Arriving into Cambodia was a welcome change from the chaos of Vietnam. Cambodia is mostly a rural country of 14 million people and it reminded us more of Thailand and Laos. Hence the title "Same same, but different" which is an extremely popular phrase in SEA. We arrived into Cambodia on a slow boat from the Mekong Delta. We piled onto a bus for the last part of the journey to the capital, Phnom Penh and after a small electrical fire, we were on our way. Phnom Penh Although Cambodia is a rural country, the capital is quite a large city, [View Full Entry]

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Our last week in Vietnam as probably been the best for us, mainly due to Dalat. Easyriding in Dalat Dalat is a town in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and has long been a favorite for travellers because of its cooler temperatures and picturesque countryside. It was a recreational town for the French when they controlled the country and the many deteriorating fabulous villas are a testament to this. Dalat is known among travellers for the Easyriders, an informal group of guys that will tour you around the countryside on the back of their motorcycles. You don't have to wor [View Full Entry]

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From our last blog, I'm sure you could tell that we weren't immediately enthrawled with Vietnam. But now that we have been in the country for two weeks, we are feeling better about the country. However, it seems to be a country of highs and lows. We will have a really great experience with someone being super friendly and then turn around and have a disappointing experience. From the very north of Vietnam in Sapa, we took the overnight train back to Hanoi. Again we had problems with a couple of taxis, as we noticed their meters going up at astronomical [View Full Entry]

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We spent a couple of days on Khao San Rd in Bangkok, enjoying phad thai, banana pancakes, fruit shakes, Thai massage and all the other backpacker staples. We then up with my aunt Patti, who will be travelling with us for the next month. Hanoi The three of us flew to Vietnam and landed in Hanoi, the capital. We had heard that Hanoi is a really crazy place, but nothing can prepare you for the utter chaos you encounter. We took the local bus into the Old Quarter and were bombarded by the sights and sounds of the bustling city. Scooters [View Full Entry]

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The blog should be fairly short, because we can hardly remember what we have done the past week. We now understand more about monsoon rains, as it has rained steadily most of the past week. Vang Vieng After leaving Luang Prabang, we headed for Vang Vieng and what a journey it was. The road winds its way high up through the mountains, above the clouds, with thrilling bends. It wasn't too reassuring to see massive boulders on the road or men with AK-47s patrolling the road, which has a history of rebel attacks. But we made it safe and sound to [View Full Entry]

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We have spent the past week and a half in Laos and we’ll apologize in advance that this will be a long blog with lots of pictures! A Brief History of Laos We left Thailand and splurged (using Paul’s birthday money) on flights to Laos. We flew Lao Airlines, which is a bit of a sketchy airline, since they don’t publish their safety records and are rumored to land by sight. But we made in safe and sound to Luang Prabang and right away we could see why travelers can’t stop talking about Laos. You really do utter an “ahhh” when [View Full Entry]

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We have just spent almost a week in northern Thailand, in Chaing Mai and today we leave Thailand for Laos. Up to the North We made it up to Chiang Mai on a local bus, where we were the only tourists. It was a great full service bus, with a stewardess, who brough us towels, drinks, food, water. Why can't bus travel be like this at home? We arrived bleary eyed early in the morning and took our first tuk-tuk ride to our guesthouse, Julie's which is one of those places that isn't in the guidebooks, but is legendary among travellers. [View Full Entry]

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We thought we'd do a short blog of Bangkok before we head up north to Chiang Mai. We went picture crazy this blog... Bangkok Bound It was sad to leave Koh Phangan and the islands behind. When we arrived at the Koh Phangan pier, we were shocked to see 500+ people milling around. I guess after the Full Moon Party there is a massive exodus from the island. They managed to jam us 350+ of us onto our little ferry. Loading took a half an hour and you should have seen the pile of backpacks. All part of the Full Moon [View Full Entry]

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We left Phuket and headed to the Gulf Coast Islands (east coast) for another week or so of beaching it. Minibus Travel We had arranged to get from Phuket to Surat Thani by minibus and then to Ko Samui by ferry. It's really easy to book transport in Thailand as there are travel agencies everywhere and you really don't save much booking by yourself. The only problem is often you seem to have to travel by minibus, which is just a van packed full of travellers. We were told to be ready for 7 am, but of course we didn't get [View Full Entry]

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Welcome to the Land of Smiles, as Thailand is affectionately called. When we were in Penang (Malyasia), we got a bit antsy to cross over the border into Thailand and arranged to take a minibus for the 9+ hour trip to Krabi, in Thailand. Three minibuses, a ferry and 12 hours later, we arrived at our destination, Railay Beach. Railay Beach When we first started planning this trip, Thailand was one of the countries that was a must see and in particular, we had dreamed about the Thai beaches. We'd seen pics from friends who had been in the islands and [View Full Entry]

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