I arrived in Brisbane in my standard Asian outfit of shorts, t-shirt and flip flops. I realized pretty quickly that I looked out of place as it was pretty cold and most people were in suits heading to work. I headed to my friend John's flat who has been living in the city for the past few months coaching rugby at a local school. I spent 6 days in Brisbane and achieved very little other than buying a stack of warmer clothes to replace my unsuitable bag of thin t-shirts and boardies. Although I did not do much in my six days it was nice to stay in a pretty nice flat, hang out with a good friend and recharge myself for the rest of my Australia trip which I knew would not be so easy ... read more

Despite the horror stories we had heard about the journey from Hanoi to Vientiane our bus journey was surprisingly easy. I got a good 8 hours sleep (thanks to some lovely Valium) and the border was a breeze as long as you came prepared with the necessary fee and standard Asian $1 bribe/fee for the border official. In the end we arrived in the Laos capital in 18 hours a whole 7 hours earlier than expected. We instally liked the city which in stark contrast to Hanoi is very quiet and relaxed. It felt strange to wonder the streets without the constant noise of the bike horn which had been our daily companion in Vietnam. The city is very clean and has a strong french influence with bakeries and french restaurants dotting the street. After a ... read more

The bus journey to Da Lat was by far the scariest I have done so far as after we had left the dusty roads running through the valleys we headed up into the mountains where the roads where steep, narrow and all had huge drops over the side. On top of this the driver felt it necessary to drive at the maximum speed possible for each corner - in the end it was better to just not look out the window! We arrived in Da Lat at eight in the evening. The first thing we noticed was that unlike everywhere else in South East Asia Da Lat was cool and in the evenings many would consider it cold. The town grew under the French rule as the French people in Saigon went to Da Lat for ... read more

The journey from Bangkok to Siep Reap was relatively painless considering it took 12 hours. The border was much easier than I had expected perhaps because thousands of Thai's go across the border every weekend to gamble at the numerous casinos that dot the post border town. Siem Reap is famous for the Ankhor temples which have only recently been 'rediscovered' as a tourist attraction following the end of the Cambodian civil war in 1999. We left to go to the temples at 5am as I have been told that you cannot miss seeing the sunrise of Ankhor Wat. The early start was definitely worth it as it was a truly spectacular sight. From far away the monument is incredible but close up you can see the years of degradation and lack of maintenance (or as ... read more

I left Koh Tao to head over to Krabi to meet Joe who is a friend of a friend who is just finishing his year trip and has done the exact route as me but the other way round - I hoped he would have some handy tips and advice! I decided to get the night boat over to Surat Thani and a bus the rest of the way. The boat was certainly an experience 50 tiny beds crapped into a space that would normally fit prob 20-30 single beds. When i lay down my shoulders were well over onto the beds next to me (I know I am larger than the average bear but you get the idea) but this is all part of the travelling experience! In the end the bed next to me ... read more