Laos 2009

About this blog

At last! After 2.5 years without a proper holiday I hit the road again! I had a full month to bus, boat and train through Laos and a bit of Thailand.

I flew into Bangkok, took a night train to northern Laos, visited some places there, and then worked my way down through central and southern Laos and ended my trip with some days on the Thai island of Ko Chang. Then I spent some last days in Bangkok and flew home to Amsterdam, where a yearly documentary film festival and a fun volleyball tournament awaited me.

What I loved about Laos: - super friendly, soft people - very safe - good food (but saw some disgusting foods too like bats and crickets and chicken feet...) - nice weather - small size cities with colonial (French) architecture, temples, monks - beautiful mountains, rice paddies, caves, waterfalls, the Mekong and other rivers - markets - lovely bungalows overlooking rivers, and a nice homestay with a local family - massages are dirt cheap - it's easy to rent bikes everywhere and use them to get around towns

In my blog you can read all about my adventures and see the pictures... how I went kayaking, tubing in a cave, swam under waterfalls, did a boat ride through a 7 km long cave, rode and elephant, danced with Thai people and travellers alike, met loads of nice people, saw amazing sunsets, etc.

Useful websites

Going to Laos yourself? These are some very useful websites I wanted to share.

* Eco Tourism Laos www.ecotourismlaos.com > national parks, trekkings, homestay, do's and don'ts (politeness)

* Train travel www.seat61.com > train travel around the globe, excellent website with timetables, prices, pictures and sometimes even short videos

* Hotel reviews www.travelfish.org > A great website that lists almost every guesthouse and hotel in Laos, Thailand, and various other South East Asian countries, with ratings and reviews.

* Travel blog http://thewanderingstraycat.blogspot.com > travel blogs of a solo female traveller who's been to Laos and neighbouring countries many times.