I arrived today in Vientiane, after spending several days in Vang Vieng, aka; Bizzaro! Vang Vieng is a smallish village between LP and Vientaine with gorgeous scenery, caves to explore along with rafting, tubing etc. It has become a major backpaker hang out, I would have loved it 20 years ago. I am always up for a good time but I think there is more going on here than the BeerLao... The oddest aspects of the place are the TV bars. These bars line the two or t...

Merry Christmas from Laos! It took two full days on the slow (and crowded) boat from Thailand, up the Mekong to Luang Prabang. The journey was actually very pleasant with lovely scenery and the occasional stop in a small remote village to drop off or pick up the odd passenger. Luang Prabang is a wonderfully serene little city. Having arrived in the early evening on Christmas Eve with nowhere to stay, I decided to splurge and treat myself to a really nice gu...