Laos | GRRRL TRAVELER

Photo Essay: Nong Khiaw, a traveler’s elbow and armpit of beauty.

Filed under Luang Prabang & N.Laos, Photo Essays by Christine Ka'aloa on August 17, 2011 at 8:06 am {5 comments}

Is Laos’s Khiaw merely a traveler’s hub or does it have its own unique pulse?

Dusty dirt roads and old wooden storefront buildings.

This is what I saw when the bus dropped me and a van full of tourists off in the middle of the main street of Nong Khiaw.

Did we arrive yet?

No one seemed to know. The small quiet town looked like a Laos version of a deserted Wild West with occasional motorbikes, kicking up dust as they passed.

Oh my god… what could I possibly do here? I thought…

5 minutes after arriving, I contemplated re-boarding our local minivan bus, but I’d just finished a three-hour ride from Luang Prabang. (more…)

Photo Essay: Oh my Buddha!!! (Wat Si Sisket, Vientiane)

Filed under Religious, Vientiane by Christine Ka'aloa on July 30, 2011 at 2:21 pm {6 comments}

Vientiane, Laos.
If seeing Buddhas are you thing, then you’ll never find yourself at a loss in Laos. In fact, at Wat Si Sisket, there’s an impressive collection of over 2,000 of them. Housed in a cloister, the Buddhas meditate around the main temple, each of them aged with its own personality of time, material and ruin. It’s a virtual antiquities museum jogging you to reflect on the history and reincarnations of ‘The Reawakened One‘.

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48 hours: Winging it Solo in Vientiane

Filed under Laos tips & stays, Vientiane by Christine Ka'aloa on July 28, 2011 at 3:06 pm {4 comments}

My first impression of Vientiane?

Dust. Dirt. Dry. Barren.

Vientiane was warm for winter, with no oasis of lush vegetation to seduce the eyes. I had just spent a horribly restless night on my overnight train , crossing the border from Thailand into Laos. I was wanting to be impressed..

When I arrived at the Laotian capital, I was still waiting…

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What will your Kip buy in Laos budget hostels and hotels?

Filed under Accommodations, Laos by Christine Ka'aloa on June 23, 2011 at 12:37 am {4 comments}

Mixay Guesthouse in Vientiane

In Laos, it seems that you’ll always have a place to lay your head. Even if it’s peak season.

Taking advantage of Laos’ budget holiday accommodations is where the backpacking fun is at. But awesome digs at a quarter of the cost takes real shopping. You might want to figure out if it’s worth your time. While I didn’t come across many guesthouses which dazzled me with electric chic, the pads I slumbered in might give you an idea of the backpacker budget median you’ll find in Vientiane, Nong Khiaw, Muong Ngoi and Luang Prabang. (more…)

Surviving the overnight seater train to Laos

Filed under Laos, Laos tips & stays by Christine Ka'aloa on March 28, 2011 at 5:37 am {12 comments}

Taking the overland train from Bangkok to Nong Khai (to Laos)

Sometimes life throws you a condition that isn’t satisfactory or even palatable. Let’s say you’re crossing overland from Thailand to Laos (via Nong Khai), you got the last seat on an overnight train and it’s a seater! Should you be worried?…

Well, you show up as scheduled to find your train isn’t a luxury Thai sleeper train but is god-awful noisy, seats munchkin-sized passengers, it’s an 11 hour ride and the AC is sending you into hypothermia. This is the worst ride of your life! What do you do?

… Whatever you can.

I thought I could learn to live with temporarily uncomfortable situations– I thought wrong.

We all go through moments of personal horrors stories. Not every travel condition is ideal…

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Love Letter #6: I Forgot to tell you…

Filed under Love Letter Postcards, Vientiane by Christine Ka'aloa on March 6, 2011 at 4:54 pm {no comments}

Dear Love,

There were things we never spoke of..

Things you never asked and things I never told.

There were others.

In the coming weeks, much will seem confusing. A flood of memories are on the brink of unfolding. The ink in my pen is heavy — past and present will flow into one.