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I'm forever being asked, "What's your favorite country?" To which I reply, "Where? Europe, Asia, Africa? Pick one continent and I'd still have trouble deciding on a favorite." There is so much to see and do anywhere you go, but I can narrow it down (not easy, and I left off Vietnam, another wonderful country to visit) to my 7 favorite "Asian countries, two with populations in the billions, and all with friendly, helpful people. Here we go, listing the smaller countries first....
- Cambodia. Cambodia has the Khmer temples of Angkor Wat, chaotic but interesting Phnom Penh, the beaches of Sihanoukville, don't miss the Genocide museum/prison, good food and gorgeous hotels ranging from extreme luxury to rock bottom. I could happily veg out in Siem Riep (gateway for the temples of Angkor Wat) for several days and do nothing. The country shares borders on the north with Thailand and Laos, and Vietnam on the east.
Continue reading "Sheila's 7 Favorite Asian Countries" »
Stories, problems, mishaps while traveling are usually funny, rather than tragic only in hindsight. Ah yes. Here are a very few of the more laughable incidents during years and years of travel:
- Hiking through the pastures of Switzerland, big, healthy-looking cows roam freely. After all, this is their territory. No worries until the day we were hiking uphill on a steep incline and a herd of cows picked up speed coming downhill, right at us. Where do you run? To the left? To the right? We stood there in horror with visions of a major cow-flattening when they fortunately swerved. Wheew...another accident adverted.
Continue reading "There's A Bat in My Tent... A Few Tales From the Road" »
The December 2008 issue of Conde Nast Traveler had an article about different cultures in remote societies that included the Luang Namtha Minority Region of Laos. Luang Namtha is home to 39 minorities, the largest number in the country and located in the northwestern part of Laos.
Our first visit to Laos was in 1999, a fast in-and-out to Luang Prabang and Vientienne only but a more in depth return to Laos in 2006 with Explore U.K. (booked through Adventure Center - see side bar) took us into Luang Namtha for a full days walk into the UNESCO controlled Namha National Biodiversity and Conservation Area. Guided day hikes can easily be arranged in town from the Nam Ha Ecotourism Office.
Continue reading "The Luang Namtha Minority Region of Laos" »
Looking for a winter destination that's sunny and warm? Laos is easy to arrange. Do it on your own with help from Lonely Planet, Tourism Laos or one of the many other websites. Prefer group travel? Check out Adventure Center (on the side bar who booked our "Spirit of Laos" tour), Intrepid Travel (bookable through Adventure Center), iExplore, GAP Adventures to name a few.
Laos has wonderful food (think french baquettes), gorgeous hotels ranging from extreme luxury (luxury is still comparatively "cheap") to rock bottom, and friendly, helpful people. Mountainous Luang Namtha in the North shares its borders with Myanmar and China and is home to large numbers of minorities. There are a minimum of historical sights, the mighty Mekong River, parts of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, places to veg out, and is downright cheap to visit. Read through past posts on TWS detailing the entire "Spirit of Laos" Adventure Center trip, one of the best ever...
Continue reading "Seven Warm Winter Destinations - #4 Easy Laos" »
The less said about the gala New Year's eve celebration in Tad Lao, the better. The Hotel was jammed with Thai tourists and locals...huge speakers set up around the entire outside area ready to let loose with mega-amps guaranteed to deafen, and the worst, worst food of the entire trip. Fortunately, New Year's Eve dinner supplement only cost about $6.50 a person, a bargain when you consider the many times over our lifetime that we've paid a lot more to eat awful food. (Almost everywhere in the World, you will be charged a supplement for a New Year's eve or Christmas dinner...guaranteed!)
Hint: ALWAYS bring ear plugs. Even with plugs in, you could still hear the music along with the "entertainer," a screechy, Lao singer, that went on until 2:00am.
Last day: Most of the group went for a walk to the village up the road from the Hotel to distribute the knives/machetes. I couldn't take one more village and stayed behind in the garden at the waterfall, people-watching.
More Tad Lo Falls
Continue reading ""Spirit of Laos" Exploration Was Over" »
This was the last real segment of our "Spirit of Laos" trip with Explore, and it was New Year's Eve which would be spent in Tad Lo, at the Tad Lo Resort. The area around Tad Lo (as well as Muang Khong) is quite close to the Thailand border and many Thai groups come for the day or weekend. This area is also known as The Bolovan Plateau, very fertile - coffee beans and tea are the most important products grown here - and also a center for several Mon-Khmer ethnic groups.
