We decided to fly from Laos to Chaing Mai which was an expensive but wise discussion as the advertised 20 hours buss journey actually took some friends over 25 hours with long stops at boarder control and a change from the advitised VIP bus to the much hated mini bus (we're glad we didn't get into that one!). We arrived in the middle of a festival the Loi krathang Festival which celebrates the full moon of the 12th Lunar month, there was a huge parade through the city with market stalls and music, everyone was letting off paper laterns into the [View Full Entry]

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We arrive in Luang Prabang after yet another scary bus ride winding up the mountain roads, this time there was 13 people in a small mini van, as you can guess plenty of leg room for us lanky people! Luang Prabang is a really pretty town in the mountains very french looking, like most the Asian towns we have been to it. It has a huge night market selling hundreds of touristy things at really low prices - I wish I had a bigger backpack! It also funky bar street away from the main road where all the backpackers hang [View Full Entry]

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We flew into Vientiane (Loas) from Cambodia, the border control was an experience to say the least! You seem to have to pay every one a US dollar that even looks at you passport then you buy have to buy a visa which changes in price according to which country you come from! we didn't pay the most the French did, but Brits did pay five dollars more than the Australians! none of us were sure what it was all about but didn't argue! Having just paid a fifty dollar departure tax from Cambodia our pockets were suffering! Vientiane is a [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Siem reap after yet again another six hour coach ride! Siem reap is home to Angkor wat which people say is the eigth wonder of the world and I have to say we would agree. We loved this place which was refresing after the dissapointing Phnom penh! Its a small town you can easily walk around and there a loads of bars resturants and a lovely day and night market and once again everything is so cheap. We got a three day pass to see all the temples and were templed out by the end! but they [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Phnom Penh after a six hour coach journey from Vietman. It's a large and bustling city reminding us in some ways of Bangkok. We stayed along the river front in Sisowath Quay. One of the first differences we saw in the two countrys was the difference in street food, all the street food in vietnam looks totaly yummy, wether its noodles or cakes. However the street food in Cambodia seemed to be a different kind mostly creepy bugs! spiders (bigger than your hand), snakes on a stick, cockroches, frogs just about any bug you can think of all [View Full Entry]

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So we arrive in Hoi An after a forty five min flight and it couldn't be more different from Na Trang. Hoi An is an old historic trading point, the old town where we spent most of our time is a world heritage site and it isn't hard to see why its like stepping back in time. Hio An is also the shopping mecca of Vietnam if you want anything made to fit and I mean anything, from fasion leather sandals, silk dresses and winter coats heres the place to buy! seeing as im such a lanky thing the thought of [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Ho chi minh city (the old Saigon) on the 1st October which is every bit as crazy, if not more than Hanoi but what struck us the most was the differences in the two citys there is far more night life and bars in Ho chi minh and there seems to be someone on every corner asking you to go in into their bar/club for 'happy hour' (not that we think many of them understand what happy hour means!) There are also a lot more western influences seen. We booked ourselves on a city tour which took us [View Full Entry]

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We landed in Hanoi (Noth Vietnam) on the 25th September and instantly feel in love with this lovely city and all its parisian influance. The streets are crazy with hundreds of moterbikes darting around and the safest place to walk seems to be the middle of the road where everyone can see you! as the pavements are lined with moterbikes and people selling street food. We were staying in the old quater in a lovely hotel. We bravely managed to hire some bikes and cycle around the city seeing all the sites, we also found a great bar/resturant were you can [View Full Entry]

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Our second day in bangkok, we went off to the cazy floating markets were you go around the local markets by a long wooden boat and can by anything from hot food to tiger balm, whilst on the boat! We then went to see the bridge over the river Kewi and the death war museum. We also went to a place called tiger temple were monks look after orphaned tigers and we had the chance to stroke these huge great animals. Off to the tallest building in Bangkok for a few cocktails tonight! then flying to Hanoi in Vietnam tomorrow [View Full Entry]

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So we had a lovley flight until the landing, which was attempted three times due to a terrible storm at one point it felt like we were falling throught the sky as our bums didn't hit the seats for several seconds and our stomachs were in our throats!! After the third attampt at landing, we started to run out of fuel so were diverted to another airport (which we later learned was the old bangkok airport with no longer any staff or planes) we then waited a further three hours to get fuel after the fuel arrived the crew then stated [View Full Entry]

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