Mar 15, 2012 - La città arancio

Qualcuno si riferisce ad essa come alla Golden Town, per la quantità di templi dorati che si ergono ovunque per le sue strade, ma per me è la Orange Town. Quando cammini tra le sue viuzze infatti, in cui i templi si mescolano al verde delle piante, al colore dei fiori, alle case in tek, ciò che ti colpisce da ogni angolo è l’arancio, l’arancio delle tuniche dei monaci. Queste sono ovunque: ricoprono e abbelliscono le statue di Buddha, sono appese agli alberi ad asciugare, naturalmente sono indosso a loro. Tutto in questa città funziona al...

Feb 27, 2012 - Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is Laos's former royal capital on a peninsula bordered by the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers with many restaurants, travel offices and massage establishments along the tree lined riverside .  It has Unesco World Heritage status which means a ban on trucks and buses in the old town.  It abounds with ornate wats (Buddhist temples) and consequently has a large population of monks. One day we took the slow boat (aptly named as it struggles up the Mekong against the current) to Pak Ou caves within a dramatic karst formation.  Both...

Feb 26, 2012 - Kayaking in Muang Ngoi up the Nam Ou River

We kept our guesthouse in LP. and mini-bused (3 hours), and boated (2.5 hours) to this little village. We had booked a Lao Youth Travel (NGO) kayak trip for 2pm, but got there at 4! So it goes in Laos. We just spent 3 hours from this point on exploring. And left to return the next day to LP. Great adventure! So...imagine kayaking down a tributary of the Mekong, in the mountains north of Luang Prabang, with swallow like birds (but not swallows) swooping in the dusk - hopefully eating the very mosquitoes destined for our juicy white flesh!...

Feb 26, 2012 - Lovely lovely Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang is the old royal city capital of Laos (we enjoyed the Palace of the deposed monarchy in 1975, now a museum.) LP is a world heritage site, and is a gem. Lovely architecture, the meeting of two rivers (one the Mekong), very friendly people, and a plethora of asian food and gracious guesthouses. Photos are very slow to upload here. May be a few days to get there! We have a guesthouse (with free bananas, hot water for tea in the a.m., our own table for our granola and yoghurt and fruit breakfasts we make, and a quiet room with a...

Feb 23, 2012 - Luang Prabang

Feb 23 to 25 Luang Prabang We continued our boat ride down the Mekong river and stopped at Pak Ou caves on the river banks. The cave had hundreds of Buddha statues inside and the location of it was pretty cool. We then arrived in Luang Prabang which is declared by UNESCO to be the best preserved city in Southeast Asia. It was a cool little town with a good vibe. We went on an elephant ride which was soooo cool! We went for a ride on its back, fed it, then went for an elephant bull ride in the river! In the river we climbed onto the...

Feb 18, 2012 - Luang Prabang

Hi all, Luang Prabang has been a great way to end our time in Loas, although we have a two day boat trip to the Thai border. One thing we won't miss from the former French colonies is the seemingly endless supply of baguettes. In India we left a national train network, in Laos and Cambodia they left a crusty roll! LP is a beautiful town and was great to cycle around (my pedal fell off) and explore. The patisseries (OK that's a good legacy) are doing for my waist line what the beers in Thailand did. I thought you were supposed to lose weight...

Feb 13, 2012 - Final Day in Luang Prabang

Our to-do list for today was as follows: 1) visit silversmiths 2) postcards 3) figure out our next steps (travel route) 4) wander 5) knit 6) relax 7) return to the village-made handicraft shop that we visited on day 1 8) drink an oreo-coffee smoothie 9) find the night market for dinner 10) buy a cool bag On all points, success! We had delicious food for all meals-- bananas and tasty fried corn cakes for breakfast; fresh OJ, banana with sweet sticky rice, and a chicken, noodle and egg dish for lunch; and giant plates at the night market for...

Feb 12, 2012 - More Crafts- FANTASTIC!

We got up pretty early this morning, as we were due at Ock Pop Tok (the crafts store) for a tuk-tuk ride out to the Living Crafts Center (the workshop area) at 8:30am. Along the way, we had breakfast at the street market- mini coconut pancakes (rice flour and coconut milk), a large coconut patty, and a steamed pork bun. Great! The crafts center was once again a highlight. Today we did a full day course, learning about silk-making in the morning, creating natural dyes for 3 skeins and coloring our own silk, and weaving on elaborate looms...

Feb 11, 2012 - An AMAZING Day

If you ever travel with me for an extended period of time, you'll notice some phrases that I generally say multiple times a day-- "I'm hungry","I'm full", "I need to pee", and in warm climates, like Laos, "I'm sweaty". But today a new phrase has been added! "I'm happy!" I am often happy, but today particularly so. It's been a really great day! We left the guesthouse this morning without a clear plan for the day. We wanted to wander the city, to check out some craft shops, but we weren't sure where the day would take us. We ended up at a...

Feb 10, 2012 - Slow-boat Day 2

I FINISHED KNITTING MY HAT TODAY!!!!! ##photo=boat day #2## I also was on a boat from 9am to 5:30pm (beautiful views, but as the name indicates, a slow boat) and then wandered Luang Prabang tonight. We like this city!-- many, many crafts on display. And once again, good food! Tonight we ate at a restaurant overlooking the water. We had an eggplant dip with a sticky rice patty to dip in it, and fried pork with garlic. Mmmm! Much more exploring to come tomorrow!...

Feb 8, 2012 - Luang Prabang (a lazy week)

Since coming back from the countryside last Wednesday, I've been in Luang Prabang, taking it easy. I'm essentially having a vacation from my trip! Besides sitting in cafes and restaurants, admiring one of the two rivers, or just people watching, I've had a couple of massages, saw a movie, an ethnic fashion show, wandered through the Night Market some more, took a sunset cruise on the Mekong, and did a day trip to the Kuang Si waterfall. After a total of two weeks here, Luang Prabang is starting to feel like a home away from home. I have my...

Jan 28, 2012 - Luang Prabang

Last Sunday I flew from Siem Reap to Luang Prabang in Laos. Luang Prabang is a town I've wanted to visit for a long time, ever since I went to Vientiane (the capital) in 1997. LP is Laos' second largest city, but has a population of only 70000. The whole country counts less than 6 millions inhabitants. I haven't been disappointed. LP is as laid back as I was hoping for. In fact, it's probably the most laid-back and hassle-free Asian town I've ever visited. Fifteen years ago it was named a UNESCO city and has become increasingly popular...