Today's plan was to ferry across the river and bus for two hours for an elephant ride around Khiang Nkong Village. There were 13 Asian Elephants, smaller than African Elephants, formerly used for logging. Now they live the life of leisure, just taking tourists on elephant rides. There are perhaps only 100 wild elephants left, primarily, by the Cambodian border.
Xe Pian National Protected Area for elephant riding
Continue reading "On The Way To Tad Lo, Laos" »
The only access to Muang Khong Island is by boat. No bridges connect to the mainland so all vehicles, motorcycles, etc., come across by ferry. The island is only about 12 miles long and 5 miles wide.
The first boat stop this morning was Khon Island about 1-1/2 hours away to visit the old French Railway. There were many, many tourists who spend several nights on Khon Island...relaxing, riding bicycles around the Island...View image...and enjoying the ambiance. Especially since accommodations here run a whopping $1.50-$2.00 a night. And, they looked nice and clean...
guesthouse on Khon Island
Continue reading "Khon Island, Old French Railway, Dolphins and Waterfalls, Laos" »
Muang Khong is the largest island in the Khong district of Southern Laos. Almost on the Cambodian border, the Mekong reaches its widest point here. Even though this area is known as the "Four Thousand Islands," there are actually only 4,000 islands in the dry season when the Mekong River is low and little bushes and trees grow on the spits of land. The Lao consider each piece an "island." ...View image...
The Villa Muong Khong Hotel was beautiful in Kangkhung Village, Khong District, Champassak Province. It is family-owned and extremely clean. Kangkhung Village has only one main road with guesthouses and restaurants scattered along it. On Sue's recommendation, we walked down to Pon's Restaurant and ate: rice, spring rolls, stir-fried vegetables, a killer red & green pepper pork dish ("hot" didn't do it justice) and a LARGE BEER for $6. The prices in Laos have spoiled us rotten and we'll probably have cardiac arrest the first time we dine out in America!
Villa Muong Khong Hotel
Continue reading "Muang Khong, Laos" »
Pakse, located at the confluence of the Se and Mekong Rivers, is the capital of Champassak Province. The Province is home to Wat Phu, a pre-Angkor Temple. Wat Phu (mountain temple) dates back to the 5th century and was built by Khmer Hindus on the site of a fresh water spring.
Today's road trip would end in Muang Khong, the largest island in the Khong district, known as the "Four Thousands Islands" of Southern Laos.
Away from the hotel at 7:00am (a person really needs a vacation after an active vacation like this) for the short drive to a river for a short ferry ride across. My heart sank at the sight of the "ferry," a small, little wood motorized raft with motorcyles and people just standing on it with nothing to hold on to!
motorcycles leaving the ferry on a plank of wood
Continue reading "Champassak Province, Laos" »
Early start (is there any other kind) heading south though central Laos to Pakse. The Mekong River forms a natural border between Laos and Thailand and our route followed the Mekong for part of the way. This was the most uninteresting day of the trip (in my opinion)...a Stupa stop...short walk...a small market...the highlight was Sue's stop at a little roadside stand for Banana Muffins! What a memory that woman has. The bus crept along with Sue saying..."no, a little further...no, keep going...that's it!" And it was...a stand with some of the best little Banana Muffins I can recall tasting.
A fried rice lunch stop in Kuam Muang......once again, Sue asked us to divide the business between the various tiny "restaurants", if you choose to call them that. ...View image...so-so...
Sheila, Allison and Bill - lunch at Kuam Muang
Continue reading "A Long Day's Drive to Pakse And Muang Khong, Laos" »
Another early morning start to finish up the Phonsovan, capital of Xieng Khouang, sightseeing. This included a UXO experience and SOS Children's Village, an international charity. Both experiences were optional and no one was under any obligation to come along. Packed up and ready to fly back to Vientiane in the afternoon, I went rushing out to the street when a line of monks collecting their daily offerings went by. Chased them for a block (they move really fast...understandable...since it was downright cold and they were barefoot) for some photos. The only spot of color in a misty start to the day. (The altitude is around 4,000 feet above sea level.)...View image
Sue, our Explore guide, had started taking tour groups who were interested to the UXO Lao office for a briefing on Unexploded Ordnances and a visit to the day's clearance sight. Mr. Kingphet Phimmavong, coordinator for the Lao National Program welcomed us, gave everyone in the group t-shirts and talked a little about their work. UXO Lao is funded by the Japanese, would take over 100 years to completely clear all the areas, and cluster bombs are constantly being found in the fields...View image, and under houses.
