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The journey was more adventurous than the destination
Blog: nateniale { reflections on my travels and everything else I love } - 22 August 2010
When I was planning our trip to Vientiane, Laos, I thought that the little known country (at least to me!) would be an interesting trip compared to the other usual weekend trips from Singapore. Little did I know that the journey to get there (and back) would be more adventurous than the destination! And the drama unfolded even before our actual journey... Buying the air tickets
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2010-07-14 | Golf | Day 683
Blog: 2 Wheels - 1 World - 0 Money - 14 July 2010
The British Open in St.Andrews is on. I knew very little about the game of golf myself, but since I'm staying at a friends place, I have been learning more about it. He has been building golf courses in Asia for over ten years and knows a great deal about them. Surprisingly, there is a great demand on this and Chinese, Vietnamese and American investors are building golf courses like crazy.
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World Travel for Almost Nothing # 1
Blog: Vagobond.com - 14 July 2010
Maybe you’ve noticed that I manage to see quite a few places and you’ve thought to yourself “Boy, I wish I had the money to do that!” I look tall next to these Lao women who live in a small Mekong Village The fact of the matter is, so do I. The other fact of the [...]
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Crossing the Laos/Thailand Border On Bike
Blog: Jamón, jamón: Alice's Gastronomic Adventures - 12 July 2010
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2010-07-09 | Hot? | Day 678
Blog: 2 Wheels - 1 World - 0 Money - 9 July 2010
I always asked myself why I can have a hotel room in South East Asia for the equivalent value of a bunch of apples sold in a European supermarket, but if I wanted the same hotel room WITH the ability to operate its air-condition, I would have to pay the equivalent of a shopping cart full of water melons. As I found out electricity is brought about by out of date diesel generators – especially common in Cambodia. That not only stresses the environment unnecessarily, but also makes power very expensive. I read that 1 kWh of electricity costs about 1300 Riel in Cambodia.
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2010-07-08 | The morning after | Day 677
Blog: 2 Wheels - 1 World - 0 Money - 8 July 2010
I haven't watched the game myself, but the outcome reached me very quickly here in South East Asia. Germany loses against Spain 0:1 – Chin up, German football fans, you are not alone. Here too, on a sub continent, where no country participates in the Fifa world cup, there are passionate fans too – and depending on the scores, delighted or sad faces. Despite that there is an event, similar to the Olympic games, where only South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Laos and so on partake, the soccer world cup is a big deal.
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2010-07-06 | All good things come in threes | Day 675
Blog: 2 Wheels - 1 World - 0 Money - 6 July 2010
The rear tire blew today. I found a nail in it. This was the third flat tire in three days. The second one was caused by a manufacturing-flaw of the inner tube. The valve ripped right out of the front wheel while driving. Damn. But these two incidents were only the universe's exclamation marks to remind me – change your bloody tires already! The first incident happened three days ago – the front tire blew suddenly, when I was going 100km/h on a country road. Only because of a bunch of guardian angels I didn't crash.
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2010-07-03 | Ingenuity in Laos | Day 672
Blog: 2 Wheels - 1 World - 0 Money - 3 July 2010
I couldn't believe my eyes when I – at the speed of 100km/h – flew by a huge amount of rubbish bins, lined up alongside the road. I had noticed this funny looking kind of rubbish bin all over Laos before. Some painted with bright colours, some left to look the raw material. I immediately stopped and talked to the guy that builds and distributes them across the country. There is one on each corner in Vientiane, the capital. He simply takes on old truck and car tires, cleans them, cuts them to size, and turns them into rubbish bins. One of those bins costs about 7.50 US dollars.
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Photo Essay: The 4,000 Islands of Laos
Blog: GoBackpacking - 1 July 2010
Don Det has become a popular backpacker destination due to its laid back atmosphere.--------- Join Travel Blog Success today and learn to build a better travel blog. Membership includes 12 lessons, community forum, audio interviews, and a blog.
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Ecotourism? My *rse
Blog: Travels with a Nine Year Old - 21 June 2010
Monday morning sees us in Chiang Mai, for centuries capital of an independent state, sometimes Siamese, other times Burmese, now the hub of northern Thailand. If you’re Thai, it’s a city of culture and spirituality, of wooden temples, medieval monasteries, crumbling chedi, universities… If you’re a tourist it’s the regional centre of those outdoor activities [...]
