Yes, Laos used to be a French colony, and still has some of the beautiful charm of France. But Laos is still all its own. There are temples everywhere, and their Buddhist faith permeates life here, whether you are devout or not. One of my favorite things is the lively use of color everywhere. Bright … Continue reading Le tour de Vientiane
Through no fault of my own, I've managed to squeeze in two trips to Hanoi in the short time I've been over here. In November I was supposed to help run a communications training, but it was cancelled as the remnant of Typhoon Haiyan hit Vietnam just as we arrived. Instead, I ended up staying … Continue reading I heart Hanoi
This is the first full weekend I've been "home" in Laos for over a month... which means a certain degree of boredom and an obvious excuse for getting back to posting. Wa Net Kone village, Myanmar – 7 Nov 2013 The village elder ducked inside his small grocery shop with its woven roof, open walls … Continue reading A little Burmese hospitality
I’ve received many requests to talk about what life is like here. Now that I'm about a month and half in, here we go. After two weeks in a closet-like but clean guesthouse room – complete with brick-printed wallpaper – my employer put me in touch with an expat apartment-finding service. I was taken to … Continue reading Life in Laos
In the fall of 2012, we caught the prelude races to the America’s Cup, this past September was the real deal. My last hurrah before heading overseas was a long weekend in San Francisco with my fabulous sister. I’m not sure why I love SF so much, but I do. I wanted to live in … Continue reading Sailing into San Francisco
The funny thing is, I never even finished posting my photos from my trip to Laos last May, and here I am again. Ka-Pow! In Laos. A one-year resident. My life is weird. Never did I think I would come back. I enjoyed it, added it to my list of countries I'd visited, now time to move … Continue reading A series of fortunate events
I love detail photography. The color and textures that you often walk right by. I get to spend a lot of time with my niece and nephews and they notice everything. They aren't in a hurry to get to the next thing, they are just in the now. It helps me to stop and be … Continue reading Laos – In the details
Today I'm out of words, but I really want to share some photos. So captions will have to do today.
Months of research went into my trip to Myanmar. With Laos, there was none of that. I had cut out and packed the thin Laos section of my SE Asia guidebook, but hadn't actually read it. I didn't know what to expect. Really, the main reason I went was to visit my friend who had … Continue reading Waylaid by Laos
The next morning, my taxi driver Aung Sann picked me up at 5:30am to go watch the sunrise on Shwesandaw Paya. It seemed like the entire village was out along the main road exercising! Walking, running, doing calisthenics. I guess when the oppressive heats hits around 7:30am, you get up at the crack to get … Continue reading Bagan – Sunrise, sunset
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