Southeast Asia Travel News

Surprisingly, some of the most spectacular and best-preserved of all Angkor period temples aren’t even in Cambodia. The magnificent 11th and 12th-century sites of Phnom Rung and Muang Tam – the former spectacularly perched atop an ancient volcano, the latter surrounded by delightful lily ponds – are actually situated in northeastern Thailand’s Buriram Province. Furthermore, one of the most attractive…

In 2008 Cambodia’s magnificent mountain top Angkor period temple, Preah Vihear received UNESCO World Heritage status and to our minds justifiably so, even if it did provoke some serious bickering between the neighbours Thailand and Cambodia as to exactly which side of the border the surrounding area belonged to. Whilst Thailand’s Khao Pra Viharn public toilets, snack bars and car…

A selection of photographs of our recent trek through the picturesque but remote Pha Taem National Park in Ubon Ratchathani Province of far northeastern Thailand. We have already blogged about Pha Taem in some detail so what follows is mostly a collection of photos from our last Emerald Triangle tour. We joined up with a bunch of monks from Uttaradit…

Phu Asa, or Asa Mountain, is a sandstone outcrop lying close to the village of Kietngong in South Lao’s Champassak Province. The forested hill – part of Xe Pian National Biodiversity Zone – is topped by a flat, bare rock outcrop with a gentle access slope to the northeast and steep drop-offs on the other sides. The mountain’s flat top…

The old fashioned rickety Champassak ferry that carts passengers, motos and trucks across the Mekong between Champassak and Ban Muang don’t run much anymore. The recent completion of the spanking new road to Pakse along the west bank of the Mekong has drastically reduced the need for the car ferry. Time was when ferries would sit at the ‘dock’ (well…

Lying just a kilometre away from Wat Phu, the small Angkor period temple of Nang Sida, Laos, does tend to get overshadowed by it’s prestigious UNESCO World Heritage neighbour. After hiking up and down the steep steps at Wat Phu few visitors are going to be bothered to head off into the dusty surrounding scrub-land to visit a ‘lesser’ temple…

Not quite sure why the ‘powers that be’, (guess that’d be TAT – Tourism Authority of Thailand?), decided to call this region – the area where the 3 countries of Laos, Cambodia and Thailand meet – the Emerald Triangle but they have done. Yes, it very green, but then so is most of Southeast Asia! Anyway, it’s got a ring…

Here’s an updated list, including photos, of the Thai national parks and wildlife sanctuaries either featured in our All Points East tours or regularly included in our extensions or custom-designed trips.  (Apologies to the NP in question if we’ve forgotten any!) North-East and Eastern Thailand: 1. Pha Taem National Park, Ubon Ratchathani. The Emerald Triangle (Hiking, sightseeing, nature trail.)   2….

Longest, tallest, widest, biggest….superlatives can be deceptive and statistics vary enormously but the little-known Khone Phapaeng Falls in Champassak Province of Southern Laos is certainly right up there on the list! Just downstream of the picturesque Four Thousand Islands‘ region – along the Lao/Cambodian border – the entirety of the Mekong River goes over a 65-foot escarpment so it’s definitely…

Don’t seem to have posted about Southern Laos for some time so to correct that regrettable oversight here’s a few images and a brief description of the fantastic Pakse market, Dao Heuang – one of all-time favourite Southeast Asian markets! There’s the covered area you can see in the background of above photo – dealing in gold, silver, phones, household…

Prasart Sikhoraphum is a small yet remarkably well-preserved brick, laterite and sandstone Hindu temple complex dating from the 11th century and lying just east of SurinTown in northeastern Thailand. (The exact reign is unknown but the early 11th-century kings Suryavarman I or Udayadityavarman II look like good suspects. Some descriptions we’ve come across assign the temple to the Suryavarman II…

One of Thailand’s remotest and least visited Angkor period temples, yet its very remoteness, jungle setting and total lack of tourist development are exactly what made it a great little temple to visit. It’s missing the grandeur of Phnom Rung, the photogenic lily ponds of Muan Tam and the well-preserved carvings of Sikhorapum but Ta Muan is an interesting enough…

Khao Phra Viharn, or Preah Vihear in Khmer – and the famous 11th-century Hindu temple itself is 100% Cambodian, whatever various lunatic fringe Thais might claim! (Since most of the local Thais in that part of the kingdom – southern Si Saket Province – speak Khmer anyway they could have just kept the original name instead of the cumbersome Thai…

Actually 2 pix today – before and after shots of the Don Khone Nua School on Don Khone in the 4,000 Islands region of South Laos’ Champassak Province. The school was largely rebuilt with donations from All Points East customers. As you can see the original wooden building was falling to pieces and lacked any toilet/washroom facilities at all. The…

Laos’ Four Thousand Islands, or Si Phan Don, region lies just to the north of the Cambodian border in the far south’s Champassak Province. Here the Mekong River widens and shallows dramatically before crashing over the spectacular Khone Phapaeng Falls. 4,000 is, of course, a guesstimate since islands appear and disappear with the dry and rainy seasons making it impossible…