Koh Rong Initially I planned on spending Christmas and NYE on Koh Rong because there's a full moon party. I'm glad I decided last minute to visit earlier because I discovered it wasn't what I thought it would be. It's an incredibly beautiful island, white sand beaches and crystal clear water...BUT there's far too many hotels/bars along the beach front which really ruins it, not to mention the amount of litter! Caused mostly be the tourists on the island! All the bad aspects of travelling SE Asia on one island. Most of the bars and hotels are owned by westerners, with tourists working for accommodation on the island. This to me is ridiculous and must only be hurting the Cambodian economy. Instead of locals being employed, there's westerners working for free just to save $5 a ... read more

Ho Chi Minh didn't promise much, and it delivered. Initially this trip was going to take me to the north, but due to unforeseen circumstances there was a change of plan. So I've spent a few days in Ho Chi Minh in south Vietnam and I'm currently sat on a bus to Phnom Penn in Cambodia, where I plan to spend around a month. Before I arrived I'd been told and read that HCM wasn't more than a big horrible industrial city, and I can't say that's far off. I'm not 100% sure but I think it's the worst city I've been to on my travels. There's not too much to do except check out the museums about the war and the Cu Chi tunnels. Tunnels dug out by the Vietcong during the war. So that's ... read more

We spent four days in Bagan and I could've easily spent another four. Regarded as one of the best “lost” ancient cities in Asia. Some even say it's better than the lost temples of Angkor in Cambodia, one of the wonders of the world. Before we arrived we'd heard it was a $25 entrance, a kick in the teeth if you're travelling on a budget. To be honest the entrance fee was justified...there's 2000 temples in (I think) a 25 square mile radius. We paid $6.60 for the temple in Yangon and there's only really one temple there... Had the temples in Bagan been in a city and had separate entrance fees etc then it wouldn’t have been that good. Both me and Dave aren't really temple people (are there any?), as far as I'm concerned ... read more

After a long day of travelling and waiting around...which seems to be the only thing we've done recently, it was nice to wonder around somewhere generally interesting for a change. My first impression of Varanasi, on my last trip, wasn't a good one. It's like India 2.0! There's more traffic, more salesmen, more scams, more thief’s, more Sadhus...etc the list goes on. Oh and it stinks. Built on the shores of the famous Ganges (Ganga to locals) by Shiva (the god of destruction) it's one of the oldest living cities in the world. People have lived here for thousands of years none stop...and I can't imagine the way of life has changed too much. Everything centres around the Ganges, or more specifically the Ghats (steps) that are situated all along the riverbank. Ghats are used all ... read more

We originally planned to spend around two months in the mountains, but we've overran in other places and four months isn't as long as it sounds. Kashmir is the most northern state in India, bordering both Pakistan and China. Given the past tensions there's a very heavy military presence, there's literally soldiers with guns stood on most street corners in the capital, Srinagar. For those who don't know, Kashmir is one of the most dangerous geopolitical flashpoints in the world. It's the reason India and Pakistan have been enemy’s since their independence. It's location makes it's a prime strategic location, militarily speaking. I'm not sure on all the technicalities, but in 1947 when India and Pakistan became independent there were some states which were undecided on which country to join. The Indian government sent officials to ... read more