The Big One

Phonsavan

Friday, April 4, 2014 The road north along National Highway 13 and then east along National Highway 7 to Phonsavan was just stunning. The road weaved itself through the forested mountains and Laos villages. Lots of potholes but we were…

Vang Vieng

Wednesday, April 2, 2014 The road north to Vang Vieng was good with only the occasional car destroying pothole. We didn’t hit any. And it was nice to be driving through mountains again. Sterlin was running extremely well after the…

Vientiane

Thursday, March 27, 2014 A long drive today, but rewarded with Vientiane (the Capital of Laos). Found a delightful hotel on the edge of town. In the early evening we went exploring for a) the Land Rover dealer and b)…

Kong Lor Cave

Wednesday, March 26, 2014 We drove north along Mekong and after 100 kms or so turned right at Road No. 8 and started to wind through the mountains. This was such a pretty drive and we both enjoyed the mountain…

Thakhek

Monday, March 24, 2014 The roads in Laos are getting better and faster as we head North. Less potholes, less cattle wandering around aimlessly and less villages on the main highway. This is a good thing, as today was a…

Savannakhet

Sunday, March 23, 2014 A wonderful night’s sleep on the Bolaven Plateau, and the first time in a long time we did not hear the humming of an air conditioning unit. Bliss. A big day’s drive as we planned to…

Bolaven Plateau

Saturday, March 22, 2014 We headed east to the hills, where there are waterfalls and they grow coffee, and, just as importantly, being 1,000 meters higher it is 10 degrees cooler. And indeed, as we headed up, the thermometer headed…

Pakse

Thursday, March 20, 2014 The road to Pakse was good. Well, apart from cows regularly and aimlessly crossing the road. We suspect this will be a common occurrence here in Southern Laos. Pakse has good coffee and it was not…

Muang Khong

Wednesday, March 19, 2014 On arrival in Muang Khong we headed straight for the Senesothxuen Hotel recommended by other travelers and we were not disappointed. After relaxing a bit and a bath (yes, a bath; for the first time in a while…

Stung Treng

Monday, March 17, 2014 The hotel selection here was very limited, so that made it easy to find the best hotel in town, Gold River Hotel. Tripadvisor recommended a cafe located on the outskirts of town, and that is where…

Kratie to Stung Treng

Saturday, March 15, 2014 We had rain and thunderstorms overnight, which was a little exciting. We got a late start, but the plan for the day only called for 3 hours of driving. And the plan was right for once.…

Kratie

Thursday, March 13, 2014 After having picked up our Chinese visas, we headed off to Kratie, the long way around. Ok, we got lost, but only twice. I think our GPS got confused; actually our GPS got confused twice. Once…

Phnom Penh

Friday, March 7, 2014 What a long day. After we left the temple and regained National Highway No. 6 we had only 180 kms to go to Phnom Penh. We had heard the road was in bad shape, but we…