Comments on: Laos Astray

By: Daniel Roy

Daniel Roy — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 07:05:39 +0000

Hi Eva & Jeremy,

Thanks for the info on Laos. You’re making me want to visit it again, this time for real. I liked Vientiane, but I’m under no delusion that I saw even an inch of Laos’ natural beauty… Ah well, always somewhere to go back to, as you judiciously point out.

Thinking back, Laos was a good place to just wind down for a while. I’m glad we did it there. I feel so full of energy and wanderlust now that we’re India, and I’m sure Laos played a part in rekindling that!

By: Eva & Jeremy Rees

Eva & Jeremy Rees — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 15:40:23 +0000

We spent around two weeks in Laos. First for NYE in Luang Prabang, then for goofy fun in Vang Vieng, and lastly, waiting out a long weekend for our visas in Vientiane. Of all the places we saw, Vientiane was the weakest… We saw all the sights and visited all the markets (even the Beer Lao brewery!), and really, we were bored! Luang Prabang and Vang Vieng really had a lot more to offer.
I think of Laos not so much as a “destination” destination, but more as a chillout spot. When we return to SEA, we’ll be keeping Laos in our back pocket as an inbetweener breather break. We missed Don Det (4,000 Islands) almost on purpose this time around, so we can save it for the next go-around. Laos is super chilled out, with friendly people and absurdly gorgeous and serene natural wonders. I’ve never been to a less “built up” place!

But more in response to your experiences… we had the same thing happen to us in Malaysia. We were just on a travel low and we never even gave our destinations (KL and Penang) a chance. In retrospect, it was a great idea just to ditch out and leave, it gave us a fresh start, but we do feel sad that we never took a good look at Malaysia. Maybe someday…

Glad you beat the fatigue!!

By: Jodi

Jodi — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:16:24 +0000

I know *exactly* what you mean. After 4 months on the road ourselves, we decided that rather than try to tackle the unfamiliarity and uncertainty of a side-trip to Greece, we would just stay in Israel for the whole month and enjoy it here. But our arrival here is complicated by British Airways having lost our bags — most of our time in our London stopover and on our first day here was spent buying clothes and toiletries. It doesn’t really help the travel fatigue.

What *does* help is being able to crash at my aunt and uncle’s house outside Tel Aviv, especially since they have wi-fi and we can catch up on all things internet!

Enjoy the next stage of your journey!

By: Daniel Roy

Daniel Roy — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:58:46 +0000

Andy: Thanks for the kind words, and the recommandation. We’re now in Bangkok, after an amazing 2 weeks in Isaan. (Yeah, this post is a bit on the late side, sorry!) I can say we got our travel spirits back alright. Isaan was fantastic, and I’ll blog about it shortly. And I’m getting really pumped up about India soon.

Brian: Haha, that’s a fantastic story. I’ll keep an eye out for that sign.

By: brian

brian — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 19:48:31 +0000

There is nothing wrong with taking a break from travel. It can be extremely tiring when you’re on the move all the time.

I got so tired I could not remember what country I was in the night before when I got to Customs at Heathrow. I knew then it was time to take a break.

By: Andy

Andy — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:41:49 +0000

Nice post again, hope you’re both re-invigorated for the ongoing trip. The Luang Prabang sausage looks amazing. Enjoy Isaan – it’s the best part of Thailand, but remember Isaan is the name of the group of provinces in the north east, and not a province in itself.

If you come across it on your journey, give plaa som (sour fish) a try. It’s a fish you only come across in parts of Isaan, and is very famous in some parts.

Have fun.