Alas our time in Singapore was a little disappointing, not only had we chosen accommodation which was really far from town but it was also smack right in the middle of the red light district. We stayed in Geylang five years ago and had some fond memories of the place so decided it would be a nice idea to go back there however it is now seedy and not somewhere I would recommend. Our road was literally a cattle market, at night girls would line the pavement while gangs of men would walk up and down until they found one at the right price. We reckoned all the hotels were pimping the girls as conveniently they all offered rooms by the hour. Anyhow as we had already paid for the entire stay we decided to make ... read more

We were told that the word "Vietnam" translates to running or moving south which coincidently fits very nicely as a title to this blog. After spending too much time in the north we had to whistle stop down through the central areas quickly so the rather brief sequel that follows reflects just that. You wouldn't have thought Hue was once the capital of Vietnam, so calm and peaceful, very different to Hanoi. The city and the surrounding area contains lots of important historical sites so after checking in to the very friendly Binh Dong 1 we set out towards the citadel to visit the Imperial city. The imperial city is a combination of ruins and restored buildings which date back to the 19th century. The site sits on 520 hectares with the exact position chosen by ... read more

I'm not getting on a motorbike taxi with my rucksack I protested however after a few minutes I reluctantly gave in. I held on tightly and we sped away still arguing with the driver to take us to the hotel in Lao Cai and not Sa Pa, an hour and a half away. Our first choice of hotel was fully booked so after wondering the streets for twenty minutes we opted for a really crap awful hotel a few doors down the road. After the long day we had had it was really confusing when the battle axe behind reception took our passports and didn't require payment upfront. Its funny how you get used to doing things one way then move on to another country and the process is completely different, throws you a bit. After ... read more

It seemed after the ease of the plane flight getting a taxi to the hotel was going to be a little more difficult. We took our places in the taxi queue and soon got to the front where a Chinese official in uniform kept blowing his whistle loudly to keep the taxi's moving. We had our hotel written down in Chinese text and went about explaining where we wanted to go. The official came over and spoke to the taxi driver and we thought we were on our way until we drove out of the airport compound, stopped and the taxi driver began muttering in Chinese. He then got out of the taxi and started unloading our bags out of the boot. Taking the hint we headed straight back into the airport to try again. On ... read more

Our escape from Hong Kong was a two hour express train to Guangzhou east station. Pulling into the train station I noticed there was no English signs anywhere, the first indication that we had arrived in China. We got off the train based on time more than fact and followed everyone else. We helpfully did not have any Yuan so in order to get a taxi we had to deal with a local tout to change money. We kept the amount to a minimum so we wouldn't get ripped off too much. Once in a taxi we headed out to our hotel, Xin Hua Hotel situated along the Pearl River. We got a good discount of nearly 50% off the rate however had to settle with a fairly noisy and cold room. The german owned 1920 ... read more