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While Viang Vieng is known to backpackers as the ultimate party destination, it is also an adventurer’s paradise–if you can stomach the crowd and the 24 hours showings of “Friends,” that is. The isolated town is in the northern mountain of Laos, and the landscape is absolutely breath-taking–with Limestone karsts jutting up from the valleys and plains like monuments to what is possible for natural beauty. Because of […]

Most people who go to Vang Vieng will tell you that the best river trip around is the all too famous tubing trip — or should I say drunken tubing trip.  And I won’t argue.  The Vang Vieng River mission is probably one of the most fun things you’ll ever do in your lifetime, even if you’re a hard-core backpacker who has seen it all.

One of the most popular activities in Northern Laos, and Southeast Asia, for that matter, is to go tubing down the river outside of Vang Vieng. To those who’ve been there, this goes without saying…This has become one of the must-do’s on the backpacker circuit and is responsible for the huge party scene that has settled in the once sleepy of Vang Vieng—in a country where party scenes don’t really […]

// // Beer Lao is to Laos what muay thai is to Thailand.  It permeates every part of their culture and way of life.  Living in Southeast Asia for about a year and a half now, there aren’t many things about America that I get teary-eyed over, but one thing that does drive me crazy is the serious lack of beer… good beer, that is…

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It always comes back to drinking, doesn’t it?  Well, what can I say for myself?   I guess if I was responsible I’d probably be back home working rather than traveling the world.  And as I mentioned before, drinking just tends to permeate world travel.  Laos is no different, but what is different about Laos — really, really different – is not about what they drink but how […]

Have you ever heard of dancing shrimp? I have always had two hardfast rules about eating bizarre foods. #1:  I refuse to eat anything that is still alive because I think it is inhumane. #2:  I refuse to eat anything simply for the sake of grossing myself or others out–it has to be a culinary dish people of some culture enjoy. Okay–I’m doomed; I have broken rule #1.   Behold Thailand’s famous dancing shrimp.

I’ve only met a small handful of these guys over here, but the word is they are out here in flocks—internet card sharks making a bundle and leveraging global currency differences to live like rock stars.

Thais are a gentle people. Thais avoid conflict. Thais are some of the most peaceful people in the world. After all, this is the Land of Smiles. Well, sort of…

I made a post a while back called “Visa Runs: The Long-term Expat Headache Explained,” and I realize people may be counting on this information as they try to make Thailand their home, so I thought it my responsibility to include an update due to some big changes in the way visas are being handled.

I’ve been meaning to make it out of Chiang Mai to go explore some more of Thailand for a while, but there’s something about this place that really holds onto you. As a result, I was around for my second experience of the famous Loy Krathong festival, otherwise known as the Floating Lantern Festival, and while this picturesque celebration takes place all over Thailand, this city has one of the […]