Winding its way from China to Vietnam, through Burma, Laos, Thailand and Cambodia, the Mekong River is the life blood of South East Asia and any traveller to the region is likely to come into contact with it several times over the course of their trip. By the time I reached Luang Prabang, I had … Read more
Yes, the cooking class finished in time for me to get back to Big Brother Mouse for another evening of laughs and conversations with the English learning teens and tweens of Luang Prabang. Both Gabriel and Sai were back, along with some of the other guys I met the night before (but whose names, I’m … Read more
Tamnak Lao cooking school is on the main street of Luang Prabang, behind the restaurant of the same name, and across the road from the affiliated book exchange (which has a dog that will bite you – you have been warned). It offers a full day cooking course, as well as evening classes, with demonstrations … Read more
Now anyone who knows me knows that I love books. Like, LOVE books. As in, don’t-know-what-to-get-me-for-a-present?-Can’t-go-wrong-with-a-book love them. As in, want-my-house-to-have-one-of-those-old-fashioned-libraries-where-the-whole-room-is-full-of-bookshelves-and-you-need-ladders-to-get-to-them-all LOVE them. As in… alright, you get the picture. I don’t need to continue waxing poetic about my love of stories, and literature, and the feel of a new book, and the smell of … Read more
The process of giving alms is a daily ritual throughout South East Asia. Every morning, Buddhist monks leave their monasteries with empty bowls and proceed through the streets of their villages, towns and cities to receive their daily food from the local devotees. It is against the Buddhist faith for the monks to grow their … Read more
I’ve written about the Vietnam War, and the impact the US bombing of Cambodia had on the rise of the Khmer Rouge regime. And now I get to talk about US bombs again. While Cambodia is a world leader in numbers of landmine victims, Laos holds the title for world’s most bombed country per capita. … Read more
My original plan for Kong Lo was to arrive in the evening (I’m learning to block out an entire day for any sort of inter-city/town/village travel), see the cave first thing in the morning, and then catch a songtheaw to begin the journey to Vientiane around lunch time. But when I made that plan, I … Read more