In Praise of Crap Towns
Here we are, in Savannakhet, Laos, the third-largest city in the People’s Republic, as all 120,000 inhabitants would, I’m sure, be pleased to tell you,...
Yearly Archive: 2010
As Conservationists Quietly Weep…
Some way into Laos, fresh out of Lao Bao, Vietnam, and heading for Savannakhet, our bus stops at what I guess is best compared to...
Anyone the Wiser?
I have seen some unusual bathroom set-ups in my time. But this, on the Vietnam-Laos border at Lao Bao, has me completely stumped. The ladies...
Age Appropriate Reading
The creator of the immortal line “The bitches mortared the piss hole and it didn’t blow up!” has, this evening, completed his reading of Chickenhawk,...
Creative Writing
As part of our homeschooling topic on the Vietnam War, Z has been reading Chickenhawk. While not as “adult” as the current meaning of the...
Swans v. Dragons
Travel with children is a wonderful thing. The sheer, unalloyed joy they take in the smallest, and most unexpected things, the chance to watch them...
Our Friend Pho
Vietnamese is now officially Z’s favourite cuisine — second only to Italian, ahead of Thai and English — and, as noodle soup obsessives, we will...
The Birds and the Bees
In the aftermath of our not wildly successful dragon boat cruise, Z and I are ambling along the south bank of Hue’s Perfume River, trying...
Hue, with a Y
So the Perfume River of Hue, Vietnam, technically, and sadly relevantly, pronounced huey, is just that little bit less perfumed today. Timed, flawlessly, just as...
Mum, Mum, Your Hair is Turning Green!
When does a child count as a swimmer? I guess the baseline test is chuck them in and see if they sink or not. This...