Southeast Asia Travel Journal

The long wait is almost over. CNNgo reports that the new Universal Studios theme park, part of the massive Resorts World development on Sentosa, has finally set their official opening date. The 18th of March is the date to circle on your calendar.

You can find more information, and even book tickets on-line, at the Resorts World Sentosa web site.

I’s like to think that I have all the information you could need to plan your trip to Southeast Asia, but the truth is there’s a lot of good web sites out there, as well as news from around the region. So I’ve decided to do a weekly roundup of the blog posts I’ve found the most interesting. Of special note is a trip through Northern Laos by the owner of TravelFish.org as well as some useful advice on a variety of topics from another resident travel writer.

The Blue Bird of Happiness Gets a Balinese Reprieve

Judicial Review Team Rules that Bali Taxi Operation is Legal.
[Bali Discovery]

Angkor, Bagan, Sukhothai: Part 1: Sukhothai

South East Asia’s three greatest temple complexes are enjoying a renaissance of popularity nearly 1000 years after they were first constructed
This story was first published in Asian Geographic magazine, issue 48, under the title "The Legacy: Angkor, Bagan, Sukhothai".
Words and images appearing with the text on Travelhappy are copyright Chris Mitchell. Please don’t reproduce [...]
[Travel Happy]

Backpack Repair In Bangkok: Go See Mr Bag-Fix

Backpack broken? Luggage trashed? Go see Mr Bag-Fix in Bangkok to get your travelling gear restored to good as new.
The first time I ever went backpacking, I bought a really cheap backpack from an army surplus store. It was such a piece of crap that it fell apart within about 48 hours of me leaving [...]
[Travel Happy]

A walk in the woods: trekking in Nam Ha NPA

Just back from a one-night, two-day trek run by Green Discovery into the Nam Ha National Protected Area (NPA). The two-day trek was described as difficult and that two of our group of seven dropped out after the first day supports that this was quite a difficult trek. It was overall a bit of a [...]
[TravelFish]

Antique smuggling, travel writing and a jaunt around Luang Nam Tha

When your day starts with a bowl of offal you just know it is going to get better and better — as mine did when I found the above fruit vendor as I choked down the last of the intestines…
I’d caught up the previous evening with a researcher for another travel publisher and had swapped [...]
[TravelFish]

On Huay Xai

It has been quite some time (at least ten years) since I was last in Huay Xai and I was surprised by just how little it had changed — at least from a traveller’s perspective. The hilltop wat still has a bunch of monkeys — including one on a lease that the monks were getting [...]
[TravelFish]

The best restaurant in Laos bar none.

Title says it all. This tiny little restaurant in Udomxai has, quite simply, the best Lao food I have ever eaten. Ever.
[TravelFish]