For better or worse, likely the latter, I’m addicted to coffee again. In Cambodia, I’ve been drinking precisely one smooth cup in a café every morning for the last two weeks. For many of us humans, caffeine is an elixir, while to some
Category: Culture
Cultural endeavors around our beloved earth.
![Mural that shows different coffee brewing methods.](https://earthdrifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Mural-Coffee-Brewing-Forms-Resized-Blog.jpg)
While Vietnam’s coffee allure may have pushed me into consuming more caffeine than ever, it also nudged me to give it up, at least for the last 19 days. I have no immediate intention on stopping this cold-turkey endeavor. Still, the abstinance could
![A view of UNESCO Luang Prabang and the Nam Khan River from atop Phusi Hill in north central Laos.](https://earthdrifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Sunrise-Nam-Khan-Feature-Resized.jpg)
Laos is a land to love. It’s an earth space that can have you feeling like you’ve stepped back in time, while simultaneously, the country is developing at a moderate pace. I don’t believe that Laos is well-known to most of the eight-billion-plus
![Classic Asian Massage Depictions](https://earthdrifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Massage-Depictions-Resized.jpg)
A drifting mantra of mine is Wellness. In southeast Asia I get to take advantage of affordable saunas (herbal steam). I’ll happily take whichever I can get. It’s called a sauna when in essence it’s an herbal steam, just semantics. While steam facilities
![At the small night market in Luang Namtha, Laos - How to Haggle in Developing Countries](https://earthdrifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Feature-Luang-Namtha-Market.jpg)
Buying and haggling in most Asian and other developing countries can be a different experience compared to in Europe and North America. Away from shopping malls, stores, and street food stalls, getting used to haggling in the developing world is something we have
![Boundary rock.](https://earthdrifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Museum-Boundary-Rock-Outside-and-Child-1.jpg)
Visiting the Khon Kaen National Museum in central Isaan, Thailand, implements an interesting look into yesteryear. Archaeology museums give a glimpse into the past by way of time travel. Why not engage the mind in a museum? That was my impromptu mantra when
![The view from above the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Vat Phu in Champasak, southern Laos.](https://earthdrifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/View-From-Atop-Resized.jpg)
The ruins and grounds of Vat Phu, in Champasak, Laos, are a uniquely aesthetic and ancient Khmer Hindu site. Like many vintage earth spaces, strolling around and absorbing the open-air energy and its ancestral remnants, provides for great pondering. How different was life
![Buddhist-style architecture at Vat Sensoukharam in Luang Prabang, Laos.](https://earthdrifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Resize-Vat-Sensoukharam-Street-View-2.jpg)
Temple gazing has never been high on my travel to-do list. Like so many people drifting in SE Asia, I’ve taken the following stance: Another temple. How many temples can I see? However, as humans, we have the open-minded ability to change views
![View of Luang Namtha from the Samakixay Temple, northern Laos.](https://earthdrifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Luang-Namtha-Feature-Image.jpg)
To call Luang Namtha a ghost town would be an exaggeration. However, in a country of under eight million people, the town has fewer than 40,000 inhabitants, and zero crowds. The small size, quiet streets and personal space is what I liked about
![The White Temple or Wat Rong Khun in Chiang Rai, Thailand](https://earthdrifter.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/Resized-White-Temple-Wat-Rong-Khun-2.jpg)
The smallish city of Chiang Rai, not to be confused with its bigger cousin of Chiang Mai, (187 km south), is a good city for temple drifting and coffee sipping. During a week in this laid-back town, I walked to places of interest.