There’s nothing like a person being proud of what they do, even when it comes to driving a tuk-tuk or songthaew for a living. And to show that pride, not to mention showing off to your friends, a little help from Serpico a.k.a. Al Pacino wouldn’t hurt. Back in 2010, Aon, Jeremy Aaron and I went shopping [...]
Tag Archives: Laos
On the road to Pakxe
Tonight I attended a ceremony and dinner to commemorate an honorary Lao Consul on the Woosong University campus. During dinner, when it was learned that I am the author of four books, I was asked when I was going to write a book about Laos, which got me thinking. I really should at some point. [...]
Home Sweet Home — Our House in Laos
Work is still progressing on our house in Laos; now the workers have started to work inside. More photos will be coming soon; in the meantime here’s a slideshow of the work so far.
Help a school in Laos
I am starting a campaign to help a small school in Laos near the house that Aon and I are building in Paksong. It is also the school where Bia attends. This is a two-room schoolhouse, but as you can see it is overcrowded and has no electricity or running water. The school is very [...]
Ferry ‘cross the Mekong
One of my first trips in Laos was back in July of 2007 when Aon, her family (her mom, younger sister, and Bia) and I visited the famous Buddhist temple and Khmer ruins Wat Phou Champasak near Pakxe in southern Laos. Getting there was quite an interesting journey because to get to the temple and [...]
Someone stole my new Doc Martens!
Yesterday, I bought my first new pair of shoes in four years. The Doc Martens that I had bought in the States back in 2005 had served my feet well. As Forrest Gump mused, “there’s an awful lot you can tell about a person by their shoes, where they’re going and where they’ve been.” In [...]
Vientiane – Gateway for your Laos Adventure
Hugging a bend along the Mekong River as it winds south between Thailand and Laos, Vientiane first appears a rather non-assuming town with a mixture of French, Chinese and Vietnamese-style buildings interspersed among Buddhist temples and modern structures. Busy and hectic compared to the rest of the country, with a population just a little over [...]
Haw Pha Kaew — Once home to the “Emerald Buddha”
One of Vientiane’s “must see” attractions is Haw Pha Kaew, once the king’s personal Buddhist temple. Although it is not actually a temple per se with monks on the premises and services being performed, today it functions as a museum of art with a very impressive collection of Laotian Buddhist artifacts. Built in the sixteenth [...]
“Combat” on the bus to Vientiane
When you take a VIP bus or similar bus for long distances in Laos (and other Southeast Asian countries) there’s usually a television mounted at the front of the bus where TV programs and videos/DVD’s are shown. If you’re lucky whoever is in charge of entertainment for the bus might play a decent movie [...]
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