10 Small Tips For Backpacking In Vientiane

Just some small tips for backpacking in the city of Vientiane, Laos

Mekong Riverfront

1. Vientiane is an old city and has everything in it cheap. From food to transportation to beer and to almost everything but the laid back atmosphere of this city is what makes it charming. The absence of commercialized establishments like McDonalds and Starbucks made me feel that the city is still untouched and should stay the way it is. There is only one mall and it is filled with local jewellery shops, banks, bargain stores and local coffee shops.

Lao National Museum. One of the oldest buildings in Vientiane.

From Bangkok to Vientiane via Sleeper Train

 I always liked flags since when I was a kid. I remember browsing through our Collier’s Encyclopaedias series and going through all the flags in the world. And with that interest, I have known many names of different countries even though I have no idea where they are. Countries like Nepal, Qatar, Mongolia, Pakistan, Uruguay, Paraguay and the list goes on. Laos is one of those countries I only know by name and have no knowledge of its culture and it is my luck to get the chance to visit this country even for only 2 days. Laos’ flag is made of three stripes, red on top and bottom and blue in the middle with a white circle in the centre of the flag. Well I’m not going to discuss what does the flag stands for as it may bore you about history. So when I went to Bangkok a week long break I decided to make a research on the neighbouring country. I thought of Siem Reap, Cambodia and Vientiane, Laos but decided to go the latter instead because of the challenge to take a sleeper train from Bangkok to Vientiane. I have never been on a long train ride.

West Sumatra, Indonesia

Sumatra was an adventure I could not forget. This was my first trip to Indonesia back in 2010. I was in a midst of losing my work permit in Singapore so I gave myself a 5 day trip to the western part of one of the biggest islands in Indonesia. I tagged along with my very good Indonesian friend Naga and met two other friends and locals of the city of Medan. The city is a bustling area of cars, pollution, trains and markets alive with throngs of people getting their own business day by day which makes me think of Manila in the early 90s except with the tons of motorbikes streaming around the main roads and pedestrians like they are the kings of traffic. But it is not the city we came for, we were gearing for meeting up with the elephants that lies within the deep forest in the rural town of Tangkahan. It was my first to see, touch, ride and watch as they poop their way out in the river as part of their morning rituals. The elephants in this town are well taken care of. Well it was my first time seeing them in their natural habitat so I guess this is what normal looks like. The best thing about the place is that very few people come to see this place and the presence of Caucasians is very minimal. The odd thing on this trip is that I never thought I will meet fellow Filipinos who are also on their vacation from working in Medan.

Singapore Sling

The day was Saturday, 31^st of May 2008, I was getting ready to catch the last flight of Cebu Pacific to Singapore. The flight was 8:50 PM and arrived in Singapore at approximately 12:20 AM the following day. And from that day on, my venture outside of my home country began. I left Manila quietly with the knowledge of my family and some friends. I wanted to tell my other friends too but then I decided not to. I wanted to wait for the time I settled in Singapore before telling everyone that I moved. Yes I was full of surprises but there were many things that surprised me too during that time. Who would have thought that I would bump into a good friend, well the husband of my good friend, in one of the most awkward places in Singapore? And that friend happened to be unaware of my whereabouts since I left my first job in Christmas of 2006. So then I have to tell everyone on my current diaspora and thank God for social media that reaching out to them made it quite a smooth transition.

Happy Birthday!

Today is July 10, Wednesday which means tomorrow is my birthday. It is my first time talking about my birthday which I happen to celebrate with people I know like Kathryn Sabalza, Jimson Uranza, Zyra Sotto and of course one of my favourite and a revered author Mr. Bo Sanchez. Who would have thought I will know a lot of people who celebrates the same day we were all born. Anyway, so I do not really celebrate my birthday except for going out of a small dinner or lunch or whatever with the special people I carefully chose. I do not really like to be the centre of everyone's attention but there is nothing you can do. People know its my birthday and I can't do anything about it. But on this day of my birthday I only have one terrible wish. I know it is a long shot but I have always been a big fan of "The Little Prince" and I want to be the first Filipino to establish something that has relevance to this book. I am sure many has read the book and are aware of the morals presented. But I dream of something else. 

In Brazil, there is a hospital named Hospital Pequeno Principe which translates to Little Prince Hospital. In Taiwan, they have City Cafe which is decorated with everything about the Little Prince. There is The Little Prince Museum in Hakone, Japan while Korea has Petit France which proudly honours St. Exupery's works and the Little Prince. And In Europe, there are so many I do not know what else to mention. The book has been published and printed in 270 languages world wide and still counting. It has been printed in Tagalog as well although the translation and book is somewhat a dismay to me compared to the books from other countries that I have seen. For a start, I wish I can publish the book in an English and Tagalog version side by side and I want the book to to look presentable. After the book, I will put up a cafe aptly named The Little Cafe. And then maybe after the cafe hits off then I will put up a foundation and this one I am sure to name it Ang Munting Prinsipe Foundation. The main aim of the soon to be founded foundation is to help less fortunate children to learn how read and write properly. Let us just start small. Humble beginnings have great rewards in the end. 

Anyway, Happy Birthday and I wish me many more years to come to accomplish these dreams someday. Someday.

Bangkok Jam

“My first trip to Bangkok and it was great. The places I've seen are awesome. The food is gastronomically delectable. And the people are nice and will always give you a smile. Bangkok has preserved its richness in culture as they have maintained most of their temples and palaces which is the cradle of their religion, which is Buddhism. You will be impressed with the grandiose of all these temples located far from the other side of Bangkok's central business district. You will also be amazed to see a lot of flashy neon coloured taxis (like pink, green, blue and orange) that it would be so hard for you to hail the taxi as you will not be able to see whether it is available or not because they are just too bright to look at.”

And So I'm Back.

It has been 3 years since I last had an entry on my blog. I am wondering what kept me busy. Well as you may know I am a teacher. I teach children with special needs and have been in this profession for 5 years. I am not blaming my job that I didn’t get to write. I wanted to write but was quite lazy to do so. Then Facebook came so I kind of lost my interest to blogging and just ventured to writing notes and stories on my photo albums about the things I have done. But now I have a lot of time to spare to update this blog. I have left Singapore and moved to Jakarta about a month ago. (Well the Singapore story will come to you in a later time) I am quite not busy these days so I decided to rekindle my forgone affair with blogger.com. I want to focus on my writing about travels and life experiences since I left the Philippines last May 2008. That decision to leave the country gave me a different perspective of how I should see life. The last five years was a whirlwind of sort. I have had many experiences, surprises, made a lot friends and saw many places. But as what all Filipinos would say, “There is no place like home”, it is quite true unless you find a better place to start a new life.