It was time to leave laid back Laos and head East to the capital of Vietnam. I decided to break up the ridiculously long journey in two parts and took the less trodden route by local bus through Phonsavan, a small town with little appeal apart from the large collection of war scraps that were scattered around town. I literally stayed here a few hours. Just long enough to visit a museum/project dedicated to the clearance of the thousands of unexploded bombs that were dropped by the Americans during the Secret War. More than 10,000 people have been killed by these and sadly many try and salvage the bombs independently to sell the metal for money. 6.30am the following morning I was back on the rickety bus crammed with locals presumably heading to Hanoi for work. ... read more

After two days on the slow boat I eventually arrive at one of the most sophisticated and enchanting cities in Laos. There's a strong French presence here with its French architecture and quaint patisseries on every street corner. Its teaming with stunning Wats and a lively night market selling everything from local food to jewellery and handcraft. My two days here are spent visiting Tat Kuang Si, a nearby multi-tiered waterfall tumbling over limestone formations into a series of turquoise pools. Magnificent. As if something out of a childs fantasy book. Well worth a visit to. The following day I ventured out with my camera to the old quarter visiting various Wats and Temples with there classic Luang Prabang architecture and rare mosaic wall features. Its a fascinating walk round town with the Mekong river to ... read more

We said our goodbyes to Pai as Jess, Josh and I headed to the Laos boarder via Chiang Mai where we dropped off Nancy as she was heading to Cambodia with a friend from back home. The day was spent in a minivan but thanks to Jess' drunken state the night before we kept ourselves amused with her hysterical antics. Don't worry girl, it happens to the best of us! 7 hours and one dodgy Pad Thai later, my stomach had finally caved in and I spent the night cuddling the loo. Oh the fun. There you go Jess...karma for laughing at ya! Weak tired and emotional we trudged across the boarder where we all parted as our plans no longer matched. I was excited by the prospect of my upcoming jungle trek but was seriously ... read more

So we arrive in Chiang Mai which immediately seems less populated and more relaxed. We all book into a lovely guest house and spend the afternoon organising two treks for the next couple of days. There's lots of quaint little reggae bars around town playing Bob Marley and the alike so i'm feeling right at home. The four of us have become a little family over the last few days and we're having a real giggle along the way. I haven't felt this relaxed and comfortable in a long time. A group of us are picked up bright and early and driven into the lush hills a couple of hours from town. The day began with some elephant trekking followed by and amazing 2 hour hike into the jungle. We tackled running rivers and steep rocks ... read more

Well I'm still here to tell the tail of my two and a half weeks in India. I've fended off the dreaded Delhi belly, I've come out unharmed from the traitorous traffic of the cities and maintained my humor traveling hours on the hot and dusty rural roads. I've had an amazing start to my trip. I definitely feel it was the right decision to join a group for the start. I've seen people and places that wouldn't have been possible without the knowledge of the experts. They've shown me the true india in all its glory. After a sleepless night on the train back to Delhi we trudged our way back to the hotel we first arrived at fresh faced just over two weeks ago. After a freshen up we said our goodbyes and went ... read more