collecting morning offerings
Continue reading "Removing Cluster Bombs In Phonsovan, SOS Orphanage and Back to Vientiane, Laos" »
We were staying in the pretty basic Dok Khoune Guesthouse in Phonsovan (and I do mean basic), very happy that the group was only spending one night here instead of the two originally scheduled. This entire province was one of the most heavily bombed areas on the Earth. The whole area, very close to the border of Vietnam, received the brunt of bombs dropped by the American miltary between 1968-1973 to lighten their loads on the way back to air bases in Thailand, and against the Communist forces in this border region. It is known as the "Secret War."
The bombshells are used by the locals as pig troughs, urns, decoration, etc. and the Dok Khoune Guesthouse had a whole collection of shells and shrapnel decorating the reception/dining area. The most unusual decorating choice we'd ever seen!
Guesthouse Ordnance decor
Continue reading "Phonsovan - UXO's (Unexploded Ordnance) and A School Visit, Laos" »
- From north to south, Laos is a little less than 900 miles in length.
- Lao people cook and eat: ant eggs, grasshoppers, snakes, dogs, cats, rats, birds, squirrels and bats - quite a variety.
- A fact per Sue: Scientists have not been able to determine a cycle for Bamboo to flower. But when it does, every Bamboo in the world flowers at the same time.
- All the toilets in Laos airports have been really clean. (Hey...this is important!)
- $200/year is the average family income.
- The Mekong River is over 3,000 feet long, originates in Tibet and ends in the Vietnam Delta. It is the 10th longest river in the World and more than one-half of its length is in China....View image...
Continue reading "Some Lao Facts (Or Trivia) and Phonsovan (Xieng Khouang), Laos" »
The morning three-hour tour of Vientiane (capital of Laos) was going to pack a lot of sites into a short period of time because the flight to Phonsavan left in the afternoon of this same day.
Off to visit Wat Siskanet, the Victory Gate, That Luang Stupa and Wat Ho Prakeo. Wat Ho Prakeo, next to the Presidential Palace, was the home of the famous "Emerald Buddha" (it is carved from Jade not Emerald) that currently is displayed in the Grand Palace, Bangkok. It was stolen by the Thais from Laos during a war in 1778.
Wat Sisaket had over 6,000 other Budda images (every one of them is ritually cleaned during the Lao New Year), was built in 1818 and is the oldest surviving temple in Vientiane. As soon as I saw the beautiful interior lined with Buddha images, a defunct brain cell revived and I remembered it from the 2000 trip. How I could forget something so beautiful is baffling...
Wat Sisaket
Continue reading "A Day In Vientiane, Laos" »
The Rama Hotel was a very clean and simple hotel, centrally located with a choice of air-conditioning or fans in your room, all with bathroom facilities. It is a fantastic deal. Would you believe approximately $30 a night? I hope that some of the costs I give in these articles inspire you to travel to some far-flung destinations. The airfare is considerable but once you arrive in these countries...Laos, India, etc...your food and accommodation costs more than make up for the expense of getting there.
Nighttime temperatures can drop to around 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) in December, January and February and Laos was having an unusually cold Winter while we were there. This made for extremely frigid mornings until everything warmed up and became hot around 10:15am. This created a minor problem for me at some of the guesthouses as well as The Rama Hotel because most of these places served breakfast outside and I am always cold! Rama served a big buffet breakfast on a second floor outside terrace. My method of dealing with this was to eat as late as possible, bundle up, take a table in the sun and snarf down breakfast as quickly as possible.
Continue reading "Luang Prabang to Vientiane, Laos" »
When we visited in 2000, Luang Prabang had exactly one "luxury" hotel (the Villa Santi - still there and still luxurious), a few decent restaurants and was a sleepy, little town. It has since become Lao's main tourist attraction and made a Unesco World Heritage city for both its beautiful buildings and serene natural surroundings. Luang Prabang is circled by mountains, about 2,100 feet about sea level at the confluence of two rivers...the Nam Khan and Mekong and loaded with Wats. "Wat" is another name for a Buddhist temple or monastery in Thailand or Cambodia.
