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Travel + Leisure readers (and our guests) have just named IE one of the Top 10 “World’s Best” Tour Operators and Safari Outfitters! To qualify for the awards, tour operators were judged on six criteria, including the food. And while our small-group journeys remain committed to exploration, even confirmed “foodies” will find meals worth raving about in Earth’s wild regions.
You’ll work up quite an appetite during daily excursions. And whether it’s sampling restaurants in Lima, Peru, or local fare in India, or settling down for a sumptuous meal in the heart of Laos, you’ll enjoy meals to satisfy every palate. Plus, whenever possible, we use locally grown food to stimulate the economy and give you a fresh taste of the local culture and cuisine.
Some of the true culinary treats IE offers guests include opportunities to dine in a restaurant featured on No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain on our Vietnam vacation, and an exclusive sunset meal at the Miraflores Locks — a Frommer’s Top 5 dining experience on our Panama tour.
Selection of Restaurants:
Anh Tuyet’s (Laos & Vietnam)
Featured on Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations series, Anh Tuyet is a well-known local chef and artist. The restaurant is famous for all kinds of local delicacies but most famous for their roast chicken, which you will sample.
International Miraflores Restaurant (Panama)
As an exclusive treat for International Expeditions’ guests, one dinner in Panama City will be at the fine International Miraflores Restaurant at the Miraflores Locks. Named one of Panama’s “Top Five” dining experiences, from the terrace and dining room we watch ships navigate on their way through the Panama Canal.
Petra Kitchen (Wings Over the Nile)
The Petra Kitchen (pictured) is a relaxed, informal atmosphere where you’ll gather to prepare an evening meal, working alongside local women under the supervision of a chef. Each evening meal includes soup, cold and hot mezza and salads, and a main course — all typical Jordanian dishes. You glimpse of the secrets behind the famous regional cuisine of the Levant.
Laos in particular requests visitors to show the proper respect when visiting their country. As with anywhere, visitors and locals alike should pay attention to basic rules of politeness. Making a good first impression will be greatly appreciated by the Lao people, who are often seen as shy and gentle. These quick tips are useful in ensuring the best cultural experience possible.
- Do not touch a monk: There are over 75,000 monks in Laos. They are highly revered and a sacred part of the Lao Buddhist tradition. They are people of honor and as such we are asked not to touch them or take their picture without asking.
- Ask before taking a photo: Having your photo taken is a personal matter and asking permission before you take a photo shows the proper respect. In asking first you will find you are seldom turned down.
- Do not shout: The people of Laos do not shout under most circumstances. You’ll find shouting actually gives you the opposite of the desired affect. Instead of paying more attention to you, the person you are shouting at will shy away and not want to be seen with someone making so much noise. They value quiet and peacefulness.
- Do not put your feet up: To show someone the bottom of your foot or shoe is a sign of disrespect.
- Do not touch people on the head: Buddhists and animists believe the soul resides on the top of the head, the highest point of the body. Touching someone there disturbs the soul and is a sign of disrespect.
Check out stories from our 2010 Laos tour.
By Bill Robison
International Expeditions’ Bill Robison, Director of Product Development, has just returned from leading four groups on out new Laos tour and Vietnam vacation. Bill tells us about special moments from the tour and even shares a few photos!
Ok, I am no Ansel Adams but I wanted to share a few of the photos that really captured the special moments from our Laos and Vietnam tours. Just like any small-group tour, there were moments that you might not plan for on an itinerary…they just happen.
Our February tours just happened to be in Vientiane on the right days to see two different temple festivals. The people parade around the temple three times holding the most senior monk above their heads and carrying fake money trees. Everyone is welcome at these ceremonies and our guests were greeted with smiles and invitations to join the celebration. Guests on the February 28 tour were actually asked to sit down and eat with the townspeople!
Our guests were also honored with a baci, a special Lao ceremony used for important visitors or after weddings or building a new house. It’s a celebration to wish good luck and good fortune to the guests. We had a private ceremony with music and dancing for each of our groups. Our guests were blown away…and so were other people in town. When they heard the music they came to watch the ceremony. IE guests are invited to taste local foods and drink “Lao Lao,” a local rice whiskey, while a shaman gave a blessing. The Lao people tied ribbons on the wrists of the visitors while chanting blessings over them. The shaman then presented the flowers to a representative of the group. It’s such a unique and authentic experience for our guests.
SEE MORE OF BILL’S LAOS & VIETNAM PHOTOS
By Bill Robison
I
nternational Expeditions’ Bill Robison, Director of Product Development, has just returned from leading four groups on our new Laos tour and Vietnam vacation. Bill tells us about the tour, the people and even shares a few photos!
I can hardly believe it but I’m back from Southeast Asia. I want to give you so many details without writing a novel!
