Tagged: minority

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The Shan state town of Hsipaw

03-06 March 2014 I never considered myself as a morning person, but if it’s necessary or worth it I can get up at unhuman hours 🙂 Getting up at 3am to catch a 4am train is one of those moments. The 12-hours trainride from Mandalay to Hsipaw was however never boring. Although I had a ‘first class’ ticket, sleeping on the train wasn’t easy as the train rides up into the hills via steep, zig-zagging hills. Amazing views and a breathtaking gorge is what you get for the not so comfortable ride. The train makes however enough stops to stretch...

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Thakek, Pakse and Bolaven Plateau coffee

Thakek In Thakek itself there is not really much to do. Most people come here to do the Loop, an off-the-beaten-track circuit through some of the more remote parts of the Khammuan and Bolikhamsai Provinces. I did consider doing The Loop but I think I was still a bit scared of riding a motorbike myself  😐 Writing this blog made me once more reading about the places I visited. And it appeared that there are some sites around Thakek that were worth a look. There are eg. several caves, an abandoned railway line and some natural swimming pools. A pity...

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My first trekking in Phou Xieng Thong NPA

Northwest from Pakse is the Phou Xieng Thong National Protected Area (NPA). It was in this NPA that we (me and a German woman and her daughter) would do a 3d/2n tour. We were also introduced to our local guide Miek, 30 years old with a decent knowledge of English.Our first stop was Ban Mai Singsaphan Village where we met our first homestay family. It’s a village with about 380 families..no idea though how many heads 1 family counts.. After lunch, prepared by the family – actually all meals were prepared by the homestay families – we, accompagnied by a...

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Biking around with easyriders on the Ho Chi Minh Trail

I never thought of doing it but once Tuya told me about it, I knew I would go for it!Easyriders..I don’t know if you have them in other places but Vietnam, but here it is pretty well known. The idea is to drive through (a part of) Vietnam by renting a motorbike and an easyrider, whome will also be your guide during the easyrider tour. You can choose to drive the motorbike yourself or to be the passenger on the easyrider’s bike. We went for the 2nd option. We initially planned on a 1 day tour Hoi An-Hue, but than...