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Does the Tooth Fairy Take Lao Kip?
Blog: Travels with a Nine Year Old - 19 June 2010
So junior’s molar, which has been threatening to drop for the last few weeks, finally did the deed today. He hasn’t, historically, had the best record with teeth. Lost one in ice-cream. Swallowed another. And one, I think, fell out of a car window, in circumstances which are blurred, though the ensuing sorrow, of course, [...]
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Spirits of the Forest
Blog: Travels with a Nine Year Old - 18 June 2010
The sheer complexity of the ecosystem in protected, mature forest, from lichens spinning their symbiotic webs across old bark to the chaos wild pigs wreak on stands of giant bamboo, gives you a whole new perspective on the world and your infinitesimal place within it. And when your guides are animists, who whole-heartedly believe in [...]
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On Books
Blog: Travels with a Nine Year Old - 15 June 2010
Back in Udomxay, the construction town in northern Laos where our two-day odyssey from Vietnam reached a natural close, we met a crazy Canadian chap with an Irish accent and a Beer Lao can seemingly stapled twixt thumb and forefinger. Not so much met as, perhaps, attracted. Charming chap. Pushing 70. Thoroughly pickled 24-7. And [...]
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A Rainy Season Odyssey
Blog: Travels with a Nine Year Old - 14 June 2010
The start of the monsoon season in Vietnam’s northern highlands is a beautiful thing. The rivers turn turbid and golden, rapids smearing the surface like toffee coming to the boil; young rice seedlings and their older siblings stipple paddy terraces in varying greens; waterfalls appear everywhere you look. Old women from the hill tribes carry [...]
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Snapshot: Pha That Luang
Blog: To China... and Beyond! - 11 June 2010
On my last morning in Vientiane, I came very close to skipping out on Pha That Luang. A golden monument on the fringes of town seemed like one of those attractions that might be adequately represented by a photo.
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Round-the-world in numbers: the story so far
Blog: Some Travel Required - 8 June 2010
Most of the counting we have been doing on this trip has been related to money - how much is this hostel room? What is the exchange rate? Lee you've already spent this much on beer already, Courtney if we forgo using moisturizer we'll save this much money, etc, etc.
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Strange Travel Photo – Animals In Alcohol
Blog: The Travel Tart - Offbeat Tales From A Travel Addict - 4 June 2010
Today’s Strange Travel Photo comes from Laos, and was sent by one of my friends via email. Actually, he has a talent for producing Travel Videos apart from snapping the odd Strange Travel Photo – check out one of his efforts on YouTube. Anyway, have a look at this table full of bizarre goods below. [...]Strange Travel Photo – Animals In Alcohol is a post from: Funny Travel, Offbeat Travel, Weird Travel - The Travel Tart
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In Laos with Odes, the Chinese Oreo
Blog: Jamón, jamón: Alice's Gastronomic Adventures - 2 June 2010
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How much does it cost to backpack in Asia?
Blog: Orn's travel blog - South-East Asia and China - 31 May 2010
Finally I’ve taken together how much we spent during our four month trip through South-East Asia and China. As you can read about here on the blog we tried to keep our budget down with the occasional splurge when we felt like it. We most often stayed at budget hostels and guesthouse (see further here) [...]
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Travel Tips for Laos
Blog: Many Moon Honeymoon - 25 May 2010
Laos is a gem of a country and we loved almost every second we spent travelling north to south down the Mekong. Here are a few tips for things we would recommend and things to avoid while travelling through Laos.
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Don Det and the 4000 Islands, Laos
Blog: Many Moon Honeymoon - 25 May 2010
The 4000 Islands or Si Phan Don are a collection of islands in the Mekong River, in the far south of Laos. They're a wonderfully chilled out place to and relax but they're no destination for thrill-seekers.
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Random Travel Tips for World Travel – Money Security
Blog: Vagobond.com - 19 May 2010
You can’t do much about a guy that charges you too much to go down the Mekong, but here are a few ways to protect your money…in Laos or anywhere. I’ve done a fair bit of moving around from place to place on this old globe and in the process I’ve learned one or two things. [...]
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Out from Chinese Censorship
Blog: GreenAroundTheGlobe - 19 May 2010
The land of the rising sun has provided us with many things over the last two days. Delicious sushi and beer, orderly street crossings and clean air to name just a few.
