Righty righty Thailand: the land of a billion holidaymakers. Having departed Laos via Luang Prabang airport, which is smaller than your average bus station, or even your smallest bus station, we flew into Chiang Mai in Northern Thailand, which instantly provided us with a bird’s eye view of the level of development in Thailand. The buildings and roads served as an announcement that we were arriving in a nation that was far ahead of its neighbours. Having taken a taxi into Chiang Mai and done the usual 30 minute sweaty search for a cheap room, we settled on a little place [View Full Entry]

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Hi All Its Laura this time picking up from Sam mid Laos. (for Luang Prabang photos, please see Vang Vieng blog) We had only heard good things about Luang Prabang and after the bus journey we needed it to live up to its expectations. It did. On arrival we found a place to stay with another British couple, Andy and Carrie from Devon and met up with Naimh and Darragh again for food. Just walking through the city in the evening you can feel how relaxed it is. Plus after great food, on a BBQ cooking our meal of meat ourselves, [View Full Entry]

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Good day all, Sam here. Sorry it’s been a while since our last blog. We are currently in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, but first we must update you with the on goings of the beautiful Laos... After an uncomfortable few days in Vientiane, which need no further describing, we headed off north to the town of Vang Vieng. The journey was but a few hours long, and we arrived at around midday. Upon departing the bus I encountered a friend from Uni, which was somewhat of a surprise considering our location, or was it... The town happened to contain the [View Full Entry]

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(photo uploader still not working, sorry) Good day all I sit here, on 29.10.09, typing away in an internet cafe in Vientiane: a city in which we have spent the last 2 days, mainly on the toilet. Please attempt to ignore such fascinating information, and enjoy what is about to follow: a quick rundown of the last few weeks in Vietnam. Further to Laura's comments, the clothes all fitted perfectly and we boarded the bus to Hue without too much drama. Hue was a fascinating place. It was the first urban area of Vietnam whereby the scars of war were still [View Full Entry]

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Hi All It is Laura. We are at present in Hoi An in the middle of a Monsoon but very safe and dry in our hotel. As Sam has updated we are well into central Vietnam and are enjoying the majority of what it has to offer. When we got to Nha Trang, after our interesting journey, there was an instant difference in the style and culture as it was so geared at tourists which is reflected in the locals tone towards us, unlike Dalat. Nha Trang is a beach resort with high rise hotels and bars lining the beach. It [View Full Entry]

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Good day yall Sam here, writing about our first few weeks in Vietnam. We arrived in Ho Chi Minh City to be met with blistering heat, but more worryingly, tanks and attack helicopters lining the runway. After the usual chaos and some hard bartering, we departed the airport in a taxi with two Chinese girls, and made our way into Ho Chi Minh City. We stayed at a charming little guesthouse, in which Lauras friend Rachel was staying, and I got to watch some live football, much to Lauras happiness. Saigon, as it is commonly known, provided 5 nights of inescapable [View Full Entry]

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Hallo friends, Sam here again after Laura's brief foray into the blogging world. I write this in a little cafe in Ho Chi Minh City, or Saigon for those with a more traditional outlook. We have been here for 24 hours, but I will be writing about Hong Kong for the most part. Right then, Hong Kong... Well the journey there should have been easy: a night bus from Yangshuo to Shenzhen, whereby you pass through customs, then get a bus or train to Hong Kong itself... Hmmmmmm We arrived four hours later than planned, the 'beds' were too small for [View Full Entry]

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Hi All. It is Laura so I will apologise in advance if my prose is not publishable like Sam’s. Any how for once I am not snoozing, I really have not been much I promise. We love China and have had a great time so far. We hit Beijing on the 18th at 5.30 am and were surprised at the heat and the security baggage checks to get into the subway. We stayed at the Flowering House Hostel which was sweet and traditional but best of all in the middle of the non touristy section of the Hutong (the traditional set [View Full Entry]

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As above - photos only at present.... [View Full Entry]

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Hi All We're in Guilin now, but before we reveal all on that particular subject, we will update you with what went on at Lake Baikal on Olkhon Island... We spent three days on the island, in the most beautiful surroundings, in a little wooden guest house. Olga, our host, cooked us great food (normally Omul fish - unique to Lake Baikal), and with no showers, we used the banya (extremely hot sauna) to keep 'clean'. Even the long-drop toilet didn't smell too bad. We did an excursion to the far side of the island on our first full day, which [View Full Entry]

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