Trip reports forum

Interesting stuff MAC, but I thought the blog was self-indulgent and written with the self-assured smugness of someone who has grabbed an elephant by the tail and is overly confident they can describe the entire animal to everyone else.

Those oreo cookies mentioned in the blog are actually made in Begasi, Indonesia, and the reason they are everywhere is because the local folks buy and eat 'em.

Anyway, I do think you'll enjoy a trip to Luang Prabang. Lots of great stuff to see and enjoy.

Madmac: Thailand was not our priority on this occasion which is why we there only for a short time. We will certainly be back as we by no means experienced enough of the country (as if that is ever possible) but we will not be spending much time in Bangkok if we can avoid it. It is sometimes difficult to avoid the "beaten track" as it becomes popular for good reason & most of the monuments or destinations dominating the major routes you still want to see.

I thank you both for your criticism - it's usually very helpful so I'm grateful for you taking the time to comment. To extend Ex's unfortunately rather vague & brief simile, I felt I was attempting, in fact, only to describe my experiences of 'the tail'. That is to say I was characterising what I had seen & the emotions inspired in me by those experiences. It's impossible to do anything more given the time available but that doesn't detract from our experiences at the time. 

I've lived in various cities in my life but that doesn't make my comments any more valuable than someone who's been there only a week as we're both having experiences which are relevant to others. To suggest otherwise would invalidate the writings of most travel writers, especially people like Peter Moore & Bill Bryson. To live in, and love, a location places you in a privileged position but equally the majority of people who visit SE Asia do not enjoy that privilege and so will experience some of the sadness & frustration I did. I was there for a short time so anything I say is obviously tempered by that caveat - I must of course accept that there is a great deal more to places I visit than I can write about but that's inevitable. Also, opinions change as experiences grow. 

As to self-indulgent, Ex? Yes! Of course! It's a blog - they all are self-indulgent as we're all indulging our desire to write, share & comment. How could it be anything else?

Oh, I'm also a chap!

Sorry Dude! I only saw women in the photos so I thought it must be two women travelling together. Also I didn't see one mention of the fact that the women here a HOT - a fact that can't be missed as soon as you get off the airplane. A dude would notice that, and I, for one, would consistenly comment on it (my wife is used to said commentary).

Anyway, overall I thought it was a good report with some good info. Yeah, the Thailand part wasn't working for me, but the Luang Prabang part sure was. My daughter LOVES to swim, and visitng those swimming holes with her would be a joy.