GranTourismo!

Touring the Temples of Luang Prabang, Laos

Lara Dunston — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 13:11:04 +0000

Marvelling at the mural and mosaic covered temples of Luang Prabang is the next must-do activity after the early morning alms giving. There are 33 glittering temples or wats (also called ‘vats’) in the ancient Lao royal capital so we decide to start by focusing on a few and seeing them with a guide. Our …

Early Morning Alms Giving to the Monks in Luang Prabang, Laos

Lara Dunston — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:36:07 +0000

The early morning alms giving to the monks in Luang Prabang, Laos, is one of the main attractions that lures many travellers to the laidback Mekong River town although it’s not unique to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed city. The few times we’ve been out at the crack of dawn in Bangkok – generally on our way to …

Luang Prabang, a Languid Riverside Escape in Laos

Lara Dunston — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 07:16:51 +0000

Located on the Mekong River in northwestern Laos, lovely languid Luang Prabang with its glittering temples and colonial mansions is an ideal Southeast Asian escape.

A Guide to Cruising the Mekong River from Thailand to Laos

Lara Dunston — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:17:14 +0000

Cruising the Mekong River from Thailand to Laos is one of life’s great adventures and an essential experience if you’re travelling South East Asia. You can read about our trip here. The question is how to do it – slow boat or fast boat? If you’re on a tight budget then your two options are …

Cruising the Mekong River to Luang Prabang on the Luang Say Boat

Lara Dunston — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:39:37 +0000

Cruising the Mekong River is one of travel’s must-do experiences and a three-day Mekong River Cruise to Luang Prabang on the Luang Say boat was the reason we’d flown from Bangkok to Chiang Rai. While speedboats bounce along the river for the 300 kilometre-long journey from the Thailand-Laos border at Chiang Khong-Huay Xai to Luang …

Chiang Rai, Thailand – More Than a Mekong Launching Pad

Lara Dunston — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 05:56:07 +0000

For many travellers, Chiang Rai in northern Thailand is little more than a launching pad for hill tribe treks and explorations into the Golden Triangle, the border region of Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (Burma), as well as a departure point for Chiang Khong on the Thai-Laos border, for Mekong River cruises. The first time we visited …

Monday Memories: A Monk on the Mekong River in Laos

Terence Carter — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 09:10:30 +0000

I have to be honest. After a few hours on the Mekong river in Laos, I was getting a little bored photography-wise. There are only so many sun-baking cows, narrow speed boats throwing up rooster tails of water, and children wistfully waving from the sandy shores that you can photograph before you start to worry …

Bangkok’s Best Live Music Venues

Lara Dunston — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 02:56:12 +0000

From a rockabilly band playing at a fish and chips joint to an all-girl rock group performing nightly at an ice bar, Bangkok’s live music venues can most accurately be described as ‘quirky’. Bangkok’s music scene may not be the best in the world – you’re not going to fly to the Thai capital to …

Bangkok Parks and Gardens – A Breath of Fresh Air in the Big City

Lara Dunston — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 07:20:00 +0000

One of the first things we like to do after arriving in a city following a long-haul flight is stretch our legs and get some fresh air, which generally sees us heading to the nearest park or garden. If we’re exploring a city, we’ll always find an excuse to check out a local park, even …

Monday Memories: Siem Reap Dance Troupe Portraits

Terence Carter — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 03:18:09 +0000

Sometimes, as a photographer, you go to an event where you think you might be able to make good photographs for your story, but when you arrive you just know that it’s not going to work. That’s what happened when we were staying at the gorgeous Amansara resort in Siem Reap where there was a dance …

Eating Out in Bangkok – Bangkok’s Best Restaurants

Lara Dunston — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 12:00:24 +0000

(Click to enlarge) Eating out in Bangkok has never been as exciting as it is now. Bangkok’s best restaurants offer up everything from Thai street food with a twist and molecular Thai, to creative contemporary French and ‘progressive Indian’. It’s often said about eating out in Bangkok that the best food is found on the …

Bangkok Food Tours – a Foodie Walk Through Old Bangkok

Lara Dunston — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:11:37 +0000

We sighed with relief – and salivated a little too – when a trio of young Thai foodies set up Bangkok Food Tours and started offering foodie walking tours in Bangkok, a city we believe to be one of the world’s great food capitals. We signed up for their foodie walk through historic Bangrak, which is …

Cooking with Poo at the Helping Hands Thai Cooking School

Lara Dunston — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 12:33:30 +0000

From Klong Toey markets, it’s a quick drive and a short stroll through Klong Toey slum to Saiyuud Diwong’s Helping Hands Thai Cooking School, Bangkok, where we’re going to try our hand at, um, Cooking with Poo. Our walking tour through Klong Toey markets to purchase produce for the cooking course may have had participants’ jaws …

Cooking with Poo – A Walking Tour of Klong Toey Markets

Lara Dunston — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:43:31 +0000

“Isaan people eat everything!” Poo tells our small group as we negotiate the muddy paths of frenetic Klong Toey market on a walking tour to purchase ingredients for the Thai cooking lessons to follow at Saiyuud Diwong’s Helping Hands Thai Cooking School in Bangkok. ‘Poo’ is the nickname of Saiyuud Diwong, our cooking instructor. Vendor after vendor sells …

Our Favourite Stories from 2011 on Grantourismo

Lara Dunston — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:15:44 +0000

2011 was both a wonderful and weird year. It was strange in that after a well-planned 2010, knowing exactly where we’d be travelling every two weeks for the year of our 12-month round-the-world HomeAway Holiday Rentals-sponsored grand tour, 2011 was full of surprises, punctuated by plans that continually changed and last minute trips, and we …