Posts Tagged ‘Vientiane’

Earlier this week, I was fortunate to get an email with those three little words that make my heart leap with joy and anticipation: “Food Festival Invitation.” Woo hoo! I quickly skimmed over the list of local restaurants scheduled to participate in the cooking competition, but the words “free public sampling of dishes” were all [...]

As we wrapped up our first week back at school, I was feeling neglectful of The Guide Hog but too busy to do anything blog-worthy. And then Mother Nature handed me a story. Rain pounded Vientiane overnight, but that’s nothing new in this wet season. As we headed out the door for school this morning [...]

Date: June 17, 2010 Significance: First Day of Summer Vacation! 5:30 a.m. – Sunlight pours through the curtains of the guest bedroom, where I had sought sanctuary from Tony’s snoring. A quick wave of grumpiness over the early hour immediately subsides when I realize we are leaving today to spend the summer with friends and [...]

During a recent bike ride with some girlfriends along the Mekong River south of Vientiane, I encountered a full-on fire-and-brimstone smackdown about heaven vs. hell, good vs. evil, the chosen ones vs. the infidels. I found the graphic warnings so engrossing that I actually forgot to write down the name of the temple. Split into [...]

When your whole life feels like a dog-and-pony show, there’s nothing to do but go to the circus! According to my trusty Lonely Planet, the Russian Circus was established in the 1980s during a time of strong Soviet influence in Laos. The circus stages performances just a few times each year, so when my friend [...]

If you’re looking for an enormous cricket, the no-evil monkey triplets, a nasty concrete crone with a chicken cage full of scared people, and a massive reclining Buddha, have I got a temple for you! Wat Chom Phet, located at the southern edge of Vientiane, is not your run-of-the-mill Buddhist temple. Just a short bumpy [...]

Sure, I could cross the street and buy some fresh fruit to make a frosty delicious shake. But then I would have to peel it and chop it and walk to the market next door to buy ice and get the blender out of the cupboard and later rinse out the blender and my glass [...]

Earth Hour came to Vientiane for the first time on Saturday, March 27. Our little city was the 92nd one to join the movement, which aims to raise awareness about climate change by promoting one hour without electricity. It wasn’t as dramatic as the footage of Sydney or Shanghai, where global landmarks and big sections [...]

This morning’s ride with Team Dai took us out of Vientiane on a beautifully paved road that is closed to cars. What more could you ask? The road was built for the Southeast Asia Games, which took place in December, to take shuttle buses to the stadium on the edge of town. Bit by bit, [...]

There’s not a lot going on in this sleepy hamlet of Vientiane, so when I get word of anything remotely interesting coming to town, I jump on it. Last night, a little crowd gathered in a small conference room at the Novotel to see Daniel Foley, who has performed his show “Shakespeare for Dummies” in [...]