Ok, yet another exceptionally late entry - but why change a habit that works. After the preparation we set off for our test run down the coast to Margaret River (mmm wine region). The first taste of 'camping' was a small concrete block next to the toilets in a tree laden park. At the time we thought the park was dingy but tolerable, and the price was high ($24). Since then we've realised our standards can drop somewhat lower and what we pay has, at times, jumped painfully higher. The drive down was unexceptional, with an occasional taste of the poorer [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Australia tired and sullen. Asia was gone and a lifestyle abandoned. It was back to western values, western attitudes and western costs - the latter being the most daunting. After 6 months of cheap food and accommodation we were apprehensive of the forthcoming cost cascade. Our first shock was the accommodation fee, our second the price of food. On that first day we spent hours looking around for saver brands and out of date stock - with little success. Over time we've managed to find a balance between eating 49 cents noodles all the time and good healthy [View Full Entry]

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We alighted at Ha Noi in the early hours of the morning, and were met with the image of thousands of Vietnamese - jogging, performing callisthenics and playing badminton in the streets. After being 'mislead' once more as to the destination of the taxi we were placed in (not the coach office as told but a hotel to sell us to) we de-stressed with a short nap to catch up on the sleep lost from the overnight coach. The time spent in Ha Noi was punctuated by 3 days away in Halong bay - another Unesco heritage site. For ease we’ll [View Full Entry]

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Arriving in Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh if you hold with the politics - the locals didn't seem to) we found a hotel. Later that night we had a look around and settled into the new culture. There were only a few things we wanted to get out of this city - time willing, one being the Chu Chi tunnels, built and lived in for 20 years by the Viet Cong (formerly the Viet Minh), and the other was the museum which fellow travellers had hailed as a triumph to propaganda over fact. The two experiences were a very good mix [View Full Entry]

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Apologies for the gap in submission - but - we are who we are. Angkor has to be hailed as a must see at some point in ones life. Of course when I say this I refer to all of Angkors sites. Again - and we have said this about other locations - it will change. Already having an airport and a Hilton, this site is catering more and more to the rich and shameless, but to be fair, if we had more money and a different lifestyle we'd have visited in whatever way was available. We arrived in Siem Reap, [View Full Entry]

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The border crossing into Cambodia went surprisingly well. We had our doubts about this visa issue and fully expected to be travelling back to the hammocks later that day, but all went well - and only $3 'tax' a piece to the officials! The journey down to Phnom Penh took about 9 hours, down reasonable roads considering, during which we acquired our long overdue puncture. We arrived in the city at around 10pm and found a nice guesthouse on the lake - 'Happy', and paid $3 (US) a night for a room. Overall it was a nice place to stay. We [View Full Entry]

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We Traveled down through Laos for about 11 hours, over night, and arrived in Pakse at about 7am. The next bus took us to one of the islands of Si Phan Don and seemed a bargain until we realised we were in the middle of nowhere. One hour, one boat and 5 dollars later we arrived on Don Det - the small island we'd decided to stay on. It must be said that Don Det is in our eyes a paradise unfound, but of course it would depend on your point of view. What we loved the most was its lack [View Full Entry]

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On Vientiane we shall be brief. We didn't do much here - partly because we were saving money, partly because we didn't travel around the city much, and mainly because we got a room with TV and settled in to watching the grand prix qualifying, GP race, and the England world cup qualifying game. Sometimes you've just got to have a break from things! What we did see of the city was nice. Again there was french influence - the city having it's own version of the Arc de Triomphe. The area we were in was running up to having it's [View Full Entry]

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On the Drive down to Vang Vieng there was a inkling of apprehension. Although there hasn't been any attacks on transport in recent years the sight of young lads on motorbikes carrying rifles was a little disconcerting. The driver appeared to have one eye on the road an one eye on the ridges (and no - he wasn't cross eyed), another source of concern. After six-ish hours on the non air-con bus (though it was sold as air-con) we arrived in Vang Vieng. We took the easy option and stayed in a guest house that was offered as we arrived. It [View Full Entry]

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Before we get bogged down in the usual travel 'blog' I think we have to clarify a point. It appears, because of the way the site is laid out (no offence ally), that we have an ambiguous title. Mark and his Bag was decided upon as a pun - Gill is the bag!! The front page reads 'Mark and his bag - Mark and Gill,. However we didn't realise that if you join half way that title doesn't appear, and does not clarify that this IS a joint site. This site is written by me - Mark - simply for continuity [View Full Entry]

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