One of the most fun parts of the Southeast Asia backpacker trail is the slow boat from the border town of Huay Xai, Laos to the tourist hotspot Luang Prabang, Laos. The two-day trip totals about 14 hours with an overnight stop on Pakbeng, Laos. Note: Some sources refer to this same ride as the …
If you’re heading from Thailand to Laos, there’s a good chance you’ll be following a rough route of Bangkok to Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai to Chiang Khong. Chiang Khong is where you’ll find the Chiang Khong / Huay Xais border between Thailand and Laos, which is in turn the jumping off point for the Two-Day Slow …
Travel days aren’t always the most enjoyable. Even the best planned trip usually involves some last minute packing, the hassle of getting to the airport and then making your way through security (although TSA Pre-Check helps). After all that, there’s no downplaying how enjoyable an airport lounge can be. Here is how you can get …
Wat Rong Khun, better known to travelers as the “White Temple” is a temple structure (Wikipedia refers to it as an art exhibit) a few miles outside of central Chiang Rai, Thailand. (If you’re looking for a “real” temple experience in the region, check out the hike to Wat Pha Lat and Wat Phra That …
Our journey through Southeast Asia has relied heavily on ground transit, particularly trains and busses. After a buggy overnight train ride from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, we gladly welcomed a bus ride . We ended up on the Greenbus VIP bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. In this post, we cover how we booked …
In this post, we review taking the train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai, particularly Thai Railways #13, including how we booked our ride and our (sometimes a little rough) experiences on the train itself. Having started our two months in Southeast Asia in Bangkok, we decided to make our way north through Chiang Mai and …
It’s easy to forget that after you’ve picked your flights and chosen your hotels, you still need a way to pay for things overseas. This post covers the basics of money overseas, including getting cash and what credit cards to use. Cash Is (Sort of) King When I first wrote this post almost a decade …
Since you’re here, you’ve probably heard of an onward ticket and wondered when you need one and how to get one. Well, as I write this, I’m sitting on a plane to Bangkok from Hong Kong. The next flight I have booked is from Bangkok to Tokyo in two weeks. But I’m not going to …
After a 14-hour economy cabin flight to Dubai earlier this year, I vowed to stop flying over 8 hours (give or take) in economy cabins. It wasn’t an awful flight by any means, but when you save lots of money (and spend no points) flying low cost carriers on every other flight you take, you …
Planning a trip abroad? You don’t want to land and find out you can’t use Google Maps to figure out where to go or that you can’t make that phone call to mom telling her you safely arrived. We’re here to help you stay connected overseas. Here’s the problem, in short: If you take your …