*/
I’ve consolidated all 10 stories I did on Laos here. 01-06 Oct 2009 > Laos Vientiane to Luang Prabang Luang Prabang: Prelude and Hmong Market Luang Prabang: Walkabout and Mekong River Luang Prabang: Mighty Mekong Luang Prabang: Wats or Vats Luang Prabang: Night Market Luang Prabang: Monks and Alms Luang Prabang: Alms-giving and Ork Phansa [...]
read more» 4 CommentsLaos > Vientiane VIENTIANE or VIANG-CHAN, 05-06 Oct 2009 From our hotel room, we have a good view of Vientiane city, with a population of about 200,000 people. We have got ourself a car today, so a quick outstation trip is in the offing. And traffic is always interesting to watch here. No hordes of [...]
read more» 2 CommentsLaos > Luang Prabang LUANG PRABANG, 05 Oct 2009 Final day in wonderful Luang Prabang and we have a lunchtime flight back to Vientiane, so I take the morning off for a final walkabout. And this is my final wat for this trip – Wat Phouxai, a smallish monastery built late 18th century. The monks [...]
read more» 9 CommentsLaos > Luang Prabang LUANG PRABANG, 04 Oct 2009 Upon reaching the end of the line of alm-givers, the monks promptly make a U-turn and walk briskly pass us to return to their monastery. Their movements are so precise, polished after months of such daily routine. A group of elderly ladies in all-white clothings wait [...]
read more» 5 CommentsLaos > Luang Prabang LUANG PRABANG, 04 Oct 2009 It’s 5am on a cool fine morning, and we are already in the main street of Luang Prabang. A cart selling foodstuff is in business. We are told that today is ‘Ork Phansa’ – the end of the Buddhist Lent – also to officially mark the [...]
read more» 0 CommentsLaos > Luang Prabang LUANG PRABANG, 03 Oct 2009 Late afternoon, and I’m suffering from wat-fatigue already, so this is my last wat for the day – Wat Mahathat, built mid-16th century by a king based in faraway Chiangmai. That explains the original stupa (foreground) built in the style of the ancient Lanna kingdom which [...]
read more» 8 CommentsLaos > Luang Prabang LUANG PRABANG, 03 Oct 2009 Luang Prabang was founded in the mid-14th century as a royal capital (which lasted until 1975 when the monarchy was abolished, but it remains a spiritual centre till now), and is sited on a promontory formed by the Khan River and the Mekong. As the road [...]
read more» 3 CommentsLaos > Luang Prabang LUANG PRABANG, 03 Oct 2009 Second day in Luang Prabang and I belatedly inspect the rules of the hotel glued to the wall of the room, issued by the local police, no less. Lemme see … hmmmm … Rule #1: yup, there’s a curfew in Laos – people should be indoors [...]
read more» 1 CommentLaos > Luang Prabang LUANG PRABANG, 02 Oct 2009 Still along the main road, but near our inn, we find the post office. The missus has to ship something to a friend. The place, offering a multitude of services, is open till 10pm, and sometimes the postmaster’s kids play in the office. How homely! Across [...]
read more» 6 CommentsLaos > Luang Prabang LUANG PRABANG, 02 Oct 2009 Main street, downtown Luang Prabang. Lunchtime, hot humid and quiet, low season for visitors – just the way I like it. Looks like any typical boring street, but on closer inspection, the old shophouses are French. But first thing’s first. Gotta get the local dough called [...]
read more» 3 CommentsLaos > Vientiane VIENTIANE, 02 Oct 2009 Today we are traveling from Vientiane to Luang Prabang, some 425km by road – which can take about 9-10hrs – or just 40min by air. A no-brainer for us, so we find our way to Vientiane Wattay International Airport VTE to catch the morning Lao Airlines flight to [...]
read more» 10 CommentsA dear friend of ours, Dr Kamarudin ‘Pak Din’ Mat Salleh, Professor of Botany, National University of Malaysia, succumbed to cancer yesterday 10 Oct 2009, after a lengthy battle. He was born in Kelantan, Malaysia, on 17 Apr 1959. This is our humble tribute to him – a wonderful, simple man … Ulu Dong Rafflesia [...]
read more» 2 CommentsSpain > Cordoba CORDOBA, 22 May 2009 At the northwestern corner of the Mosque Cathedral compound, we exit by passing through an arched doorway next to the sole minaret. Outside the northern wall of the mosque, there’s another lane lined with souvenir shops and restaurants. It’s a hot mid-day, and folks are indoors shopping or [...]
read more» 3 CommentsSpain > Cordoba CORDOBA, 22 May 2009 The mandatory but lengthy Mosque Cathedral visit done, we emerge into the hot noon Andalucian sun. Even the crowds are staying away. Foot patrols are common, making us visitors feel safe and secure. At the northeastern tip of the Mosque Cathedral, there’s even a tourist trap called Al [...]
read more» 0 CommentsThe Netherlands > The Gardens of Keukenhof KEUKENHOF, 13 May 2009 Midnight 12 May ‘09, and the international departure at KLIA LCCT can’t get any desolate than this. But it’s a huge improvement over older facility. Our AirAsia X KUL-STN flight D7-2002 departed at 1am on the dot, and 10 hours later, I still can’t [...]
read more» 2 CommentsNew Zealand > South Island > Magical Milford Sound MILFORD SOUND, 08 Aug 2008 ‘080808′ – an auspicious date, and today we are doing a ‘must-do-before-you-die’ trip to the famous Milford Sound, which is actually a fiord. The 290km journey from Queenstown to Milford Sound goes through Te Anau, and in winter the tricky bit [...]
read more» 0 CommentsChina > Guangxi Province > Lovely Li River LI RIVER, 01 Aug 2009 It’s a fine warm morning when the minibus picks us up at our Guilin hotel and 40 minutes later, deposits us at this place in the middle of nowhere called Zhujiang. We read no Chinese, speak no Mandarin and hardly anybody else [...]
read more» 0 CommentsHUMBLE TAMARIND If you happen to find yourself in the East Coast of Malaysia, especially Kelantan, try this buah celagi or tamarind fruit. It’s sold by the piles at night markets, good quality ones fetching RM10 a kg. Yes, this humble fruit used to be of zero-value when I was a kid, it was so sour [...]
read more» 0 Comments
