I hired a bike to explore the surrounding countryside today.  The cheapest bike was a girly bike with a big comfy soft seat, a useful basket and a pillion seat.  It was more comfortable than the mountain bike I hired in China. At night most restaurants play DVDs of Friends (or Family Guy, Simpsons) while their […]

This morning I woke at 5am in order to see the monks “collect their alms” (I have forgotten this term since school … I was thinking “beg for food”).  Residents line up by the roadside to give monks food … typically they roll balls of rice to deposit into the monks pots as they file […]

Luang Prabang is one place many people rave about … it is a riverine town on the side of the Mekong and home to an eclectic mix of Lao shophouses, royal palace, temples and colonial mansions.  By day, one can explore these sights.  But by night … the street gets converted into a handicraft megamart, the […]

Above:  The Chinese-made Xian MA60 aircraft. I travel from Xieng Khouang to Luang Prabang today. It was was meant to be a half-hour direct flight departing at 1340. But it turned out be two flights and a 2h20 transit in Vientiane (totalling over 3h30).  Because I had booked about 6 months in advance, the airlines’ […]

Today I took an excursion with several others to the three Jar sites which have been opened up and are safe … meaning no mines within the marked paths. While on the road, our English member pointed out this large fruit … she described it as looking like a melon on the outside with a […]