The town is now extremely crowded with tourists, has many upscale "boutique" hotels (some in old French colonial buildings)...View image...expensive restaurants, a great night market (one of the best I've ever seen...and believe me....I've shopped my way around the world) but is still extremely affordable for budget travelers.
 outside the Rama Hotel, Laos
Continue reading "Enjoying Luang Prabang, Laos" »
The Pak Ou Caves are carved into a limestone cliff facing the river. It was only about 25km's upriver from Luang Prabang at the confluence of the Nam Ou and Mekong Rivers. There are two caves...View image... with thousands of Buddha images (all shapes and sizes) that have been left by devotees for hundreds of years. It is accessed only by boat and once there, you climb steps up the limestone cliffs to reach this sacred Buddhist shrine. There is an altar to burn incense and leave offerings but Pak Ou has been abandoned by the monks.
If you come upriver from Luang Prabang (any guesthouse or tour operator can arrange a trip), you can visit by slow boat (about two hours) or speedboat. We had visited the caves in 2000 and were interested in seeing them again. Lunch finished, our boats motored across the river and queued up behind other boats to get off.
boat traffic at Pak Ou Cave entrance
Continue reading "Pak Ou Caves and Finally, Luang Prabang, Laos" »
The tedium of the long, all day, 10-hour drive from Luang Namtha, was only relieved by the Hmong festivals along the road....View image...stopping for lunch...View image...and passing various slash/and/burn areas...View image
The purpose of the long drive to Nong Khiaw was to take the slow boat down the Nam Ou River to Luang Prabang stopping early in the morning to see another market and visit Tavane Village, or the "Silver Village" as Sue referred to it. Frigid wasn't the word for it...all these poor people in the market huddled around little fires and wearing blankets if they owned one....
cold morning market
Continue reading "Nong Khiaw to Luang Prabang, Laos" »
The Lao Hmong were celebrating their New Year, Kimchieng Festival, to thank their ancestor's spirits for protecting their families, bringing strength, happiness and abundant food. The New Year celebration lasts for two to three months with the biggest hoopla taking place over the first three days.
The Hmong girls and boys were dressed in traditional costumes participating in the ritual "ball throwing" contest, the highlight of the festival. This contest is a prelude to marriage for those of marriageable age. Driving along the road to Nang Khian, we spotted a large group of Hmong boys and girls dressed in their costumes playing ball. Mr. Sa and Sue stopped the bus and we piled off to learn and watch.
Hmong New Year ritual
Continue reading "The Hmong Minority and Customs in Laos" »
To get to Pieng Ngam, we walked for almost two hours uphill through the forest. Even though it was an uphill, the trails were easy and the scenery beautiful. The forests and their management is the responsibility of the people living in adjacent communities. They rely on the forests for timber and rattan used for housing and hunt small mammals. Throughout 17 days in Laos, bird sightings were rare, and never saw any small animals or monkeys. Why? They hunt and eat them all. I saw exactly one Kingfisher the entire trip.
The rice fields had just been harvested and the only green rice paddies were nursery fields. During planting season, the little nursery rice shoots would be transplanted into the actual fields. View image...
flooded rice nurseries
Continue reading "Pieng Ngam And Last Village #3, Laos" »
Luang Namtha has a UNESCO controlled Namha National Biodiversity and Conservation Area. The group was going to do a full-day walk through this area. After a really good breakfast of wonderful toasted French baguettes, omelettes and coffee, we walked to Nam Ha Ecotourism Office to look at the local trekking maps, posters...View image... and get information from their guides. It would be an opportunity to learn about village lifestyles, silk weaving and the distilling of Lao Lao (rice whiskey).
Our trek would lead through rice paddies, fields and forested foothills, visit three minority villages, have lunch in one and return back to Luang Namtha at the end of the day. Once the day warmed up, it would be hot and Sue recommended lots of sunscreen, carry water, wear a hat, and bring Tevas, flip-flops or sandals along for the river crossings.
day trek map
Continue reading "Day Trekking Around Luang Namtha, Laos" »
This village (whatever its name was) was a lot more interesting. There were about 70 homes with solar power (a little more affluent) and they grew rice and tobacco. We were only about 55km's to the Chinese border and 130km's to Myanmar's (Burma) border. This little village had some of the biggest pigs and little piglets running around I had ever seen...View image...(hey, I'm a city girl and think piglets are cute...)
