After spending a week in Laos, our final farewell was a day in and around the country’s capital, Vientiane. Our long drive there led us first to Buddha Park, where we had some time to explore. This park was created in the 1950s and is meant to be an integration between Hinduism and Buddhism. It…
While away from home, we frequently stop in at breweries and wineries. Aside from often being interesting, picturesque places, we enjoy the process of tasting and like filling our home collection with bottles that we purchased from smaller establishments. The area around Shenandoah National Park is full of these kinds of places. Luckily many also…
A few years ago, my sister and I were able to attend Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party at Disney’s Magic Kingdom. We loved it so much that we vowed then and there to get back for the Halloween party someday. And someday arrived last month, on the first day of a short three-day jaunt to…
When planning our trip to Thailand, we did a lot of research on elephants, as there are many options if you want to share an experience with these big, beautiful animals. We wanted to make sure that we did not contribute to any projects that allow elephants to be forced into unnatural situations like logging…
When we arrived in the Lao town of Vang Vieng, our guide described it as a renowned party town with a recently cleaned-up reputation and many opportunities for adventure. While the closest we got to partying was drinking Irish beer and watching UFC fighting late into the night, we definitely soaked up all the adventure…
There are not many National Parks that are dog friendly, and we are incredibly lucky that we live within driving distance of a few that are. For Labor Day weekend this year we headed south, to Shenandoah National Park. On our first full day, we tackled its tallest peak! We started the morning at the…
While visiting Cambodia to see the famous temples, you don’t have to look far to find a place for an evening out. Siem Reap’s Pub Street is filled with bars, restaurants, and shops and it is a perfect place to relax and unwind after a long hot day of temple touring. We took a tuk-tuk…
At the very start of our Busabout tour, we jumped right into an adventurous day in Northern Thailand. Our van departed from Chiang Mai, where we had spent the past few days. The drive was long and sleepy before we finally arrived at our first destination, which involved a fairly strenuous hike and a very…
When Jonny, our Lao tour guide, first talked about waking up before 4am to watch the monks’ alms giving procession, he said that it was an optional activity. I have no idea if I will ever be back in the country of Laos with a chance to experience this tradition, so we made it a…
When we landed at Siem Reap International Airport to begin our short stay in Cambodia, we had a choice between a tuk-tuk or a car taxi to take us to our hotel. It was insanely hot and humid outside so we chose a car because we thought the air conditioning would be nice- this was…
I will be the first to admit that I am not adventurous when it comes to food. Some of that is because of medical dietary restrictions. Some of that is because I have a bland palate, and some is just because I am picky. I was very nervous for the food in southeast Asia but…
Our time exploring the country of Laos was spent on a tour run by Busabout, a company that focuses on adventure and backpacker-style travel. Our small group of five was dropped off at the Thailand/Laos border by our Tai guide, and picked up on the other side by our Lao guide, Jonny. The first place…
