I read a couple of online sources of information about Laos and lately it seems like I should leave my computer off. Every time I log on a new source of eco destruction awaits me.Within the last month I have learned of;A proposed lignite (soft sulphuro…

Hi everyone! It took quite awhile to get these pictures up - hopefully Facebook will be more accomodating :-)We’re at Vientiane College again for more orientation activities today. I’ve spent a lot of time here - almost to the point where I would reall…

Chris and I have just spent our first night in Laos. If yesterday was anything to go by, I think I’m going to love living here :)We left Sydney at 9pm on Sunday night. We stopped over in Brisbane to pick up and drop off passengers, and then were off to…

here is a good article from the sac bee.(saan is mien, lives in sacramento.) my guess is that he has two older brothers who could possibly be named kao and lo… once again, i like to see articles about the mien because they are “lesser known” in the u…

Recently I read on a blog called Imaging Our Mekong that Laos is no longer “opium free”. Of course it never was anyway. The piece goes on to state that overall hectares under cultivation in Laos have increased 40% in 2006, from 1,800 hectares to 2,…

There is/has been/have been:two harddisk crashes
one harddisk replacement
a second trip in July-August 2007 (6 days in Vientiane)
a hell lot of work
an upcoming relocation of workplace
an upcoming trip to Krungthep
a PhD thesis to writeHence the cat has yet to write about the Nong Khiaw, Luang Prabang, Pak Beng & Huay Xai parts of its first trip to Lao PDR. Those who can’t wait & need logistics

Lao Voices has a post on how the news travels by word of mouth in Laos and how most often such information is not reliable.

But first a photo, have to have something to catch the eye right?I thought this pepper was a habanero turns out the shape is slightly wrong and the way the fruit stem attaches to the pepper itself is different. I think this is a rocoto but I can’t tell…

This weekend I had a chance to visit one of the Lao restaurants that was mentioned in the LA Times. We had dinner at Vientiane Restaurant on Saturday. It was a little hole in the wall located in a strip mall with only 4 tables. The whole restaurant looked like it could only hold 25 people at most. We were the first diners to show up. The owner came out to greet us and I had a chance to utilize