From Northern Thailand to Oz: It's a Long Way!! As of mid-December 2024, we’ve had our last pile of Khao Soi, which marked the bittersweet end to our 10 months in East and Southeast Asia as we launch into our sixth continent. That’s right, to Oz! We are finally traversing our way to the Land Down Under, and poor Greg…
Arriving to the Middle of Nowhere...Oz Edition Although we really enjoyed Melbourne, we were more than ready to experience a side of Victoria which took us “into the Outback” as we headed to the Southern Cross Train Station for our first overland adventure down under. Of course, we’d be schooled soon enough by our friends that we were merely in the…
Doing the Hooker Valley Track gave us our first glimpse of the majestic Mt. Cook/Aoraki, but to truly soak in the beauty of New Zealand’s Southern Alps and the entire Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park, you have to climb a mountain. Perched 1,800 meters (5,900 ft) up nearby Mt. Ollivier lies one of the most incredible alpine huts in the entire…
Staying at Fasay Gardens One of the most stunning waterfalls and popular attractions in Laos sits at the foot of a tiny village a mere 50 minutes from Luang Prabang. Because of this, it is typically thronged with hundreds and hundreds of tourists. So, how to see it without the crowds? Stay there of course! Unfortunately there’s not a lot of…
From Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng From Luang Prabang, we first headed south to the “adventure capital of Laos”—Vang Vieng. Fortunately(?), thanks to the China-made rail system, this 1.5-hour journey is now a breeze. The thing we’re realizing about China-made systems is, they are reasonably organized. You can also count on them for good security measures, like confiscating your newly bought…
Traveling to Nong Khiaw from Luang Prabang After six nights in Vang Vieng, we choo-chooed back north through Luang Prabang where we snagged three more days in its alluring wonder. It was here we both started showing signs of nasty head colds that would continue to inject misery on our systems for the next 7-10 days. Oh no…fast travel was catching…
The Adventure from Nong Khiaw to Luang Namtha As alluded to in a previous post, the next phase of our journey in Laos from Nong Khiaw to Luang Namtha would involve the most bone-shaking bus ride we’ve had in several years with road conditions that made us have flashbacks of Ethiopia or Nepal. The good news is, this time one…
Mountainous Laos is an underrated sleeper hit in our books. We simply had no idea how spellbound we’d become by its lush raw natural beauty, its friendly people and its serenity during our four weeks in the northern part of the country. Below is our personal list of highlights and statistics, as well as upsides and downsides for the country. If…
