Holiday Snaps - Day 13 - Luang Nam Tha

Holiday Snaps - Day 12. Luang Namtha

 

Holiday Snaps - Day 11. Muang Sing and back to Luang Nam Tha

Up near the Chinese Border there are some fascinating people and things and some gorgeous faces

Holiday snaps: Day 10. Luang Nam Tha to Muang Sing

A day of glorious scenery, wind in my face, feelings of freedom and exhilaration and then it rained and ruined everything (almost)

Holiday Snaps - Day 9. From a Karen Village to a Monk's hermitage and back to Laos

Holiday Snaps - Day 8 - revisiting Mae Sai

Old memories and new experiences - returning after 16 years.

Having first arrived in Mae Sai for a 2 year assignment 18 years ago I was expecting that in 2014 so much would have changed. I was right. Lots had. But it is still beautiful, still exciting and still confusing.

 

Holiday snaps - Day 7. To Chaing Rai

I bussed to Chiang Rai. It took half as long as I remembered. I was met at the bus station and so ensued three days of familiar beloved people coming back into my world.

 

 

 

Holiday Snaps - Day 6. Chiang Mai

Holiday Snaps - Day 5. Chiang Mai

Holiday Snaps - Day 4. Getting there and away

Champasack to Chiang Mai in 26 hours

So I was told it was easy. Easier than trying to work out flights and connections and other ways to travel.  I was told to have my bags packed by 6.30 as the staff were going across the water to the market and I could catch a ride.

Holiday snaps - Day 3. 4000 Islands and Irrawaddy Dolphins!

Holiday snaps - Day 2. Don Det

Don Det - Hammock Day

Holiday snaps - Day 1. Wat Phu & 4000 Islands

Wat Phu Champasak

Che-ing All Over

Che Guevara - Bumper Sticker and Icon of the People (who drive tuk tuks)

 

Kaysone - Man of Many Monuments

A Monument to a Revolutionary Rebel, Party Leader, First President of Laos, Communist Idealist.

 

I visited the museum and monument to Kaysone Phomvihane. It’s big, it’s five minutes from my office, I knew it would be interesting and there was sure to be lot of gold and glory and a lot of blurry old black and white pictures. Maybe some old guns. I was right.

Running Like A Girl

Fifty, Fat and Fighting to Get Fit

Flitting into my head a few times after I arrived in Laos was the thought "now is a good time to run again".
 

The Southern Lights - Bangkok

Camilla and Julie in the Big Smoke

We thought we'd take a trip to Bangkok. The Big City. The City of Angels. Krungthep. Bangers. Feel some city vibe, taste some fancy food, see some sights, shop a little, wander some soulless, over-cooled hallways of mega shopping centres. Maybe even catch a movie.

We did all that, and more.

Northern Exposure - Sam Neua

Way Up North

A weekend up north, when you live in Vientiane, is never a decision taken lightly. There are mountains, clouds, storms, small planes, minibuses and overnight sleeper buses - all of which can mean lateness, uncomfortableness, slowness, danger and possibly even death.

Still, it sounded like a good idea.

The mountains of the north

The Caves of Revolution

Communists in Caves - a simplified view of a revolution.

In the 1960s and 70s, the Lao revolution was coordinated by passionate, idealistic men and women living in caves in Northern Laos. They lived and worked and planned and dreamed in them for around 9 years. They were bombed, shot at, hated, demonised, vilified. They survived. They won. Their children now run the Laos Government.

Megaliths and Mystery

Standing for possibly thousands of years, the upright slabs of stone at Hin Tang, in Hua Phan Province, Northern Laos, are eerily silent about where they came from.