IE and our guests did some serious good in a little village on the shores of the Mekong River outside Luang Prabang. We provided this village with lots of books for their kids and even helped to fix the roof on the schoolhouse. The principal of the school told me that they needed just $30 to fix the roof on the school. When guests asked about contributing to the village I told them about the roof and they gave generously. The teacher we gave the money to was absolutely beside himself with joy and gratitude…he had to choke back tears during our visit.
Working with the group Big Brother Mouse, we gave the kids books on basic biology and personal hygiene, dinosaur 
coloring books with coloring pencils, books on the wildlife of Laos, books on learning to speak English, books with fables, and books about kids in other countries. And they were all in the native language!
Rural Lao children frequently drop out of school after about the third grade so keeping them interested in learning and reading is a major challenge. They absolutely loved the books and gifts from the guests. Both the kids and their teachers wanted me to pass on their thanks to International Expeditions. They have never received this level of contribution or even seen this level of caring. IE made a big impression on them and those kids just cherished the gifts and books we brought. That is something all of us to be very proud of.
SEE MORE OF BILL’S LAOS & VIETNAM PHOTOS
A bird-eating frog, Cat Ba leopard gecko and a Nonggang babbler, a bird that flies only when it is frightened are among dozens of new species discovered in an ecologically fragile part of Southeast Asia.
“The discoveries are among 163 new species found last year in the countries around the Mekong river — Cambodia, Laos, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam and the Yunnan province of China. More than 1,000 new species have been discovered in the area over the past decade, as scientists have begun to explore its remote and unique ecosystems.
“However, conservationists fear that the discoveries, many of which are unique to small areas of jungle, river or mountains, are under threat from destructive development and climate change.”
Read the complete story
Bill Robison, International Expeditions’ Director of Product Development, spent the first part of 2009 in Laos and Vietnam researching locations for our new 15-day itinerary. Follow Bill’s series of updates on these fascinating countries, as well as how he’s put together a Laos and Vietnam tour that covers the spectacular natural beauty and culture of Southeast Asia.
It was time for my first lunch at Kingfisher Lodge, so I headed over to the main building to find two floors, each with tables for meals, with a completely open view of a pond and the wetlands of Xe Pian NPA. The entire lodge had a remarkable sense of taste; well thought out and very tastefully decorated with local flare — not what you might expect from an ecolodge. I sat down to a view of cattle in the fields, the villagers of Khiet Ngong picking herbs from the ground, and was treated to a view of some elephants from the village as they grazed their way through the fields and filled the air with the sound of their clanging neck bells.
Once I had my first look at the menu — which “pad” meal to eat today — I noticed they had Italian food on the menu as well! How could this be true in the middle of a wilderness in one of the wildest countries in the world? Where were the inconveniences I was expecting? I came to find out that the owner/operator of the lodge Massimo is Italian. He opened the lodge after marrying a Lao woman, and has added his favorites on the menu.
Massimo and I had a great chat about the lodge, the challenges he faces with the local government and the proper management of Xe Pian NPA, as well as how his lodge benefits the locals at Khiet Ngong. They have a partnership where everyone shares in the revenue from the lodge, and the locals accompany guests on walks through the forest and on elephant rides to the remains of the temple at Pho Asa. Not only do these excursions benefit the lodge, the workers and the villagers, they also benefit the elephants who would otherwise be put to work logging in the forest.
For three days I visited the forest, Pho Asa, the village of Khiet Ngong and relaxed on the verandah of my bungalow. All this nature, culture and Italian food, too! There was no doubt in my mind that guests of International Expeditions would thoroughly their Laos tour, and would also love that their stay would benefit so many of the locals…elephants included!
Bill Robison, International Expeditions’ Director of Product Development, spent the first part of 2009 in Laos and Vietnam researching locations for our new 15-day itinerary. Follow Bill’s series of updates on these fascinating countries, as well as how he’s put together a Laos and Vietnam tour that covers the spectacular natural beauty and culture of Southeast Asia.
Laos is absolutely full of opportunities to visit and overnight in villages; eat at restaurants that help at risk kids; buy products direct from the workers; help educate the children of Laos; hike the wilds of the 20 National Protected Areas (NPA) that cover 14% of the country’s mass (Laos is the most heavily forested and country and has the lowest population density in southeast Asia); and spend your adventure dollar contributing to the betterment of the people and places you visit.
I found an excellent example of this at Kingfisher Ecolodge just outside the village of Khiet Ngong near Xe Pian NPA. You might be different, but when I think of “ecolodges,” I usually think of simple accommodations. Maybe hot water (maybe not!), simple food, lots of bugs, electricity if you’re lucky, and generally a “oneness” with nature that offers an eco-friendly, but possibly somewhat uncomfortable experience.
