Only 11kms of the four hour journey to the Laos border were tarmaced but as I was only sharing a row of seats meant for 3 people with just 4 it all seemed relatively luxurious in comparison to my last two journeys. Two wooden shacks in the middle of nowhere turned out to be the Dongkalaw border between Cambodia and Laos. Normally border towns smell incredibly unpleasant but here it just stunk of weed. Parting with a one dollar bill was necessary in order to leave Cambodia and another one was required for the "administration fee" to enter Laos despite it [View Full Entry]

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Relieved to leave Phonm Penh I headed to Snoul by bus where I was told I could get a share taxi to Sen Monorom as buses no longer ran that route. Five and a half hours later in Snoul “service station” I asked a couple of minibuses if they were heading to Sen Monorom. No. I asked at the “gas station”, one man and his 20 glass coke bottles filled with fuel. No, he couldn’t help. Some young Cambodians from my bus came to my rescue and asked around for me amazed that I wanted to go there. I explained there [View Full Entry]

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Phnom Penh smells. It smells of rubbish, sewage and decay. Ridiculously expensive, shiny black land cruisers rule the chaotic roads whilst thousands of motos carrying heavy loads or numerous other passengers weave in and out of tuk-tuks, hand drawn carts and the odd ox cart not caring if they are on the right side of the road or not. Some streets are separated by manicured lawns or lined with magnolia trees whilst others are strewn with rotting rubbish. Some elegant, newly renovated colonial buildings shine in the sunlight whilst others crumble and ugly blocks of flats are black with damp. The [View Full Entry]

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As it was dry season I asked if the river was high enough for the boat to Siem Reap. Oh yes said the ticket seller as I parted with my 15 US dollars. The following morning I found myself sitting on a small plank of wood on the back of a pick up truck with 11 other people, luggage for 14, boxes of rice and baskets of vegetables as the river was too low... Clinging on we set off along the dusty road. Size is important on Cambodian roads. To make his presence known to the 100s of motos weaving in [View Full Entry]

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Simple...well the 6am train to the border was relatively simple once I found a seat in one of the very full but spotlessly clean 3rd class carriages. Who needs to pay extra for air con when you can simply have the windows pulled down? Plus, I had already splashed out 80 pence for my 5 1/2 hour journey. My breakfast, a croissant, was half that price. Monks sat listening to their ipods, men sat around drinking beer and chatting, students played on their laptop and families of four somehow sat comfortably on seats meant for two whilst I, much to everyone's [View Full Entry]

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Already nervous of arriving in Bangkok at 11.30pm, the 4 hour delay meant arriving in the middle of the night. In BKK's international airport with Liverpool football club's "You'll Never Walk Alone" playing I could have been anywhere. Despite the map I had printed out with directions in Thai the taxi driver had no idea where to go as he looked at the map every way up possible again and again. Eventually he stopped, shouted something, pointed at an alleyway, deposited my bags and drove off. At 4am locals were sitting outside on stools. I wasn't sure if they were setting [View Full Entry]

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After meeting friends from my South America trip in Christchurch for some last minute sightseeing it was time to leave the Land of the Long White Cloud. Two months had gone very quickly indeed. After initially feeling somewhat guilty because after South America New Zealand posed no challenge as a travel destination whatsoever and after initially resenting its normality I realised that travel doesn't always have to be tricky and normality can bring benefits, small things like drinking fresh milk, not having to worry about having currency in small notes or even just putting loo paper down the lo [View Full Entry]

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Everyone says how easy hitching is in New Zealand, how quickly you are picked up and how safe it is. After 10 minutes of standing by the road smiling with my thumb stuck out I started to feel offended that no one was stopping! Seconds later a girl going to Glenorchy stopped. She didn't normally pick up people on their own but decided that as I was a brown haired girl and she was a brown haired girl that all would be ok. Possibly the strangest logic I had heard recently but I was nonetheless very grateful. She told me the [View Full Entry]

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The ferry across the Cook Straight was wonderful. I was amazed at how long we hugged the coastline of the North Island before seeing the South Island. It wasn't clear at first where we would enter the island but we were soon in the Tory Channel and the beautiful Marlborough Sounds surrounding by forested hills. The rather huge ferry seemed to glide effortlessly through the water. I felt at home already before the boat had docked in the South Island. Considering Picton is the gateway for so many to the South Island it was surprisingly small. I found a bed in [View Full Entry]

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Convinced that the "cultural" evening was going to be somewhat contrived I voiced my concerns but was persuaded to part with my cash. Just shows, you should always trust your instinct. A chap called Uncle Boy had built a Marae, a Maori meeting house, for backpackers. The main building honoured his late father and the attached kitchen honoured his late mother. He believed that if it were decorated with wood carvings of Maori gods then it would make backpackers feel uncomfortable so instead it was painted with "international colours". I think most travellers would have preferred to experience wh [View Full Entry]

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