Laos

Languid Vientiane

December 25, 2024December 25, 2024 Steve Laos, Museum, Point of Interest

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 […]

Train, Vang Vieng, More Train

December 25, 2024December 25, 2024 Steve 4 Comments Laos, Point of Interest, Travelling

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

December 17, 2024December 17, 2024 Steve Food, Laos, Point of Interest, Postcard from Ellen's Edge

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 […]

Luang Prabang à la Noy

December 15, 2024December 15, 2024 Ellen 2 Comments Laos, Learning, Market, Museum, Point of Interest

We had such good luck with Noy on our waterfall quest, that we decided to use him again for a tour of the sights of Luang Prabang. Noy grew up in the country on a farm. His mother passed when he was quite young. His dad moved to Vientianne. When he passed, Noy was on […]

Of Butterflies, Bears, and Waterfalls

December 15, 2024December 15, 2024 Ellen 1 Comment Laos, Point of Interest

We met Noy when we downloaded “Loca” the Laotian ridesharing app. No “Grab” here. It’s a bit buggy, but it’s very affordable, and has worked well for us. As the salesperson many Lao are, he suggested we hire him to take us to a few of the Luang Prabang sights. At $50, this was cheaper […]

Rolling on the (Mekong) River

December 13, 2024December 13, 2024 Steve 1 Comment Boating, Laos, Learning, Thailand, Travelling

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

December 12, 2024December 11, 2024 Steve 2 Comments Laos, Market, Museum, Myanmar, Point of Interest, Sunset, Thailand

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 […]