Cambodia, our 13th country and the last destination (not counting bonnie Scotland itsef of course) before we cross the border to get our flight home from Bangkok. Another country we had heard great things about from fellow travellers so we were looking forward to exploring as much as our limited time left allows. We arrived in Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital, on the 23rd of December in time to get booked into somewhere nice for Christmas. We had decided that as a wee Christmas present to ourselves we would try to find somewhere a bit nicer than the usual backpacker haunts. The main touristy drag seemed to be on the riverfront, we headed here first but as suspected anything in our price range was cramped and pretty basic. So we decided to head away from the busy ... read more

We arrived in Tha Kaek with fairly open minds, as we mentioned before the town itself is not picturesque. The reason for visiting is the nearby National Protected Area (NPA) called Phu Hin Bun, having read about this area it promised some great scenery and so we arrived in Tha Kaek, making our way to a lovely guesthouse with a restaurant and pleasant leafy gardens to relax in under shade from the hot sun. A great place to base ourselves in comfort while we decided what to do with ourselves. There were really two options to explore the NPA, firstly we could book ourselves on a trekking tour for a day or two and while this sounded good it did not really get us excited, as say we had been in anticipation of trekking up north ... read more

Welcome to our elephant experience! It was a big decision to visit the Elephant Nature Park, but we both felt it was something we simply couldn't miss out on. Looking back that has certainly proven to be correct as it is by far and away one of our most memorable moments to date. The project was set up in 1990 by one small but big-hearted woman called Sangduen Chailert, but she is nicknamed 'Lek' which means small in Thai. She decided to set up the park in response to the maltreatment of elephants across Thailand and South East Asia. The park now provides sanctuary for around 30 elephants, all rescued from a life of misery in forced labour or performance shows for tourists in elephant camps or even on city streets. We find it incredible and ... read more

We stepped out of our hostel into the hustle and bustle of a busy street filled with people, cars, rickshaws, Bollywood music and the air infused with incense and spices. We stopped off at a street cafe for some roti canai, a savoury bread dipped in a variety of colourful, spicy and fragrant sauces. We strolled around the corner to find a beautiful Hindu temple, incongruent with the modern office blocks and skyscrapers in the distant skyline. Taking off our shoes we entered into the temple to be dazzled by the striking images of the various deities, people placing offerings around the temple of fruits and flowers and incense as the orange robed priests blessed others, it was a lively place yet the cool floors and scented air gave the temple a serene atmosphere. This is ... read more

After a few more days enjoying Ian's hospitality (and teapot) we were back on the road heading to the North Island. To do so we hired another vehicle on a bargain basement relocation deal from Christchurch to Auckland. This time our mode of transport was called a Spaceship, a bright orange people carrier which had a fold down bed and a wee stove. Not quite as sophisticated as our campervan... or quite as comfy but perfect for our needs. We only had ten days to get to Auckland and then we were meeting back up with Ian for a week's holiday together. After a smooth crossing on the ferry north from Piction to Wellington we decided to stay a couple of nights outside of NZ's capital to explore the city. As we tried to navigate our ... read more