Up the Nam Ou

I'm in Udomxai for a couple hours waiting to catch a bus up to Luang Nam Tha and Muang Sing. I have a couple hours to kill and they have an internet cafe here at the bus stand so here are a few pictures from the last 3 weeks.

These first shots are all from the first day on the river up from Luang Prabang to Nong Khiaw.




Next up are a couple of pictures from Nong Khiaw itself.


After a few days in Nong Khiaw I headed up to Muang Ngoi where I spent almost 2 weeks. Didn't do much other than lay in my hammock and read but I did wander out to see the countryside on a couple days.



Yesterday I left Muang Ngoi and spent another day on the river up to Muang Khua and from there caught a van to Udomxai this morning. No pictures from this part of the trip though.

Disappearing Act

I'm starting a loop through northern and northwestern Laos tomorrow and expect to be off in unwired parts of the country for a couple weeks at least. Not sure when I'll be around an intenet connection so this will likely be the last post for a while.

Here are a few pictures from Luang Prabang to tide you over in the meantime...



The pictures and writeup from my trip up the Nam Ou last time are here.

Women and Umbrellas.

I finally dragged myself out of Vang Vieng and made my way up to Luang Prabang. I'll probably stick around here tomorrow then head up the river to Nong Khiaw on Friday.

Here are one final shot from Vang Vang that I liked and a first from Luang Prabang that goes with it.



Hopefully I will have more to post tomorrow. After that I'll likely be offline for quite awhile.

Driven indoors.

It's pouring out so I've been driven inside. Since I have to be indoors anyway I might as well take the time to post some pictures (so ignore that last post).

First up are a couple of shots from my day in Vientienne.



Next are some pictures taken on one of my tubing trips. The river stops have turned into full fledged bars with massive rope swings and ziplines. It's quite a change from two years ago. Jumping! Beerlao! is still in operation though.



And finally, some pictures from around Vang Vieng. Mostly the town itself isn't very picturesqe now as they are ripping up all the streets to put in a sewer system. Have managed to take a few pictures though.

Nothing to see here.

Still in Vang Vieng. Still haven't taken any pictures worth posting. I'll be here another day or two then I'm heading up to Luang Prabang.

Relaxing

In Vang Vieng now. Time to relax on the river for a few days. Not sure how much I will have to post while I am here.

Leaving Bangkok

Some last pictures from Thailand before I leave for Laos. I ended up staying here for a day longer than I'd planned because I left something in my guesthouse in Kanchanaburi and decided it was important enough to go back to get it. Luckily they had it (and I got an extra meal at Apple's out of it so the day wasn't a total loss).

These first pictures are all panoramic shots from Kanchanaburi.





I thought this garage was kind of cool and worth a few photos. Its the last of the pictures from Kanchanaburi.



Finally here are two pictures from back in Bangkok. The first is Wat Arun lit up at night. The second shot was from the electronics mall where I bought my camera. Four stories of computer and electronics gear. Sticker prices are around what you would pay from EggHead but then you can start bargaining.



I've got to run - time to go catch my bus.

Nightshots

Here are two more pictures from Kanchanaburi before I head off to catch the train back to Bangkok.

Kanchanaburi

Kanchanaburi is about like I remembered it. I didn't do much after I arrived yesterday but today I went out and tried to see some things I'd missed on my previous visits.

To start out with, here are some pics of my guesthouse (same place I stayed in 2003/2004).



The rest are pictures taken in and around Kanchanaburi over the past two days. The first was taken from the train yesterday and the rest while I was out sightseeing today.



I had two more that I wanted to post but they really need to be cropped to show properly and this computer doesn't have a picture editor capable of accomplishing that. Maybe tomorrow.

Off to dinner at Apple's restaurant. If pressed I would have to call this the best restaurant I've discovered in any of my travels so I'm quite looking forward to dinner.

Khao San

Time for a some of the requisite Khao San road pictures. Nothing really new here - these pictures were really just an excuse to play with my new toy.



Of course, even though the river in Bangkok isn't all that picturesque, we have to have at least one picture over the water at sunset.



Tomorrow morning I head to Kanchanaburi to run out the time it will take for my Laos visa to come back. For those who weren't here the last time around my pictures from the last trip are here.

In Bangkok

Made it to Bangkok safe, sound, and approximately on time.

Photo Dump

Time for one last post before I break down my computer and pack it up for shipping. These are just a few pictures from the past year that I never posted.

First some shots from around my neighborhood. Some of these were meant for the theme posts I promised back in the spring that never quite worked out.



Some miscellaneous shots from around Bangalore...



And finally, some pictures my most-visited restaurants. These are all right near my apartment. I ate most of my meals over the past year at these places.




My next post will be from Thailand next week. I should be back to more regular blogging one the traveling starts up again.