Explore the World

This blog is for everyone who loves  a healthy, travel lifestyle

Roast Chicken Salad – Veena Cafe, Vientiane, Laos

This one is coming from Vientiane, which is the capital of Laos, and also what I affectionately refer to as the Western food capital of SE Asia.  The strong French influences have a lot to do with that.  Veena Cafe is one of my all-time favourite places to dine. It has a lot of Western-style […]

My “New” Shorts

For me, pants are highly overrated. I generally spend my time either in the tropics or enjoying the short but sweet summer in Canada. On top of that, one of my favourite daily modes of transport is by bicycle. That said, shorts are the way to go. This deal was cutting off and hemming an […]

Pad See Ew (Stir Fried Noodles)

This week, let’s look at one of my favourite Asian fast foods, pad see ew. Loosely translated, it means fried soy sauce,  because the big fried noodles are well coated in soy sauce.  This particular pad see ew is from one of my favourite restaurants in Luang Prabang, Laos named Puck Luck.  This place is […]

Lao Spring Rolls

These babies are a real taste treat and if you eat the heaping tray of greens it surely must be healthy too.  Of course, there is peanut sauce included for an extra hit of flavour.  One interesting ingredient in the tray of greens is sliced banana flower. Eating it is known to have many health […]

Dark Beerlao

This was an easy choice as Beerlao is delicious and still super affordable and it is the festive season after all. I would say from all my travels in Southeast Asia it is probably the best beer or perhaps tied with Vietnam. The Dark beer is my favourite from the extensive Beerlao lineup with the […]

Southern Laos Part 2 – The Bolaven Plateau

Following our Champasak adventures, we met friends in Pakse  and headed on up to the Bolaven Plateau. We passed Paksong town on the way to our destination, Montra Flower garden. It  is a flower/fruit/vegetable farm that has several bungalows for tourists to stay.  It was already dark out when we arrived and the  first thing […]

Southern Laos Part 1 – Around Champasak

I  have been traveling to Laos often over the past decade and have longed to visit the South for it’s many attractions such as the UNESCO heritage site Wat Phou, the Bolaven Plateau with it’s abundance of stunning waterfalls and superb coffee plantations and the 4000 Islands area of the Mekong River.  I finally made […]

Slow Boat from Luang Prabang to Huay Xai, Laos 2018

I have been longing to take this unique journey up the Mekong River for some years now and finally got around to it. The scenery  is tremendous and I can think of no  better way to see it  than moving along at a leisurely pace on the slow boat. Getting on the boat at Luang […]

Top Tips For Using ATMs in Southeast Asia

Update 2020 I learned another valuable ATM lesson I feel compelled to share.  After the Bali incident in the update below, I was down to one and only one bank card which was really my lifeline. Unfortunately it really started acting up, not working at all for a week or more. I called my bank […]

Asian Favourites Winter 2009-10

My Asian FavouritesThis is to save me writing out these lists over and over again for people who are following in my footsteps as well as for my own reference. Happy travels!! Favourite Travel GearClothing- North Face cargo pants and vapor wick tshirts, Exofficio underwearElectronics – Toshiba NB200 netbook, Creative Zen mp3 playerMisc-Jade Yoga mat, […]