Jwoody84

From Saigon we took the road quite travelled to Cambodia. I call it a road but it was more a bumpy mud track flanked by marshland. After swerving livestock and helmetless motorists for a couple of hundred miles we arrived at a roadblock where Cambodians try to sell us coke and beers with interesting techniques. A blind guy thrusts his head through the window and sings whilst holding out a coca cola in his hand. This is not something greatly received by a hungover, tired and slightly grumpy Marsh who does his best to ignore him. After a similar routine of travel we arrive eventually in the capital Phnom Penh. There we drive though the city and witness some of the most extreme poverty ever. Loads of kids in rags (which would prop look quite cool ... read more

Vang Vieng is the party town of Laos. It is built on the bank of the mekong and is essentially just a massive tourist trap. We arrived after a daunting 7hr drive around the mountains of Laos and that night did what was expected of us and 'got on it'. VV is a dirty little town and we decided our stay there would be quite brief. The next morning feeling especially spaced out and hanging out of our arses we decided the best course of action was to rent out 4 massive inner tubes and float down the fast flowing mekong sans lifejackets. This was a thrilling combination of beers, rope-swings and chicks in bikinis which was right up our alley and pretty much what we signed up for. After escaping death in so many ways ... read more

After the night train up from Bangkok we arrived in the city of Chaing Mai. My initial impression of the place was that it was really just a smaller, but equally grubby version of Bangkok. This was confirmed throughout the next few days in which i found that i'd had enough of the pollution and squalor. This city itself is not really a very nice place. Built around a square moat it is a dirty little town that falls down where Bangkok redeems itself as there really isn't anything going on there. Its no where near as vibrant or exciting. (a suitable comparrisson would be to compare Birmingham to London) That said there are some great activities to do in the mountains around the city which we would discover later. After leaving the train station we ... read more

Thursday the 10th of August was easily the most eventful day of my life; Hungover at 5:30am i drag myself out of bed and get going to Gatwick, everything going well until we turn on the radio and hear about the terror scare at the Airport. Slightly bewildered and a bit nervous anyway the boys and I wander through Gatwick, Sam's last snippet of advice ringing more prominently in my mind "Don't die. have fun" hmmmm.. Anyway we struggle through the throng of Daily mail readers "This is simply proposterous, its absolute choas" etc etc and are welcomed into the comforting busom of Etihad airways, quite simply the best airline in the world. Cleanest planes, most amazing service ever. We then land in Abu Dhabi, which is the hottest place i've ever been to. Bear in ... read more