I opted for a mountain biking excursion, which included my first elephant ride.

We talk about his time in the islands of Thailand, scams, souvenirs, eating dog and much more.

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From the Editor: During my trip around the world, there were only a handful of times I didn’t have my camera with me.  Tubing in Vang Vieng, Laos is one of those rare times.  I recently came across this video which captures the experience perfectly:  the lazy river, rope swings, drinking, zipline, mud fights, and [...]

In the interest of time and energy, I decided to take the one hour flight from Luang Prabang to Chiang Mai via Lao Airlines. The popular alternative for crossing the western border is to take a slow boat (literally) for two days along the Mekong River. By taking to the air, I was [...]

Before arriving in Laos, I had mentioned it as part of my itinerary to a fellow traveler. He asked me what was there, and I said I didn’t know, but was about to find out. I traced the Mekong River from 4,000 Islands near the southern border to the mountainous north. [...]

8:45 am – Began mountain biking to river – 1.5 hours (16 km) on dirt/rock road – bumpy enough to justify quality bikes. Sun came out. Hot hot. Seat was hard, didn’t have easy access to all 18 gears.

10:15 am – Arrived at a village, rest break, took five minute [...]

The moment I arrived in the old section of Luang Prabang (a World Heritage town), I fell for its charm. I believe “cute” was the exact word out of my mouth as the tuk-tuck dropped Caroline and I off (Nicholas was still tubing back in Vang Vieng).
On my first morning, I walked north toward [...]

Met up with Nicholas and Thomas (France) around noon. Caroline wasn’t feeling well so she skipped the tubing, Vang Vieng’s main draw (beautiful scenery aside). My plan was to *not* drink at all, or much, as I was tired from my birthday celebration.
We took the tuk tuk on the ten minute drive to [...]

I arrived in Vang Vieng the day before my birthday and decided to go rock climbing as a way to celebrate. A mere 14 years earlier, I had my first experience climbing on a friendly 10-12 meter quarry wall at college.
It wasn’t until after I booked a half day trip that I ran into [...]

On my last day in Vientiane, I took a few pages from the Stay Another Day – Laos booklet and combined them with the city’s main sights. The first stop was MAG (Mine Advisors Group). While the display was small, it was to the point and gave me some background on why Laos was [...]