Our flights back were delayed or cancelled - it was not exactly clear - but this had two outcomes: the airline paid for a night in a hotel near Colombo airport; we were a day late arriving back to the UK. We felt so excited arriving back in familiar Colombo with its gloriously lackadaisical approach to everything. A 5 minute chat with the immigration officer in which he did everything short of inviting us round for dinner would be impossible to imagine anywhere else, especially in the States. Hotel rooms were soon organised, but then we had a half hour wait [View Full Entry]

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Our supposedly poshest coach service in the region was a significant improvement on the other coaches that we had taken through Cambodia, but sadly had major wheel issues within no time of setting off. In fact this was a blessing in disguise as we stopped in “Mechanics” village. Seeing the team leap to work sliding mats under the bus and jacking it up was interesting, but better still was the pair of blacksmiths on the other side of the road, heating steel, and bashing it with large hammers into a gleaming splitting axe head. Coach repaired (with the baldest spare tyre [View Full Entry]

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Siem Reap is the town closest to the magnificent 11th- 15th Century temples of the Khmer civilisation. Built by God-Kings they are huge, magnificent and undoubtedly one of the wonders of the world. The town itself is clearly fundamentally a small town that has sprawled in recent times with the incoming tourists, and yet it retains a charm, even in the obvious tourist traps such as Pub Street. On our first day there we did very little more than relax by the pool and wander into the town discovering a new favourite ice cream parlour/bakery: The Blue Pumpkin. In the evening [View Full Entry]

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Dismounting from the boat at the dock in Phnom Penh we were met by a jostling crowd of hawkers, hotel reps and moto, tuk tuk and taxi drivers. We had a hotel organised and the address, but they are not that helpful in Cambodia where street numbering seems utterly random. Perhaps this nation is psychologically secretive now and does not want an address to give away where they are. With our hotel being 1, but sandwiched by 27 and 324 we had no option but to take a taxi. More than anywhere else we have been Cambodia appears to operate a [View Full Entry]

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The days after leaving the tranquil idyllic Phu Quoc could not have contrasted more with the lazy days we spent there. Planes, taxis, buses, taxis, boats, taxis, minibuses, cyclos, tuk-tuks and taxis all blur together as we look back at it. With less forward planning that usual (Nicky had decided it was time for some hardcore travelling and refused to consult our lonely planet bible for this section of the trip) we have been more at the mercy of the touts hanging around at the bus stations. Some of the lies have been hilarious such as the guy trying to fill [View Full Entry]

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We have had several holidays within the holiday that has been this trip. Unawatuna, was the first, followed by Mirrissa, Kota Kinabalu and now Phu Quoc. What they have had in common has been staying for a period in one place, and beaches. The children are instantly happy doing very little but urgently. They run around and cast spells, dig holes, build sandcastles and irrigate water trenches. Our accommodation this time is on the beach so they can run about paths and explore. There are only 10 rooms and we have 2 of them. Each room has its own front door [View Full Entry]

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From Hoi An we returned to Hue on a slow train. We had supposedly paid extra for a tourist train, but suspect that all we got was tourist prices. The carriage was crowded with resigned looking locals, who unlike us seemed unfazed by the state of the compartments or the fact that most of the chairs were broken. The ones in front of the boys were jammed in the reclined position, and although ours looked upright if you leant on them they offered no resistance but fell back. We saw several cockroaches, but it was not until we got off the [View Full Entry]

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Granny and Grandad’s departure did not mark the end of our regular trips in and out of Yaly (our tailors in Hoi An). In fact it is a close thing as to whether we spent more time there or in our hotel while in Hoi An and remember the hotel had a decent and refreshing swimming pool! We ended up with 3 suits, 2 dresses, 9 shirts, 3 pairs of trousers and 2 pairs of Harry Potter robes between the 4 of us. Will our children be the only ones with bespoke hand made robes with a silk lining? Possibly, but [View Full Entry]

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The train was clean and provided sheets pillows and duvets unlike our inter-rail experiences and being crammed into a hard sleeper for the 6 of us was quite a pleasurable (one off) experience. Grandad’s neck was suffering a bit post kayaking, and he lay down and was asleep almost immediately. The boys were up and down to the top bumk where eventually they settled too excited to sleep and the rest of us gradually drifted off to sleep, Granny having perfectly organised her belongings in the little pouch provided like the good Girl Guide she was. We all slept well, waking [View Full Entry]

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The contrast between laid back Luang Prabang, nestled peacefully by rivers among hills and manic Hanoi must be as great as that between any two cities in the world. Elliot exclaimed - “It’s massive! And it’s flat!” We got a large taxi along the first major motorway we have seen since KL. Mum demonstrated why she has no peer (for entertainment value at least) in games like Taboo, attempting to converse with the driver. She asked him if the car was a “Toyohtarh” and he looked blankly. She mimed driving, and then said “Not a Ferrari” he respon [View Full Entry]

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