Merry Christmas! Well, I know it’s time for Passover/Easter, but I guess we’re (alright Aaron, I’M) a bit behind. Since coming back here there has been a lot of to-dos and no time for settling, which is okay with us, as I don’t think we’re comfortable doing so. SO… What are the Four Thousand Islands? […]

We spent one night in Champasak on our way in between Pakse and the Four Thousand Islands. We were there for one thing: Wat Phu, an ancient Khmer temple.   The temple is supposedly the most impressive religious ruin in Laos, and while it can’t compare to the temples at Angkor, it was an impressive […]

We almost missed our overnight bus from Vientiane to Pakse. We were supposed to be picked at our hotel but we waited and waited and soon got worried. While traveling we found that there was a blurred line of being pushy and “nervous Americans” vs. going with the flow and completely depending on things to work […]

While we were looking forward to a few days in Vientiane after a great time in Luang Prabang, we were left disappointed. Somehow the French colonial charm didn’t make its way to Laos’ capital. Instead, the city streets looked just like any other city’s streets; the temples that line main streets look ordinary and worn […]

Vang Vieng is a legendary backpacker party location where the action revolves around days spent floating from bar to bar in inner tubes. There are countless stories of how outrageous the party used to be, but the fact that 25 tourists used to die each year from the partying pretty much sums it up. But […]

While places like Luang Prabang have been on the “must visit” hot lists of many travelers, I was excited that Laos also offered opportunities to discover places and people way off the beaten path. When we signed up for a 3 day/2 night trek with homestays in villages, I had no idea how truly authentic […]

Lew-ang Pro-baang or Loo-Ang Pra-Bang, we really didn’t know how to pronounce it upon arrival. But I fell in love with this little town’s charm and character almost straight away.   The whole city itself is a UNESCO World Heritage site which contains just a few main streets between the Nam Khan and Mekong rivers. […]

We crossed over from Thailand to Laos at Huay Xai, a common border crossing for backpackers on the SE Asia circuit. It’s popular because Huay Xai is the starting point for a two-day slow boat journey down to Luang Prabang. Numerous people had told us that the slow boat was a “must do,” but we […]