People were washing clothes down by the river, picking and drying the fluffy (some type of native grass) tops to use for stuffing mattresses and pillows and everyone was busy with their daily lives. Sue handed out more photos and I think almost everyone in the group took a shot of this very photogenic old lady...smoking her pipe filled with home-grown tobacco...
Continue reading "Village #2 Heading Towards Luang Namtha, Laos" »
The Explore group was now on a very uncomfortable, small and cramped, old bus for this portion of the trip. Reason? The roads are so rutted and dusty (it's under construction and will run into China) that no tour operator will run a new bus on this road yet. A more spacious bus would materialize at Luang Prabang. Everyone was very good about rotating seats but there was no such thing as a "good seat" on this bus.
The first Mon-Khmer minority village visited was Naluang. Sue (our wonderful guide) took photos of the villagers on each "Spirit of Laos" tour she led and distributed them to the people on her next tour. She also used some of the tip kitty on school supplies, posters, even a soccer ball, etc., for each village. This gave Explore, and us, a feeling that we were contributing to their community plus making a small difference in their lives. Heavens know they needed it...View image
Sue handing out photos
Continue reading "Visiting Minority Villages On The Long Ride to Luang Namtha, Laos" »
Early morning wake-up call, off to the airport for our 10:30am departure from Bangkok to Chiang Rai, but we didn't care...our Laos adventure was about to begin. There wasn't any time to visit Chiang Rai (not that there is really anything to see there). Most people who visit Chiang Rai just use it as a base for a Laos day trip, head out into the hills to see minority groups, and/or take an excursion to the Thai-Burma-Laos border, the famous "Golden Triangle."
Two little mini-buses were waiting to take us for a two-hour ride to the border. The Mekong River is the border between the two countries. Chiang Khong is the border-crossing town on the Thailand side and Houei Sai, on the Laos side where we were going to stay for one night. We lined up to go through immigration which took only a few minutes, walked down to the river and loaded ourselves (plus baggage) on little boats that constantly ferry back and forth across the Mekong. ... View image...Amazing how those huge trucks were transported back and forth.
trucks crossing between Chiang Khong and Houei Sai
Continue reading "Chiang Rai and Ban Houei Sai, Laos" »
There was a note from Sue, our Explore tour leader, at the Royal Hotel giving meet-and-greet details for us independent, land-only travelers to be held that evening in the Royal Hotel. Most of the group had flown in from the U.K. that day.
Sue is extremely knowledgeable and has been leading Explore tours for over eight years. Our group of 13 was primarily English with one New Zealander, two Scots and ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and myself - the token Americans.
Continue reading "Bangkok and Meeting Our Laos Tour Group" »
The planning was easy for "Spirit of Laos" since it was a group tour. Did some Googling to dig up some of the latest information on Laos...always visit to the Lonely Planet site....and went to a Laos website.
Air? We flew Chicago to Bangkok via Tokyo on United (our airline of choice). You have many, many airlines to pick from since almost every major airline flies to Bangkok.
Hotel? The tour didn't start until Sunday but we flew into Bangkok two days earlier. Tip: Always plan on arriving at least one day before your trip starts in case of weather delays, cancelled flights, etc. United lands around 11:30pm...you don't arrive at the hotel until perhaps 1:00am...and we've found it impractical to pay perhaps $200+ for the rest of that night to stay in a luxury hotel. Lately, we've made arrangements at very nice, inexpensive hotels and since the group was staying at the Royal Hotel (five minutes from Bangkok's Royal Palace), that's where we stayed. We used Sawadee to book the Royal Hotel.
Continue reading "Planning A Trip To Laos" »
ex-Marine (husband, Steve) and I went to Laos over the Millenium and spent a fast two days visiting Vientiane and Luang Prabang. As a matter of fact, our plane from Hanoi to Vientiane was the first to take off and land January 1, 2000. (Hard to believe that was six years ago.) Both places were filled with sweet people, unusual sights and left us wanting to see more of this country.
Reading through the huge Explore UK catalog, I came across the "Spirit of Laos," a 17-day in-depth tour of the country starting in the remote west and traveling overland to Luang Prabang. From there, it included a series of airplanes, driving and a boat journey down the Mekong River into the southernmost part of Laos, close to the Cambodian border.
Laos map
Continue reading ""The Spirit of Laos"" »
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