The Southeast Asia Travel Specialists Since 1999
Kipling famously described Burma as being ‘quite unlike any land you know about’ and the remote Shan State outpost of Kengtung is certainly quite unlike any Burmese town you’d know about. You’ll rarely hear Burmese spoken; few locals wear longyis, you won’t see many girls sporting thanaka paste, there’s little Burmese food and the usually ubiquitous Aung San Suu Kyi…
When we first turned up in the small town of Vang Vieng, (must have been 92 or 93?), it was as close to paradise as anywhere we’d come across on our backpacker trail across Southeast Asia. An idyllic, bustling little market town for the surrounding Hmong villages and set on the banks of the Song River opposite some of the…
Travelling to Koh Kong is a brief account of a recent bus trip we did from Phnom Penh to Koh Kong on the Cambodian/Thai border. A trip I’d already done several times before but one that never ceases to fascinate me. The first section, heading north on Route 4, has great views of the dramatic mountains of Bokor National Park…
We’re hoping that an upcoming addition to All Points East’s range of Thai destinations will be the far northern mountain province of Mae Hong Son. We’ve been trying to work out how to include this picturesque, yet remote region into our Thai tours but have finally realised it’s impossible given time restraints and that we may as well, therefore, make…
Interesting article on Vang Vieng Laos by friend and colleague Jason in Vientiane. Seasons greetings from Vientiane Laos. My name is Jason and I am Adventure Travel Manager for Viengchampa Tour in Laos. I was asked by Mark a considerable time ago to contribute something about Laos to his excellent blog. Having been caught up in high season here, and…
Pai – no idea when this formerly sleepy little northern town first had the idea to knock up bamboo huts, start fabricating banana pancakes, (and we mean pancakes, not the authentic rotis that north Thai Muslims have been making for donkey’s years), dis-intoxicate some local guides enough to lead treks and thrust itself on the backpacker trail? Presumably, sometime after…