louiseinlimbo

For some reason I can’t explain, the UNESCO-listed Plain of Jars is somewhere I’ve long wanted to visit.  Several thousand stone jars of varying sizes are spread over a large area in north-eastern Laos, their original purpose not really known although generally believed to be coffins, grave markers, or temporary storage for decomposing bodies.  The province where they are located (Xieng Khouang) was one of the worst hit by the second Indochina war, and unexploded ordnance still poses a threat, but many of the 90+ jar sites are now open to the public. Now I had my opportunity and so I set off on a supposedly ten-hour journey by minivan from Luang Prabang, through twisting partly unsurfaced roads winding up and down through the mountains.  Scenic but not so comfortable (many Laos take travel-sickness medication before the trip).  The route is heavily used by big trucks, even though the condition of the road makes it difficult for them, and several times at some of the sharper, steeper be

I was in Laos in December 2007, down in the south of the country, and always knew that I had to come back to see the central and northern parts.  Finally, with it just a (long) bus-trip away from Vietnam, it was easy to do. I started in Savannakhet, where the bus arrived.  Nothing much to see there, but that in a way was good, as I was able to relax for a couple of days without feeling I needed to be out seeing things.  From there I would have gone straight to Vientiane, but a friend had told me how I needed to stop on the way in Thakhek, to see some amazing caves.  I did so, although it was pricey as I couldn't do the usual tourist thing of renting a motorbike and spending 3-4 days driving the 'loop' but went instead on two day-trip personal tours in a minivan, driven by the hostel manager.  Worth it, I think, for some really spectacular caves and pretty good scenery generally. From there I moved on to the capital, Vientiane, a place many travellers bypass, but I stayed fo

I had heard how very touristy Hoi An is, so wasn't sure what I'd think of the place.  & it's true that there were thousands of tourists there, and the vast majority of the buildings in the UNESCO-listed old town are restaurants/bars/cafes/tourist shops - but it is still beautiful.  I happily wandered its streets for days, although helped I suppose by my staying in a hostel-homestay in what I can only describe as a "middle class suburb".  A twenty-minute walk out of town, it was so clean and quiet, probably one motorbike going past every ten minutes on otherwise empty roads. The town is crowded full of old houses, temples, community centres and museums, and there are also a few venues which put on cultural performances.  But walking the other way out of my hostel I could avoid all of the touristy sights and walk beside rice paddies and a nearly-deserted beach - so a nice mixture.  & nearby are towns with yet more temples (most of them seeming to contain a m

From Ho Chi Minh City I took a bus to DaLat, the so-called 'city of eternal spring'.  Whilst I was there that meant lovely warm days (24-28⁰C range) and cool nights (around 18⁰C, so easy to sleep), and it was easy enough to walk long distances up and down the narrow streets and alleyways of this very hilly town. I suppose the best-known site there is a modern one, being the so-called 'crazy house'.  Designed by an architect (an official at the Architecture Design Institutes of the Building Ministry and Cultural Ministry) who wanted to "break traditional practices by forming free volumes with free curves and structures", and built during the years 1990 to 2010, it really is a "crazy" house, which I spent a couple of hours wandering around.  No straight lines anywhere, tunnels from some 'rooms' to others, giant spiderman hands on one outside wall ... it's really not possible to put across in words quite how crazy it is. It is possible (alth

 ... or Saigon, as many people still know it (so even its name has different sides). As usual, I opted to stay in the cheapest hostel I could find, which in HCMC was just off Bui Vien, or "walking street" as it is also known.  The heart of the tourist district, this street is full of bars (with the odd beauty parlour or tattoo place squeezed between) pulsing with bright lights, with the loudest music I have ever heard, and for those not tempted in for a drink by that, some of them also have scantily-clad young Vietnamese men and women dancing on some of their tables.  Thankfully you could neither see nor hear any of this from my hostel, but I walked through it most evenings on the way to meet a friend.  It was kind of fascinating, although it never tempted me inside any of the venues.  One afternoon, however, I was pulled in by someone I knew from my hostel, sitting at a table with a friend, and I joined them for one beer.  We got onto the subject of the sex tourism side of t

The only sensible flights out of Vanuatu for me were those to Australia, so I decided to visit a friend in Sydney who I hadn't seen for quite a few years.  She'd kindly offered to host me for as long as I wanted, and I envisaged a week of sleeping, editing my photos from the Pacific, and catching up with online stuff.  However, I got there to find that (a) she had a full programme of entertainment mapped out, and (b) she has no wifi in her apartment but relies on data on her phone - which I couldn't even hotspot to as she has only limited data.  Not that I'm complaining, it was great to see her, there was a shopping mall with virtually unlimited wifi only a short bus ride away, and I accepted that I would just have to delay the other stuff until I moved on to my next destination. So we went out for a number of lovely walks (Sydney is such a well-located city, with so many beautiful bays around the coastline there and lots of greenery - and birds! - inside the city), and