Mat: The days are getting shorter, we have had a frost, and it’s another 3 months till the middle of winter. Please Scotland, be kind to us. I will not say too much, because I do not have much to say. We have been working and saving. I have been working for Jimmy during the harvest and doing behaviour consults (www.petbehavioursorted.com), Trace has been riding horses and is lean and muscled - no sign of the Cambodian pancakes left. The biggest event for us was a two week visit by Trace's mum Annette and her wonderful friend [View Full Entry]

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Mat: After the horror of dealing with British Telecom we finally have a broadband connection. It took four weeks to get the landline up and running, and a further 2 weeks to get the broadband happening. I can not really explain the inadequacy of BT’s version of customer service, but I am convinced they have a huge building somewhere filled with slightly retarded people whose sole purpose is to forward you on to someone else in the building whose sole purpose is to put you on hold before forwarding you on to someone else in the building who puts you on [View Full Entry]

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Mat: After Jeremy and I finished our southern Laos trip, Trace and I were at a bit of a loose end. We had not really planned anything for our last 5 weeks in Asia. I was interested in heading to Indonesia, Trace was keen to try a couple of courses in Thailand (cooking, yoga, meditation, underwater videography, or a divemaster course). Jeremy had left to go to Koh Tao in Thailand to do a technical diving course, but we needed to stay in Vientiane to pick up some of our gear that was arriving on a bus from Vietnam. In the [View Full Entry]

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After our day trip mission on the Bajas, Jeremy and I were very keen to do some harder-core riding and Trace wanted to do a rock climbing course in Vang Vieng, so we split along gender lines (ie left Trace by herself) and went on a week mission into some very remote areas in southern Laos. I know our blog has consisted mainly of motorbike stories lately, but this Man Mission is the last one, and by far the best. From Vang Vieng I could not hire a Baja, so I hopped on the back of Jeremy’s bike and we headed [View Full Entry]

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Mat: It was a day of both sadness and relief when we sold our Minsks in Luang Prabang. We had intended to keep them for another week or so, but a German guy who seemed to think Minsks were the best motorbikes in the world, offered us US$650 for them (we had bought them for US$850 for both). This was after a good hammering during our 2 ½ month trip, a couple of indicators smashed off etc, and mine needing new clutch plates in a country without Minsk parts. Sad to see them go, but Trace and I had definitely got [View Full Entry]

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Once out of the trees, it was back on the bikes to head towards Luang Prabang. Rather than heading down to LP by travelling the whole way by boat down the Mekong (as most people do - there are no roads in that direction) we decided to make more of a trip of it and head to Pak Khop three hours or so down the Mekong from Houeyxai. For some reason they would not take us to Pak Khop, but assured us that Kone Tuen was very close to Pak Khop, I think the words were: "Pak Khop, Kone Tuen, same [View Full Entry]

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Mat: Named after the primates whose calls wake you in the morning, the Gibbon Experience is a locally-owned eco-tourism project whose character and activities put it a league above all other tourist attractions on offer around Southeast Asia. A Frenchman dreamt up this novel concept for conservation - create incredible treehouses in the middle of pristine jungle and connect them with huge ziplines. Then let tourists loose on the area for three days at a time - no itinerary, just hang out in the 50m-high treehouses, zip above and through the jungle, or explore the jungle by foot. If tourists [View Full Entry]

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Three safety features of the Minsk: 1. You do not need to use your horn, because everyone hears you coming. 2. No one tailgates you due to the smoke - in fact no one gets closer than 500m. 3. You can not go fast. Other benefits of riding a Minsk: 1. When it breaks, you can fix it. 2. The oil leaks mean you do not have to oil the chain. 3. You can not get a flat battery - there is no battery. So after 7 weeks in Vietnam, we were finally heading west towards Laos. After staying in Mai [View Full Entry]

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Mat: Ha Long Bay is a must do in northern Vietnam. If Sapa is the Queenstown of Vietnam, Ha Long Bay is the Milford Sound. So we obligingly booked a 3-day tour of the place. One of the best US$50 I have spent. We were transported in a Mercedes van to Ha Long city, and boarded our boat. This first boat ended up being the only glitch of the trip as 40 minutes into our trip we stopped, a couple of jarring clunks were felt, and the motor was cut. After a torturous wait sipping Tiger beer on the sun deck [View Full Entry]

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Belching smoke and with a high-revving high-pitch whine, the Minsk is a cast iron machine geared to challenge the unexplored territory hidden throughout northern Vietnam. Chiseled from steel, welded with rust and camouflaged in mud, the Minsk is the sweaty workhorse of Vietnam's rural economy. Seen hauling pigs, buffalos, lounge chairs, coffins, horses, and even full, occupied and bubbling fishtanks, the Minsk will get you where you want to go. It's tough, cheap, and simple to fix, a fresh piston will set you back $18US (including labour), while a new set of tyres can be had for $20. Fo [View Full Entry]

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