laos

Eleven Places to See in Southeast Asia

May 22, 2012 by Bino 15 Comments

It took me over a year to post Part 2 of my Southeast Asian roundup, my little ode to this dynamic and diverse region which I call home. One year on and I still find myself traveling around Southeast Asia though now it’s mostly for work, transit or for back and forth trips between Manila and Singapore. More trips are certainly warranted in the future.

As my “tribute” to this region, I am choosing my top 11 sights from the 11 countries that make up Southeast Asia. To avoid being concentrated over a particular nation, I am picking one sight out of each of the 11 countries – my personal favorite from each.

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Favorite Travel Photos – My 7 Super Shots

May 12, 2012 by Bino 20 Comments

One of the things that led me to start this blog some years back is my hobby of taking photos. A few years on and I am still an amateur photographer by any sense of the word, but the interest sure lives on!

I have taken thousands of photos over the years, thanks to digital cameras but I never got to share my favorite ones all in one place. Because of this, I am really happy that Aleah of Solitary Wanderer tagged me in Hostelbookers 7 Shots. This is like a mini lookback of sorts, at some of the places I have been to over the years and my favorite shots – at least those fitting a certain theme – from these trips. The idea is to choose 7 travel photos that fit a certain theme and then to tag five other travel bloggers to do the same. So here goes!

#1 – Takes my breath away

in Coron, Philippines

This comes from one of my trips this year to Palawan, Philippines. I am a sucker for limestone rock formations, and I have seen quite a few elsewhere, but none left me in as much awe as this particular scene, on the way to Kayangan Lake in Coron Island. The island is believed to be sacred by the native tribe that inhabits it and only a small portion of it is actually open to visitors.

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Things to Do in Vientiane – Ideas For Southeast Asia’s Sleepiest Capital

January 4, 2011 by Bino 9 Comments

basking in the golden sunlight – Pha That Luang

Ahead of my November visit, I was told by all the guidebooks to expect a very sleepy town in Vientiane considering that it is the capital of a country with fewer people than Singapore but 300 times the size. The first encounter I had with the city was on arrival after an annoying flight delay due to rain in KL, during the night before our bumpy trip to Luangprabang. I did not really expect much in terms of fun things to do in the capital.

Vientiane is a town in many sense of the word. It is compact, no tall buildings and still quite provincial. But by no means was it sleepy… or did I miss anything?…

Easy Daytrips Around Luangprabang in Laos

December 18, 2010 by Bino 8 Comments

The area around Luangprabang in Laos is filled with a number of popular daytrip opportunities. Two have practically become must-see destinations that they’ve been included as part of any default itinerary of Luangprabang-bound visitors.

Kuang Si Falls

We spent our first evening haggling with the many travel agencies in town for a good deal to take us to two sites – the famous Kuang Si Falls as well as to the much talked-about Pak Ou Caves. Both are near Luangprabang. Both are also within one hour car ride away and are described as “must see” places. The friendly chap who entertained us at the travel agency we settled with gave us a supposedly good deal for both daytrips. He even showed us the other receipts for the day containing supposed suckers who signed up at a higher price. “We are not Europeans!” was my default justification to be charged fairly. So did it work? We were able to bring our price down by only $1 per person – nothing fantastic, but still better than nothing. We shopped around and the prices were pretty much standard across the board….

Exploring the UNESCO World Heritage Town of Luangprabang

December 12, 2010 by Bino 4 Comments

The 8-hour car ride from Vientiane was one of the bumpiest I’ve been in. The driver couldn’t speak English but seemed as if he was on a mad dash to see who could get to Luangprabang first. Our van literally jumped every few minutes as it also had to contend with the relatively poor state of the roads. We came ahead of many other buses and vans plying the same route – and ended up arriving in the town a good 2-3 hours earlier than most. Not too shabby, except that our driver kept at this speed despite the harrowing cliffs that were prevalent in the few hundred kilometer journey.

at luangprabang night market

Luangprabang was literally our first real destination in this trip. We took a short plane ride to KL, where we also spent the night. Next day, our flight to Vientiane got delayed because of an unexpected massive downpour – and we spent that night in Vientiane. So by default, we were on “transit” for 2 nights, albeit in different places.

I had high hopes for Luangprabang – given that it is a UNESCO World Heritage Town after all and I heard quite a lot of rave reviews about it, both from friends and from independent travel magazines. But after we had crossed into the city limits, it looked like any provincial town in Southeast Asia. The town is quite spread out, but the overwhelming majority of the attractions are actually situated in the main street called Sisavangvong Road….