Our journey from 4000 Islands started with an early morning boat ride to the mainland followed by a bus trip to the Laos/Cambodian border. We had heard that this border crossing could be a little difficult as it was common for immigration officials to demand ”fees” for stamping your passport and for other administrative tasks that are just part of their day job. At the time it seemed very important to ensure that we didn’t pay a dollar more than the official fee. However, in retrospect the small amounts of cash they were demanding were so insignificant they were barely worth thinking about especially taking into account that most Cambodian government employees only earn between $1-2 a day! Besides, this turned out to be the least of our frustrations that day. After a smooth border crossing ... read more

We broke up our journey to Luang Prabang with an overnight stopover in Luang Namtha. Nothing much to report from there, other than that this was where we discovered the Laos baguette, perfectly crusty on the outside and soft in the middle bread, unlike the sweet stodgy stuff we’d had in Africa and India. God bless the French (influence)! Being a World Heritage site, Luang Prabang is a tad touristy, but also very picturesque and charming, with its pretty temples, cobblestone lanes and colonial architecture. It certainly worked its charm on us, as did its numerous bakeries tempting us with culinary delights, which we’d only seen in our dreams during our previous four and half months on the road. With bagels, cream cheese, seeded baguettes, real cheddar cheese, salami, mustard, muesli, and peanut butter cookies we ... read more

After all the ruins and temples we decided that a big dose of the great outdoors was just what the doctor ordered. Keen to avoid the crowds of tourists heading to Chiang Mai we decided to step off the well-trodden backpacker route, and head out to the village of Umphang, in the west of Thailand, very close to the Burmese border. The only obstacle was a long minibus journey, followed by4 hours in the back of a songthaew (a pickup truck with benches in the back) on the cliff hugging and travel sickness inducing “Sky Highway” – 164 km and 1,219 bends! We sat crammed in (Cel) and hanging off the back (Jonny) with a varied mix of people from different tribes and ethnicities – and no other tourists in sight. The majority were Burmese refugees, ... read more

We started our journey through north Thailand leaving Bangkok from its Southern Bus Terminal and were introduced to the concept of a bus hostess, prancing down the aisle in her high heels handing out water and biscuits. Something National Express is definitely lacking! Our first stop was Kanchanaburi, home to the Bridge over the River Kwai, no longer made of wood, and has actually been destroyed twice since first being constructed. We decided the best way to see and experience the rickety railway was to take the train from Kanchanaburi over the bridge, through some fantastic scenery and the cliff hugging bends to Namtok. At Namtok we visited the Hellfire Pass Museum, a memorial museum and walking trail dedicated to the 100,000 workers who died building the Thai-Burma “Death Railway”, under the Japanese occupation during the ... read more

We arrived in Kerala after an overnight stopover in Mangalore for what was to be our final week and last destination in India. Kerala is one of India's most developed states, largely thanks to it's communist government, the first one to be freely elected in the world. Kerala is ranked as India's cleanest and also least corrupt state and has the highest literacy and life expectancy rates in the country, with people living on average for 10 years longer than elsewhere in India. Although we knew we were still in India, we noticed subtle differences, including the cleaner streets, a spotless train station and newer buses. We spent our first night in Kannur, and on arrival teamed up with another traveler and headed out into the countryside in search of a theyyam ceremony, a traditional form ... read more