Money spoils everything. It’s at once an evil that changes everyone it touches and yet we all need it in order to travel to these far flung magical places, so beautifully illustrated in glossy magazines. I’m always a little sad to visit “minority villages”. They’re inevitably a...
Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, Luang Prabang is the Brangelina of scenic towns. A gorgeous marriage between traditional Lao architecture, on display in its many wats, unchanged wooden houses and a smattering of royal residences, and the gentility of French colonial buildings and their...
With no glitzy malls or sparkling beaches to call its own like neighboring Thailand, and without the cache of traveling to Vietnam, Laos just might be one of the most underappreciated countries on what is known as the Banana Pancake Trail. After my recent trip, though, I’m...
Part of the allure of travel is losing yourself, both literally and figuratively. Who of us hasn’t relished the challenge of driving on the wrong side of the street or getting hopelessly lost in a market with mental directions like, “Turn left at the spice shop with...
I’ve been actively avoiding Laos for the past 10 years. Even though I have friends who used to live there and others who live there now, I never got the “wow” vibe from Laos. (Much like the way I feel about India. I know. Blasphemy.) Instead I...