Kingfisher Ecolodge has achieved a level of comfort, taste and true eco-friendliness that I have found nowhere else! Upon arrival, I prepared myself to accept some inconveniences in order to fully experience the nature of Xe Pian NPA. Bug spray and hand sanitizer at the ready, I set out for my bungalow. Surprise! I walked into a large room, with separate shower and toilet, two sinks, full solar-powered electricity and hot water, as well as a ceiling fan and plenty of room for luggage. Best of all was the verandah — complete with a big hammock and enough room to have guests and a cocktail as I looked out over the sprawling wetlands of Xe Pian NPA. No comfort, other than TV (could still watch movies on my laptop), was denied.
Learn more about the food (ITALIAN!) at Kingfisher in my next blog!
Bill Robison, International Expeditions’ Director of Product Development, spent the first part of 2009 in Laos and Vietnam researching locations for our new 15-day itinerary. Follow Bill’s series of updates on these fascinating countries, as well as how he’s put together a Laos and Vietnam tour that covers the spectacular natural beauty and culture of Southeast Asia.
By Bill Robison
Laos used to be called “Land of a Million Elephants”…they should call it now “Land of a Million Children!” Lao children are the happiest I’ve ever seen, and the presence of this tall Falang — the Lao people label all Westerners by their word for French — was too out of the ordinary for them to keep their distance. They smiled, chattered and laughed; then laughed, chattered and smiled some more! While the children were convinced I must have candy in my pocket, they didn’t beg and were amazed to hear me speak in a language they have seldom, if ever, heard and definitely do not understand.
The kids are picture hams, jockeying for position in front and proud to see their image on the screen once I had snapped the picture. I only wish I had a digital printer with me so I could give the kids copies of the photos. That would have been an absolute treasure to them. My presence was obviously a fun distraction and they were happy to see strangers in the village.
I was visiting an Akha village in the Luang 
Namtha province, when a small, wide-eyed three or four year old boy walked up to me, stared like a deer in headlights, and then started crying. I thought somehow I had offended or frightened him — these villages are usually animist and have many superstitions and rigid rules for behavior. The boy’s mother came up to our guide and explained, smiling, that the boy had never seen a Westerner before and my height and the color of my skin frightened him. I could not image a place like this, so insulated from the outside world and yet so friendly and open to visitors. I knew that was an experience that must be shared with guests who travel with International Expeditions — an experience that anyone in the world would appreciate and treasure for a lifetime. So, I made village visits an integral part of our adventure to Laos.
Bill Robison, International Expeditions’ Director of Product Development, spent the first part of 2009 in Laos and Vietnam researching locations for our new 15-day itinerary. Follow Bill’s series of updates on these fascinating countries, as well as how he’s put together a Laos and Vietnam tour that covers the spectacular natural beauty and culture of Southeast Asia.
By Bill Robison
After first visiting Vietnam and Cambodia in 2005, Laos was moved to the very top of my “most wanted” destinations. I was so intrigued by the amazing culture, I knew more Southeast Asia was definitely in the cards. All I heard and read pointed to Laos as the most authentic and unspoiled experience in all of Southeast Asia. So, I set my sights there and in January of 2009 finally got the chance to create a program featuring Laos. I spent a month exploring the country. It was more than I ever imagined it could be!
What struck me most in Laos was the incredible ethnic diversity and authenticity of the village visits. Life is slow and peaceful in Laos…especially in the villages, each inhabited by one or more of over 160 ethnic minorities found in the country. I’ve been to many villages around the world in Africa, Asia, South America and Europe. All of them were interesting but too many turned out to be somewhat contrived…a short history, a peak inside a hut, and then a gigantic handicraft market with zealous and witty salespeople instead of a real chance to exchange cultural experiences. Nothing could have been further from the truth in Laos! Each village, and there are a TON of them, was filled with everyday Lao people who are genuinely intrigued by visitors.
Laos is new to tourism, and many of these villages have had limited, if any, exposure to Westerners. I could talk about a particular village but the story was the same at all of them. Instead of being met by the waiting head of the village and escorted to designated areas while the villagers are busy setting up the market, my presence was quietly observed by the villagers as they went about their daily routines of chopping wood, cooking sticky rice, repairing their homes and working on whatever skill that particular village is known for — farming, weaving, carving, even whisky making. Not that there weren’t things to buy, but I had to look for them or was approached the very occasional, respectful, young lady with some local crafts. It was the most amazing feeling…it was the first time I had visited a village and NOT been the center of attention or mobbed for commerce. Many just smiled and waved with a friendly “sabai-dee,” keeping to themselves at a respectful distance while they continued with their daily chores.
Curiosity got the best of some, urging them to ask my local guide about who I was, where I came from, and why someone from so far away would come so far to visit their little community.
