Author: Megan
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Yangon: Day 1
The area I was staying in Bangkok was a backpacker’s haven. The streets were littered with internet cafes, CD sellers, tailors and restaurants serving “American Breakfast.” Because of this, I was able to book a spot on a bus to the airport for a lot cheaper than a taxi. After checking out of my hotel…
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Back To Burma
I’ve been very busy here in Bangkok, I hope everyone’s keeping warm in the Northern hemisphere. Tomorrow morning I leave for Myanmar again, this time via Rangoon. The internet situation there sounds a bit iffy so sit tight!
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Bangkok In Short
I?m not going to write too much about Bangkok. It was a completely surreal experience. Being in Thailand after so many months in China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos was shocking–shopping malls, a sky train and a 7-11 on every corner. It almost felt like being back home in a way and I took full advantage…
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Updating
Thank you for being so patient with me. I know my updating of this site has been really slow but I’ve finally got December all wrapped up and online. I’m working on the rest of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand, I swear! It’s hard to stay in my hotel room and write when I feel like…
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Red Tape, Road Blocks and a Handful of Christians
Ideally I would have taken the 6 am bus from Chiang Rai to the border town of Mae Sai to enter Myanmar. Instead, I got on the bus around 8 am and didn’t arrive at the border until midday. Both sides were teaming with stalls selling everything from souvenirs to spices.
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My Long Weekend in Myanmar
I was sitting very comfortably in Chiang Mai, Thailand eating ice cream and pizza when I looked at a map. I suddenly realized that Myanmar was only 1.5 hours away! The next day I was on standing in immigration wondering if it might be possible to get a 5-day visa. After four offices, three photos…
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A Slurpee A Day
The border at Huay Xai, Laos was hectic with people of all ages crossing from Thailand into Laos. Most people use Thailand as a base and cross over to Laos for a few days. I used my entire one-month visa and felt like I rushed through. After stamping out of Laos I walked down to…
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Breakdown
There is one bus a day from Luang Nam Tha to Huay Xai–the border town near Northern Thailand. Keeping in mind what happened on my last trip, I went to the bus station one hour early. The bus was almost full by the time I arrived. Before we left more tourists arrived and locals were…
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Market Day Near the Chinese Border
Muang Sing is known for it’s market because of the many tribes who trade there. Some people had told me it was amazing and others had told me it wasn’t worth the trouble. I decided to go and find out for myself. The Australian was back from her hike and decided to come along. One…
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Not Hiking
We got up early in Udomxai and had a fairly uneventful ride up to Luang Nam Tha. This time the bus was actually a bus–four sides, widows and a door. After we arrived my Australian friend and I walked around town trying to find reasonable accommodation. Everything seemed to be overpriced, hovering around the five…
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Sunset Kite Flying
Northern Laos isn?t the easiest place to transverse quickly. The roads are narrow, hills are tall and potholes numerous. A large group of people left Muang Ngoi at the same time as me and my friend. He left for the city on the first bus while I stuck around Nong Kiaw to wait for the…
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Sharing a Bamboo Hut With One German and Two Rats
North of Luang Prabang is a less-touristed area of natural beauty–mountains, caves and rivers. The roads in the north are either dirt tracks or poorly maintained one-lane drop offs snaking around the sides of mountains. I left Luang Prabang early in the morning to catch one of the two daily buses to Nong Kiaw–the closest…
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A New Year In A New Town
As far as tourism in Laos is concerned, the town of Luang Prabang is it. It?s the only real attraction Laos has and many people fly directly into town from Thailand or Cambodia. My bus arrived in the late afternoon on the outskirts of town. The taxi I shared dropped us off on the outskirts…
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Safe and Sound
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Internet connections in Laos are not spectacular and I apoligize for the long time in-between posts. I spent Christmas in Vientiane, Laos, and was there when the massive tsunamis hit South East Asia. The majority of travelers I have talked to in the past two months told me…
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Steep Cliffs and Lots of TVs
The road between Vientiane and Luang Prabang is now paved but the trip still takes ten hours on a winding path through the mountains. To break up the trip I stopped in Vang Vieng, a town with little to do besides look at the steep, rock-faced mountains. There are a lot of caves in the…
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The Capital for Christmas
Wanting to be near civilization, or atleast a town with electricity, I hurried up to Vientiane on a night bus from Pakse. Arriving at 4:30am I only had to walk away from three taxis before I found one that would take me, for a reasonable price, to the hotel I hoped to stay at. Seeing…
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Elephants and Waterfalls
On the way to Pakse from the islands I met up with a girl who convinced me to go with her to a little town with a waterfall in the East named Tad Lo. We had to stop for the night in a transit town name Pakse anyway, so we decided to make a quick…
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One or Two of the Four Thousand Islands
The Southern part of Laos is often neglected by tourists as it?s much easier to enter from Thailand near Vientiane. But I found the area where the Mekong widens and makes way for 4,000 islands quite beautiful. I decided to stay on one of the smaller islands, Don Det, to relax and start my journey…
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Three Days Upriver
Cambodia is not a country of many roads. In fact, every time I left Phnom Penh I ended up having to come back to get somewhere else. And although Siam Reap is North of the capital, I still needed to come back to town in order to head north to Laos. My route to Laos…
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A Temple Here, A Temple There. Temples, Temples, Everywhere
There is nothing that defines Cambodia more than Angkor Wat. Although Angkor Wat is one of the best preserved Khmer temples near the town of Siam Reap, there are more than fifty temple complexes in the immediate area. Being my ever-ambitious self I decided that I needed to see as many temples as possible–no temple…