Today (September 8th) J and I hired a motorbike for an almost-aimless drive out to some ruins at Muang Khoun, the old capital of Xieng Khonang province, which was flattened by US bombing during the secret war.
The ruins thrilled us little but the drive through the valleys of the Lao countryside was so stunning [...]
Entries Tagged as ‘Laos’
September 13, 2009
How green were their valleys (or an exercise in purple prose)
September 13, 2009
Jar wars
It’s not often when a visit to a tourist attraction comes with the risk of maiming or death, but the Plain of Jars (just outside Phonsavan in Laos) is no ordinary tourist attraction. Quite apart from the mysterious origins of the plains’ thousand namesake stone jars (no one knows how, where or when the jars [...]
September 13, 2009
Luang Prabang: The good, the cheap and the ugly
A few days in Luang Prabang will doubtless be one of the highlights of any trip to Indo-china. A couple of weeks there allows you to sample most of what the city has to offer in terms of sights, excursions, food and drink, accommodation and activities. So Jamie and I – having been here for [...]
September 4, 2009
Rice to be you…to be you rice?
Lao food is almost unique in Asian cooking as it uses ’sticky’ (glutinous) rice as its main staple for all meals rather than – as in other countries –just desserts. This type of rice is named for its high starch content, which means that it sticks to itself and can be rolled into balls with [...]
August 29, 2009
In the Laap of luxury
Laap is a Laotian salad made with minced meat, finely chopped long beans and a number of piquant herbs and spices that give it a salty, yet sweet and lemony flavour. It’s delicious, tasty and – best of all – cheap and we’ve been eating a lot of it.
However for the last couple of days [...]
August 24, 2009
Day of the dead
We were lucky enough to be in Ventiane at the time of Boun Khao Padabdin – a festival of the dead, where the local people come to the temple to offer rice. I went there early in the morning to check it out and wrote this piece for 2camels.com:
The monk is up a ladder hanging [...]
August 24, 2009
Two wheels good: a day in Vientiane
The capital of the People’s Democratic Republic of Laos, Ventiane, is a charming city, thanks to the influence of late 19th century French colonial architeture, wide tree-lined avenues and views across the wide confluence of the magistic Mekong.
A handful of old Wats (Buddhist temples), some dating back to the 18th century, their roofs with [...]
August 24, 2009
Tales of two cities
It was the worst of times: 14 hours on a night bus with no reclining chair. But then again it was the best of times: those 14 hours were 14 hours away from Bangkok and into Laos.
We were heading to Laos’ capital city, Ventiane – the place I’d heard nothing but good things about. [...]
