On arrival in Bangkok, we dodged the taxi touts and "limousine services" (it's only taken us 8 months to not get ripped off by an airport taxi!) and get a normal meter taxi to Rambatturi Plaza just off the Khao San Road. The hotel has a pool and next door there was a cafe called "Oh My Cod" where we indulged in steak and kidney pudding and tinned tomatoes on toast. Ah, it made such a welcome change and it was all washed down with a mug of PG Tips! It was almost a relief to be in the relative normality [View Full Entry]

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Kep was a French resort town way back when with many impressive coastal villas. These are now stripped out skeletons and ruins thanks to the attenions of the Khmer Rouge. People still make their homes in some of them but with much less glamour. Some poorer people have made their homes out of the ruins. It is strange to see a crumbling abandoned grand house with a washing line full of clean laundry hanging up in it. We treated ourselves to a bit of luxury and stayed in a hotel with a swimming pool. Sadly Kep is a ghost town and [View Full Entry]

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A "two hour" bus journey from Phnom Penh to the riverside town of Kampot actually takes 4 hours. No drama, just a wrong entry in the Lonely Planet! This sleepy little town is famous for its pepper, prized by French chefs during the colonial period - an ineresting fact that. Paul is taken poorly, possibly due to beer overdose (I know these things, my mum's a nurse) and we end up staying in Kampot for 5 nights, not doing very much at all really. Although highly recommended is the Rusty Keyhole bar and restaurant which served up one of Paul's favourites [View Full Entry]

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We manage to make it through a 6 hour bus journey from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh despite the bus driver insisting on putting on a Cambodian karaoke DVD at full volume for the entire journey. We did make a rest stop, which was nice, where there were an array of stalls selling pineapples and deep friend beetles - a tasty treat for any bus journey. I had pineapple. We had heard many horror stories about Phnom Penh including beggars and sellers constantly on you, as well as police using stun guns to stop the hoards of tuk tuk drivers that [View Full Entry]

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Our usual ecologically sound ethos prevails and we fly to Cambodia, specifically Siem Reap. Apropos of nothing, this translates as Thailand Defeated, so that's nice. Siem Reap is a booming tourist town fuelled by our main reason for being there - Angkor Wat. The largest religious structure in the world was buried in the jungle until a french explorer Henri Mahout tripped over it in 1860. We arrived just before sunrise (Paul barely bleated) at Angkor Wat itself - the main temple where we watched the sunrise and then explored in relative solitude. The sheer size of the place is difficult [View Full Entry]

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We were not looking forward to Pakse where we had two days to wait until our flight to Siem Reap - even the guidebook describes the place as "dull"! However, we met some fellow Brits on the minibus from Don Khong to Pakse where after the usual check in routine we all met up at the local Indian for a day and night session of beer and curry. The next day we decide to skip the trip that Claire, Kim, Tommy and Nicole have planned to see a waterfall and some weaving. However, Paul manages to get himself along to the [View Full Entry]

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An epic transportation day, which includes car, plane, tuk tuk, local bus (more on that later) and boat, we arrive on Don Khong Island in the South of Laos. The journey was pretty standard as we flew from Vientiane to Pakse then we arrived at the bus station to make the 120 km journey South to the 4000 islands. We arrived at the bus station in a tuk tuk where a man ran up to us and asked where we are going. We tell him and he informs us that a bus is leaving now and it will cost $4 each. [View Full Entry]

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Another picturesque bus ride through the ever hotter countryside to the capital "city". THe rural poverty of Laos is certainly not in evidence amongst the Humvee dealerships and Scandanavian bakeries frequented by expat chino clad Westerners. When in Vientiane you could be in Paris. There are wide boulevards and there is even the Putaxi - an Arc de Triomphe replica at one end of the huge road with the impressive Presidential Palace at the other end. As we are seasoned travellers now, we often eat in local restaurants. Armed with one of the four Lao words we know, we boldly ask [View Full Entry]

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We travelled the 300kms to Vang Vieng by VIP bus. This meant there was air conditioning and a toilet on board and we were given a bottle of water and a cake bar. We were also given sick bags which I thought was a nice gesture but slightly strange. However, it was soon clear that Laos was not flat as I had previously thought but, in fact, extremely mountainous. I am sure, dear readers, that you are delighted to know that the man and I did not have need of the aforementioned sick bag and very much enjoyed our cakes! I [View Full Entry]

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Our arrival in Laos, one of the poorest countries in the world, lifts our spirits. The weather is warm, the people smile and the food is spicy. Our room has a balcony overlooking the Nam River and the sound of Hanoi's beeping traffic is just a memory. An evening of Beer Lao (big and cheap just the way Paul likes it) and BBQ relaxes us even further. We can already feel the stay here extending. Our general routine for the next few days was to wake up to the sound of bird song, go for breakfast, have a walk around the [View Full Entry]

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