Explore: The Tatras Mountains in Poland

Posted Tuesday, April 10th, 2007 · Permalink · No Responses Yet...

Poland has an extremely interesting history. It’s played roles in many of the major happenings of the last century and before. There are countless places you can visit that educate and mesmerize visitors about this history. History here, history there, history everywhere. Nice, but sometimes it can become too much. That’s why it’s so great that Poland also has something that you can visit that is less history-laden: the Tatras mountain region in the south.

There are two popular ways to visit this amazingly beautiful stretch of mountains. One way is to check-in to one of the various hotels at the foot of the mountains and do day hikes into the mountains. There are many small towns that have many little hostels and more elaborate hotels that cater to various needs and budgets. The second, more adventurous, option is to go backpacking and stay in the mountain hostels along the road.

That’s what I did a two summers ago. It was great. Click here to keep reading…

Filed under Explore, Poland, Europe.

Explore: “The Loop” in Laos

Posted Monday, March 12th, 2007 · Permalink · No Responses Yet...

This one is for the hardcore folk out there; those who aren’t afraid of a little risk and glorify in the reaped rewards. “The Loop” is a loosely defined road-loop in Laos, south-east of Vientiane. It is usually traversed by moto. The primary reason why this loop is hardcore, as I put it, has much to do with the natural obstacles that at times make completing the loop downright impossible.

One of the major obstacles in the area are the floods that occur during the wet season. They have recently been working on heightening the road that should fix this issue. But this might not last long. There is a hydroelectric development project happening in this area and so it might be impossible to do the loop in a few years when the project is completed and they flood a huge part of the area through which the loop runs. Click here to keep reading…

Filed under Asia, Explore, Laos.