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What’s the Banana Pancake Trail, Anyway?
The “Banana Pancake Trail” is a popular backpacking route in Southeast Asia. The trail gets its name from the banana pancake breakfast offered in guesthouses and cafes catering to Western…
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10 Fun Things to Do in Luang Prabang
Luang Prabang is a historic city in Laos that’s a popular stop on the backpacker trail, partly because it’s the ending point for the slow boat trip down the Mekong…
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A month in Laos | Travel Budget Breakdown
I spent 28 days traveling in Laos from October 4-28, 2023. Because that’s basically a whole month, I thought it’d be interesting to see what I spent while backpacking there.…
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From Vientiane to Hanoi by airplane
I flew from Vientiane to Hanoi with Lao Airlines for $170 USD. It was a little bit more than I wanted to spend, but the alternative was taking a 24…
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Flying over Vang Vieng in a hot air balloon
Vang Vieng has a lot of outdoors things to do: kayaking, paragliding, tubing on the river etc…mostly things I’m not interested in as I don’t do water activities. Whoops! That…
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From Phonsavan to Vientiane by Plane
I decided to fly to Vientiane rather than take a minibus like I normally would because the road is supposedly even worse than the one I took from Luang Prabang…
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Visiting Mulberries Organic Silk Farm in Phonsavan, Laos
Mulberries is a fair trade silk farm that employs local women to work there, harvesting silk and weaving clothing and so on. They offer free tours to visitors where you…
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Visiting the Plain of Jars, Phonsavan, Laos
The Plain of Jars is an off-the-beaten path kind of destination– at least, as much as an UNESCO World Heritage Site can be! I visited in October 2023 and barely…
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From Luang Prabang to Phonsavan by minibus
While Phonsavan isn’t on the usual backpacker route, I wanted to go and see the megalith sites out there, so I decided to make the journey. There are a few…
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Three days at the Elephant Conservation Center in Sayaboury, Laos (Review)
The Elephant Conservation Center is a Lao-French joint venture established in 2010. Their focus is on conservation of Asian elephants, particularly those in Laos, with an emphasis on breeding and…
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Exploring Luang Prabang and nearby
Previously: From Chiang Rai to Luang Prabang by bus and slow boat Journal date: October 7-8, 2023 Luang Prabang: UNESCO World Heritage City My favorite thing to do is wander…
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Where to stay: Laos hostels & hotel for solo female travelers
Here’s a list of hotels and hostels that I stayed in while traveling in Laos in October 2023. I’ll update this post with more hotels whenever I go back to…
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Taking the Laos Slow Boat to Luang Prabang (2023)
The slow boat trip is one of those things that every backpacker does eventually– it’s not the fastest way to get to Luang Prabang, and it’s not super comfortable, but…
