Vientiane is a city of just over 800,000. It is also the capital of Laos. We experienced a similar slowish pace as Luang Prabang here. Most of the motorcycles didn’t speed. People easily crossed the streets. We stayed at a hotel next to a fountain. During the day, kids would wade in it. We took […]
Author: Steve
Train, Vang Vieng, More Train
To say that China is making its influence known around the world is an understatement. It is made abundantly clear in Laos. They have built a high-speed train from China to Vientiane, the capital of Laos. We opted for the train vs. the bus, 50 minutes vs. 6 hours. Over the course of the the […]
Unhurried Luang Prabang
It doesn’t take long to see why Luang Prabang is both a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the most visited tourist spot in Laos. It is one of the mellowest, slow-moving, unrushed places we’ve been. Even the motor scooters take it easy. We landed from our slow cruise down the Mekong and was taken to […]
Rolling on the (Mekong) River
Sunrise To an inveterate sunset junkie, it is forgivable to have forgotten that there are also things we call sunrises. When one’s hotel room looks out across the Mekong River to Laos, facing East, one is quickly reminded of sunrises. We got up early for breakfast so that we could make it to the immigration […]
The Golden Triangle
The Golden Triangle is only an hour and a half away from Chang Rai. We took off in search of coffee for the way out. Stopped at an Amazon. No relationship to the Amazon we know so well, but very common in Thailand. We were told that the Golden Triangle is more or less a […]
Fairwell Chang Rai
All good things must come to an end, and it had become our last day in Chang Rai. Pete invited me to his weekly coffee with a few of his friends. The coffee was grown in the mountains by one of the hill tribes. It was delicious. The conversation was all over the place, as […]
Chang Rai with Lek and Pete
As those of you who followed this blog years ago in Ecuador know, we met Pete in Ecuador in 2015. An amazing thing about “travel buddies,” is that you don’t need to see them all of the time in order to retain a travel friendship. So it is with Pete. In the intervening years, our […]
Orchids and an Elevator
Sunday was a rest day. We took off Monday not know what to expect. First stop La Lalitta for a coffee and some orchids. La Lalitta Not knowing what to expect, imagine our surprise when we walked into garlands of orchids and mist blowing all over the place. The coffee was good too. Bodacious Temple […]
Northern Thailand Magical Mystery Tour – 9 – Fini
The last day of our magical mystery tour of Northern Thailand. In hindsight, we wish we’d planned a few more days in Chang Mai. It has a nice vibe, and when one discovers a great breakfast place, one doesn’t want to let it go. We opted for VIP tickets in the “Green Bus.” $11 each. […]
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Northern Thailand Magical Mystery Tour – 5 – Pai
Day 5 was the vaunted trip to Pai. Vaunted because there are over 762 curves–most of them hairpin and switchback. Apparently it was built by the Japanese during the 2nd World War. However, we needed to start with a stop for morning – Coffee There are tourist traps, and there are tourist traps. I think […]
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