Sunset along the Mekong

It’s almost 6:00 on a Friday evening in Vientiane as On and I spend our last night together here this time.
We’ve just returned from a photo shop where we had some of our digital photos printed, had a nice stroll back to our hotel and now, thinking about where we are going to have [...]

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A movie theater in Vientiane?

Maybe at one time.
On and I passed what looked like an abandoned movie theater this afternoon on our way to the photo shop to pick up some photos.
The Laos guidebook I have explains that there hasn’t been a movie theater in Vientiane since the early 90s. I find that kind of hard to believe for [...]

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Xieng Khuan (Buddha Park) — Vientiane’s quirky, yet unique Buddhist pantheon

Of all the places one can visit while staying in Vientiane, one of the quirkiest, yet most interesting attractions—bar none—would have to be Xieng Khuan, or Buddha Park. 
Located approximately 25 kilometers southeast of downtown Vientiane on the Mekong River, Xieng Khuan or “Spirit City” is just as much a monument to one man’s eccentric and [...]

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Ten weeks at Del Monte — Part 2

It was the summer of 1990 and I was spending my first summer in the Illinois Valley since 1985. Two of the big summer movies were Die Hard 2 and Ghost. Iraq invaded Kuwait in August and almost overnight the United States was starting a massive military buildup that would become the First Gulf War. [...]

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Ten weeks at Del Monte — Part 1

One of the more humbling experiences I’ve had when it has come to working had to have been the time I worked at a Del Monte canning/processing plant in Mendota, Illinois prior to coming to Korea in 1990. 
It was mid August 1990 and I had just finished teaching an adult education class (ESL) for Illinois [...]

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That Louang — Sacred Buddhist Site & National Symbol

Although there are numerous impressive and beautiful Buddhist temples located throughout Vientiane, That Louang, (pronounced tawt) Laos’s most important religious site is famous for its golden stupa that is a national symbol for the country.  
Located approximately four kilometers northeast of the center of Vientiane and within walking distance of Patouxai, its full official name Pha [...]

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Trip to immigration

In the not-so-distant past when it was time to extend your sojourn status in Korea and you had to go to your local immigration office, it sometimes took anywhere from one week to ten days to have this done.
Now, it takes no more than thirty minutes.
At least that was how long it took me this [...]

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Trip to immigration

In the not-so distant past when it was time to extend your sojourn status in Korea and you had to go to your local immigration office, it sometimes took anywhere from one week to ten days to have this done. 
Now, it takes no more than thirty minutes. 
At least that was how long it took me [...]

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Three hours in Hanoi then on to Vientiane

After a four-hour movie-less Vietnam Airlines flight from Incheon, I now have a three-hour layover in Hanoi before heading on to Vientiane. 
It all sounds a bit exotic—Incheon, Hanoi, and Vientiane—destinations you might come across in a Graham Greene or Paul Theroux novel or a Pico Iyer travel piece. Well, maybe not so much Incheon (though [...]

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On the streets of Vientiane — Lane Xang Avenue & Patouxai

After taking in most of the sights around Vientiane Sunday and yesterday, On and I went for a late afternoon walk to take a few more photos before heading back to our hotel for dinner.
Looking northeast on Lane Xang Avenue—standing in front of the Presidential Palace with Wat Sisaket to the right—Patouxai can be seen [...]

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