Our last 2 days in Laos were spent cruising down the Mekong on our own private long boat. It was just a great and relaxing way to finish this country. The scenery was beautiful, the food was fab (we had a chef onboard) and the overnight stop in Bak Beng was lots of fun! We boys from Venezuela even got us all dancing Merengue! We arrived at the Laos border town just before the border shut so we crossed into Thailand and decided to drive late into the night (rather than stay at the border) and have a day in [View Full Entry]

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The next stop (well kind of the last stop) in Laos was Luang Prabang. I really liked this town, it has an old town section full of pretty buildings and temples and a great night market. The first full day here I was feeling a bit under the weather so was very uncultural and went to bed for the afternoon while the others visited temples! I made up for it the next day by getting up early and going to the National Museum and then to some beautiful waterfalls. They were pretty crazy as the wet season had caused the [View Full Entry]

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Whilst travelling in Asia, me and my fellow travellers have made it our duty to sample and rate the local beers in each country. The worst by far was the 8p sample from a Bia Hoi (street side bar) in Vietnam, and the best had to be Angkor in Cambodia, but I will always be fondest of Beerlao. It is the state owned beer of the country and comes in massive bottles which you traditionally share with a friend, it just rules. The other thing that makes me so fond of beerlao is tubing in Vang Vieng. About 7 of [View Full Entry]

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Hi all Sorry I've been quiet for a while, basically been really busy and the internet was soooo frustrating in Vietnam! I'm now is Laos and have found a cafe with BROADBAND so taking advantage! I think I left off after 2 days at the beach in Nha Trange, at my favourite bar in the world, happy memories... Anyway, we caught yet another night train to get to Hoi An. Hoi An is a world heritage listed site for it's old town which is an unusual (but pretty) combination of European, Japanese and Chinese architecture. Most of the buildings are [View Full Entry]

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For once we traveled to our next destination, Hue, by bus! It was a very scenic drive over a mountain pass and past some beautiful beaches, a shame about the rain! Hue is a town on the banks of the Perfume River, mainly known for its citadel and tombs. We did a great fun day trip on motorbikes (don't worry mum, we wore helmets and they never did over 50km/h!) We travelled through some beautiful countryside (it'a always nice to get out of the cities in Vietnam) and went to a royal tomb of an emperor. The tombs were actually [View Full Entry]

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The last leg of our journey in Vietnam was the Capital Hanoi and Halong Bay. I'll be honest with you, Vietnam has not been my favourite country, it's so busy and noisy and it feels as if the people are constantly trying to rip you off any way they can. I'm sure it's a translation thing but they really can come across as being quite rude at times and I think I mentioned the crazy motorbikes. Sometimes you can't take 2 steps without being hassled for something or other. Anyway, Hanoi is the same. We arrived by night train (for [View Full Entry]

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This country is so beautiful so far! The people are so friendly and calm and helpful and it is just SOOOOO quiet! Our first stop (after 2 days of boring travelling) was the capital Vientiane. There was no traffic on the roads at all (which makes me wonder where the hell all those people in Vietnam were actually going?!) and no-one hassled you or tried to rip you off! the French influence is much more obvious here with many french restaurants and french owned businesses. We gained some new team members including a group of guys from Venezuela/South Korea/USA. It [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Nha Trang very bright and early! Nha Trang is a beach resort with a large sandy beach and lots of bars and restaurants basically! Most of the group went for a day trip on a boat snorkelling but seeing as I had already done a fair amount of this in Aus and that funds are almost gone, I gave it a miss and those of us who didn't go decided to walk to what the LP decribed as a 'rustic' beach 1.8km from town. It was ridiculously hot and sunny and we were at the very far [View Full Entry]

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I am now in Vietnam, I've actually left Ho Chi Minh city now but that's for another blog entry... We had a gruelling 8 hour bus journey to get to HCM City (formally Saigon) and it was like arriving on another planet! This city is just huge, we were driving through what seemed like the centre for over an hour before we actually got to the centre! 10 million people live here and I am not exaggerating when I say it feels like every single one of them rides a motorbike at top speed round the streets. There are pedestrian [View Full Entry]

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Since the beach we have been in the Capital city of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. There has also been a bit of an illness going round the group, tummy stuff. I think it might be due to the largest rats (cat size) I have ever seen that lived in the hotel at the beach and were seen coming from the kitchen, also the rooms were infested with cockroaches - if you ever go to Sihanouk Ville speak to me first DO NOT STAY WHERE WE STAYED! Ironically this was the only western owned place we stayed in too. Phnom Penh is [View Full Entry]

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