Tagged: village

13 Jul, 2014

Spelunking in Hpa-An

17-19 March 2014 The bus journey from Bago to Hpa-An was ‘just’ a little more than 4 hours. A fairly short trip compared to other bus rides I’ve taken. This little riverside town in the southeast part of Burma has not that much to offer itselves. On my first evening, I did went for a wander. Afterwards I positioned myself at the riverbanks reading a bit, doing some diary, watching the local farmers offloading veggies, watching the sunset…in 1 word ENJOYING it all! 🙂 But the real hightlights of Hpa-An are to be found in the surrounding lush countryside and...

Cambodia / South East Asia

8 May, 2014

Battambang bats, caves and volunteering

Battambang Many people don’t know it, but Battambang is Cambodia’s second most populous city. Youwouldn’t say however when wandering around town. Not that it was deserted, but one wouldexpect the place to be packed with Khmer people. My busride from Siem Reap to Battambang took 4,5h. Alex instead took the slowboat. A ridethat ‘should’ take 7-8 hours, but because the water in the river was too low, the boat got stuck on the sandbanks several times. All men had to help to push it back into the water which made it only arriving after 12 hours! Well, it was hot,...

Cambodia / South East Asia

1 May, 2014

Pre-Ankorian capital city of Kompong Thom

You won’t see crowds of tourists in Kompong Thom. When our bus stopped there for a break and we told the driver that we needed our luggage as we were staying for a night, I’m sure he was laughing behind our back.But it’s actually not SO crazy to make a stop here. The most exciting thing that this town has to offer, are the hunderds of large fruit bats living in 3 old mahogany trees. If you have problems finding the trees, just follow the high sound that the bats are making. Wait till dusk, when you can see them...

Laos / South East Asia

30 Mar, 2014

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...

Laos / South East Asia

30 Mar, 2014

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...

South East Asia / Vietnam

22 Jan, 2014

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...