bangkok Air offers a lounge for international travellers even though our flight is only an hour. Arrival at Myanmar went smoothly. One thing one learns travelling around these countries is you have to be conscious of visa requirements and changing currencies. The US ... read more