The View From Ban Xieng Mene

One of the reasons I love working for Where There Be Dragons is the chance to spend time with incredibly cool people like Allana Hearn. I first worked with Allana on the Cambodia summer program in 2008, and now we're together on the Mekong Semester.


In this photo Allana and I are standing on the banks of the Mekong, having just arrived in the homestay village of Ban Xieng Mene.

Late Afternoon Light on the Mekong

Every day we cross the river between Luang Prabang and the student home-stays in Ban Xieng Mene. This is what the light on the water looks like at the end of the day.



photo by Jake Teton-Landis

Trekking in Luang Namtha

On the advice of Steven Schipani, a former Dragons instructor who lives in Laos, we went trekking in the Nam Ha National Protected Area with the Jungle Tour company.

Many students point to this trek as the high-point of the Mekong Semester.

Here's contact info. for Jungle Tour - send an e-mail in English.

Mr. Chittaphong Chanthakoune
Tel/Fax: +856-86-212025
Mobile: +856-20-2990355
PO Box: 046, Luang Namtha 03000, Laos

Email: chttphng@yahoo.com.au

Photo by Jake Teton-Landis.

On the Mekong...

We're approaching the midpoint of the Mekong Semester and the students are settled into home-stays in Ban Xieng Mene village, across the Mekong from Luang Prabang.

Here's a shot of students studying on the veranda of the Dragons program house...



We leave Luang Prabang around the end of October, head south through Laos to Cambodia and fly back to the States from Phnom Penh in mid December. I'll be home in Vermont for Christmas and then out to Colorado to start a full-time job in the Dragons Boulder office.

You can read student perspectives on the trip on the Yak Board....