We arrived in Bagan on a 9 hour overnight bus from Yangon at 5:15am, found out our hotel room would not be ready for a few hours, and got back in the cab to catch the sunrise from one of the more famous and large pagodas (there are >2000 pagodas […]
mikehillary
Vientiane • Hotel review (S Park Hotel): Nice/modern facilities, a bit outside of the center of town but the shuttle service largely made up for that. We would recommend overall. • Favorite restaurant: Local market outside of the bus station • Favorite tourist attraction: o Mike- Buddha park o Hillary- […]
Laos in Review
A few fun facts about Laotian food: • Laos is a country with a very diverse culinary tradition that has been influenced by its history of being conquered by its neighbors and colonized by the French • Breakfast is traditionally Pho, which comes from Vietnam • For Lunch locals like […]
Eating and Cooking in Laos
1 Laung Prabang is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. The entire town is a UNESCO world heritage site, and the title is well deserved. As you walk down the town center and all its little side streets, you are immersed in the beauty of its old colonial architecture mixed in with […]
Discovering Beauty in Luang Prabang
Before getting to what we did and my impressions of Luang Prabang itself, I first want to suggest that everyone experience a 4 hour mini van ride that is shared with 15 other people, ~30 pieces of luggage, and a driver crossing to the other side of the road on […]
My First Major ‘WOW’ Moment – Luang Prabang
1 After a lovely (sarcastic) 4 hour bus ride through rural Laos, it was time for us to experience Vang Vieng. Upon arriving, we went straight for the touristy beach bar, to have a beer on the water celebrating the fact we were alive. As two people who spent a lot […]
Not the ‘Beach Town’ I Had In Mind – Vang ...
When we arrived in Vang Vieng I was initially taken aback by how different it was from what I was expecting. Prior to arriving we’d spoken to several families who had said they loved Vang Vieng and it’s natural beauty, yet here I was standing in the middle of town […]
Expecting the Unexpected in Vang Vieng
3 To say that I flew half way around the world to visit Southeast Asia for the first time, and the biggest highlight of the first city I experienced was a gym seems pretty ‘stupid American’… but bear with me. As we drove up the block to our hotel in […]
Vientiane From His Eyes
Sabaidee, the word you hear the most while wandering the streets of Laos. Such a simple word, yet so powerful and indicative of Laotian culture. It has several meanings, but basically amounts to “hello” and a general tone of relaxation and happiness. To be honest Laos was the country we […]