Geo: 21.0243, 105.855The traffic in Hanoi is as mental as ever! Motorbikes carry entire families, perched precariously on every inch of available space. They, along with taxis and trucks, weave in and out of the pedestrians, disregarding any and all traffic signals. Crossing the road is an epic adventure, with traffic heading towards you in all directions. The only way to face the traffic is head on - with grim determination - and hope that they are as nippy as they look!This morning's breakfast was a delight - we were greeted like old friends by the restaurant staff in the hotel. Stacey was reacquainted with the smoked breakfast sausages she loved so much last time and Ben had his first taste of Dragonfruit. Apparently, it tastes like parsley......? It may be an acquired taste!We then allowed ... read more

Geo: 39.9165, 116.391So, day three in China brought us to the main attraction of this part of the trip. We rose early for breakfast and then were picked up and boarded a coach headed for the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall. Begun during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huang in 220BC, and restored during the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall stretches for over 20,000 km and is made up of walls, watch towers and natural defences such as hills and rivers. The wall was built to keep the out the invading Mongols, who were understandably interested in the agriculture and treasures of China - as our guide pointed out they had only yak meat and yak cheese! We were headed for one of the reconstructed sections of the wall, about an hour and a ... read more

Geo: 39.9165, 116.391Upon arrival in Beijing, we were fortunate enough to pass through immigration with no problems, get into a taxi with no problems and arrive in Beijing/Peking capital with no problems. However, arriving at our hotel was a little problematic due to the traffic jam down our hutong (backstreet) and so we were turfed out to walk the final 200m. It was not a problem, however, and the hotel was a fine place to rest our weary, jet-lagged heads for an hour and a half, before Frau Turner ensured that we all got up and got moving to prevent further jet-lag later in the trip.Our original plan was to head out to the hutongs, the classically beautiful and traditional backstreets that surround the major city-centre attractions of Beijing. Now, being a second-time visitor to the ... read more

Geo: 52.2, 0.1167Having watched Britain (and Anna Bebo's) triumph in the medals today, I am feeling all patriotic. However, not so patriotic that I don't wish to escape to Asian climes! Today has been spent buying the last few things ready for the trip (mosquito net, travelwash.... all the essentials!) and now off to Tesco for the last last few bits, then it's home to pack, tidy, clean and have a last minute panic before getting up and hopping in our taxi to the airport tomorrow. Received a text message today to let us know that Malcolm will be our driver for tomorrow. I wanted Parker, but you can't have everything!All checked-in online and ready for the flight with all documentation ready to go! Next time you read this blog, we'll be in sunny/smoggy/rainy - delete ... read more

Geo: 3.12433, 101.684Arriving into Kuala Lumpur, the tiredness was really beginning to hit home. However, true to intrepid explorer self, I refused to get a taxi for the one - two hour drive into the city from the low cost terminal. So, we took the rather more meandering bus, train, monorail, walk option instead. It was all planned, and seemed as though it would take around 1 and a half hours to do the jounrey. We were searching for the monorail station at KL Sentral, and asked for directions, which we duly followed. After walking for 10 minutes, I was ready to give up, but we battled on. Seeing the sign for the monorail station a mere 25 metres away, we stumbled towards it... only to find that this station was not called KL Sentral. KL ... read more