Far North to Far South

Although positively bustling by Lao standards, laid back Pakse Town makes a great base for exploring the sites and landscapes of southern Laos

A few tips on how to get the best out of your small group tour to Southeast Asia

As far as Mekong boat cruises go, Southeast Asia’s longest river offers some 5,000 kilometres to choose from. The Mekong originates high up on the Tibetan Plateau and after passing through, or past, six countries, eventually emerges into the South China Sea.

Vientiane We’ve run through our favourite see and dos in  Vientiane before so this post is more of an overall description and brief rundown on the history of the laid-back Lao capital.(1) Although of course growing, it is still by some distance the smallest of the various Southeast Asian capitals with an estimated 215,000 inhabiting the downtown area, increasing to…

Indochine, as the French called it, comprised 5 regions or territories; Annam, Cambodia, Cochin-china, Laos and Tonkin

Hin Nam No National Park in northeastern Laos was added to UNESCO’s World Heritage list in July 2025

Some of our favourite boat journeys in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam

Community based tourism Community based tourism schemes, or even community-based, as our spell checker insists, are commonly referred to in the trade as CBTs and have become a popular buzz phrase in recent times. As the title suggests, they refer, in theory, to small-scale, relatively low-key tourism initiatives set up and run by local residents – family groups or villagers,…

Laos – land crossings and airports A brief rundown on the various land border crossings and international airports used on our small group tours to Laos. Airports Vientiane – Wattay International Airport Lao’s capital Vientiane is the arrival point for most, but not all, of our Laos small group tours including;  Highlights of Northern Laos, our Laos and Vietnam tour…

The quaint riverside town with its old French period architecture and ancient temples gives its name to this South Lao Province

Cambodia entry and exit points A rundown on Cambodia entry and exit points including international airports and land border crossings relevant to our Cambodia small group tours. Airports The small Southeast Asian country of Cambodia currently boasts three airports for commercial, passenger flights, all of which have international facilities and two of which are relevant to our Cambodia small group…

Kuang Si Waterfall The picturesque waterfalls, turquoise cascades and limestone-edged ponds of Kuang Si, nestled amid forest some 30 kilometres southwest of Luang Prabang, are an understandably popular destination with both locals and foreign visitors. Though not far from town, it did used to be a bit of an arduous trip along either muddy or dusty, but always bumpy, trails…