the next river i visit will be the mekong

[amw]

So, i just booked my flight to Laos. I was wrestling with how many days to book, which is something i always struggle with when i holiday while employed. On one hand, i want to have long enough on the holiday that i don't feel rushed when i'm there. On the other hand, i don't want to waste my annual leave because if i bundle it all together in one

Comments

[olamina]

Great post. I get so giddy whenever you buy a ticket to anywhere. Adventure and biting food reviews are on their way!

[siglinde99]

Laos has never been on my list of places to visit but Vietnam was when I had friends living there. I’ll be curious to see what you think of it. I’m not much for touristy place so I always enjoy your perspective.

[carriea31]

Totally unrelated to this post... and maybe I've missed it in another.. but how is the itching going?

[amw]

Not great! Ever since i went through my first scabies treatment, probably 3-4 months ago now, it's stopped spreading, but every couple of weeks after the dots and itching subside, they break out again, growing into large red pimples and itching like hell. Then they subside again.

Now it's always in the area of my butt cheeks, "intimate area", upper thighs, lower waist/hips and a few on my knees, elbows and heels. About a month ago i went back to the dermatologist and i've been seeing her every week getting new pills. The latest iteration seems to have helped everything to settle down, but until it lasts for a couple months i'm skeptical. Every time up until now i thought it was gone, it came back.

She thinks it's still (!) an allergic reaction to dead scabies mites and eggs, but, like, how long does it take for them to grow out? The longest estimates i've heard are "months", and, well, it's been months. Sigh.

[fauxklore]

I found Luang Prabang too touristy and relatively expensive for Laos. Which is still cheap compared to the rest of the world. But I liked Vientiane a lot and absolutely loved Phonsavan (gateway town for the Plain of Jars, which was why I went to Laos in the first place). Laotian food is great and the "point to some random dish at a market stall" got me consistently tasty food on the cheap. I'd love to go back and get to the south.

[amw]

Thanks for the heads-up! I admit i got a bit worried when i went to book a room and seemed like the whole entire town is basically a hotel. I worry i'll just walk around and meet tourists everywhere, which isn't really what i go traveling for.

On the other hand, this is only going to be a 10 day trip, so if i just sit around at snazzy tourist cafés during the day and eat yummy food at night, perhaps that's good enough. I dunno. It's tough because if i jump on a bus to wherever, that'll eat up half the vacation just getting there. So my expectations are tempered.