Ashlee and Patrick

Payphones in Thailand are incredibly difficult to operate. Once you get your coins in, you have only a few seconds in which you must dial the phone number before it times out. Basically, if you are reading the guesthouse phone number from a page in the guide book you will not enter it in time. So began our trip to the largest and most famous national park in Thailand. After about 20 tries I finally managed to enter the number in time and was speaking to the guides at the Green Leaf Guest House and safari tours. We booked a room and a spot on the tour for the next couple of days and were on our way. The rest was easy. We left Ayuthaya by train, our first experience with the Thai trains. While it ... read more

Thailand: our final country. I am writing this entry since Ashlee is not feeling well after eating a bad poached egg for breakfast yesterday. She is feeling better today but lacks energy so is spending the day watching movies on HBO. We have decided to skip Malaysia for this trip, since it seems that our prefered style of travel is to take our time and explore our destinations at leisure. We arrived from Cambodia last week after an incredible 3 hour sprint to the border in a jacked up Toyota Camry. The road from Siem Reap is by far the worst national highway I have ever seen. It is really just a dirt road, or in our case, mud. Rumor has it, that a certain airline is bribing the Cambodian officials to keep the road in ... read more

Hello hello! No, aliens did not come down to SE Asia and kidnap us - we are both in good health and glad to be writing a blog once again. After Luang Prapang we made our way down to Vang Vieng, along a VERY windy road. One so windy in fact that even I felt motion sick! But the sights along the way were worth it, for the countryside of Vang Vieng is truly stunning. It is very similar to the rest of northern Laos, except that it is a bit drier and along the river there were some beautiful grasses, at least 2 m high, billowing in the wind. What a sight. We spent a day there kayaking down the river (one of our favourite past-times it seems - we must keep in shape for ... read more

Since leaving Luang Nam Tha, in the far north western tip of Laos, Ashlee and I have been doing much to account for our previous time spent relaxing in Laos. This past week has been the ultimate in ecotourism adventures. The country, especially in the north is made up of mountainous jungles with white water rivers winding their ways through the valley bottoms. There is also an incredible diversity of flora and fauna even despite the increasing pressures of poaching and slash and burn agriculture practices. In addition, the population in Laos is relatively small compared to the surrounding population giants of Vietnam, Thailand and China. According to a man we met yesterday, there is an average of 7 people per square km in Laos, in Vietnam this figure is 268. As a result, the number ... read more

Hello one and all! Long time no talk - sorry for the lack of communication, Patrick and I have been internet-less for quite some time. The lack of e-mail has been one of the many differences we have noticed between Laos and Vietnam. We emerged from the plane from Hanoi into a land of calm, quiet, and beauty. Luang Prapang, the 2nd or 3rd largest town in Laos (at 26 000 ppl) is situated between two rivers, the Nam Ou, which runs from Northern Laos, and the Mekong, originating in China I believe. The surrounding area is a dense jungle of beautiful green colours and much wildlife, I am sure. However, the life in Luang Prapang isn't so wild. It is beautiful little town, with tidy streets and shops and welcoming restaurants lined along the Mekong. ... read more