Laos

Cambodia’s Beng Melea; chaotic, decaying ancient ruins and rampant tropical vegetation, is today a spectacular synthesis of man’s handiwork and untamed nature.

Hotels and accommodation A brief rundown on the hotels and accommodation choices on our tours; our preferences, favoured style and criteria for selection. As you’ll no doubt notice in much of our website ‘blurb’, our small group tours to Southeast Asia aim to combine the well-known destinations with more off-the-beaten-track ones. For obvious logistical reasons though, most tours will begin…

Cambodia street food The following is a brief rundown on just a few of our personal, favourite, street food dishes which you’ll likely come across on a Cambodia tour. We’re employing the term street food in the broadest sense so, market stalls and local cafes as well as pavement eateries but we do draw the line at the strange fad…

Prasat Kampong Preah Situated amid extensive, seasonal marshlands on the edge of the Tonle Sap Lake, Prasat Kampong Preah is an off-the-beaten-track site in what is already one of Cambodia’s most off-the-beaten-track provinces. The location is some 30 to 40 minutes northwest of Kampong Chhnang’s eponymously named provincial capital which in turn is situated some 2 hours northwest of Phnom…

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…

A brief rundown on the history and origins of the Hmong and the regions of Southeast Asia they inhabit today

Lao money | Which currencies would I be using on a tour of Laos and how much should I take?

Prasat Bayon It’s occurred to us that we’ve written posts on our favourite Angkor temples, on lesser-known sites, about Baphuon, Bakheng and Banteay Kdei and even the apsaras of Angkor Wat but we haven’t posted on one of the most famous of them all, Bayon. So, to rectify that – and as an excuse for a few pretty pics –…

Siem Reap Town Formerly a small, sleepy provincial capital in northwestern Cambodia, Siem Reap has boomed in recent times to the point where it probably rivals Battambang as the country’s second city. The obvious draw are the spectacular ancient temples of World Heritage Angkor but there are plenty of other things to see and do in Siem Reap and despite…

Wat Phu Wat Phu and associated vestiges, situated in the vicinity of Champassak Town in southern Laos, comprise the ancient Hindu temple itself, an eclectic collection of outlying sanctuaries and the remains of at least two significant-sized ancient settlements. Much of what we see today at Wat Phu dates to the 11th century and the reign of King Suryavarman I,…

Chiang Mai Markets Any visitors wandering the lanes and ancient temples of what passes for downtown Chiang Mai would be forgiven some distinct small-town impressions but the city does sprawl and, as home to some 1 and a quarter million residents, is officially Thailand’s second city. Every district has its own local market while you’ll find several more handicraft-orientated, weekly,…

Highlights of Southern Laos The picturesque World Heritage town of Luang Prabang in northern Laos is justifiably renowned, as are the spectacular, karst formations of scenic Vang Vieng. The strategically placed, riverside capital Vientiane also, inevitably, sees a regular flow of visitors but many of the other wonderful sites Laos has to offer remain consistently off-the-beaten-track. Our brief rundown of some…