http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/Tony-and-George/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Tony and George en-us Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:10:01 +0000 Sun, 20 Dec 2009 20:10:01 +0000 After a very long bumpy 10 hour stopstart night bus from Luang Prabang to the border town of Huay Xai we disembarked and caught a tuk tuk to the boarder. It was once again a simple border crossing with a pleasant 5 minute river crossing on a long boat half way through. After 10 minutes from when we got to the Laos border we were in Thailand with a very excitable G shersquod waited for this m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Thailand/North-West-Thailand/Chiang-Mai/blog-460279.html In Northern Laos lies the Province of Luang Prabang resting on the banks of the ever flowing Mekong River the fourth country on its journey to the South China Sea. Luang Prabang is a world heritage site and has been since1995 it deserves its status as itrsquos a very pretty town the government has preserved the old French colonial buildings and has allowed funded their renovation unlike http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Luang-Prabang/blog-459229.html Phonsavan is approximately 6 hours drive from Vang Vieng up Route 13 then it is a right at Muang Phu Khodir onto Route 7. As you travel north on Route 13 you travel through some stunning scenery the mountains are beautiful the roads follow windy routes around the hills and through tiny little villages that populate along the sides of the road there appears to be large aid projects funded by Au http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/East/Plain-of-Jars/blog-459227.html We arrived in Vang Vieng after dark at around 6pm and proceed to find a bed for the night having discovered that our recommended accommodation was fully booked we ended up in the Vang Vieng Orchid which was perfectly fine had a nice clean spacious room with a balcony overlooking Don Khang and the Karsts behind there were a couple of bars across the river but as most things close around 2330 http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vang-Vieng/blog-458115.html After waiting for over an hour for our 7am bus we finally boarded and arrived in the capital Vientiane just after lunch. We then had to wait in a jumbo tuk tuk for your man to fill it to make his journey beneficial and after a slight detour to the other bus station the other side of town we finally made it to the river side and our home for our stay in Vientiane Orchid Guesthouse a massive http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/West/Vientiane/blog-458114.html After getting off the Vientiane bound bus at Vieng Kham along route 13 we set off in search of sawngthaew these are lsquojumborsquo tuk tuks that have a fixed route and a fixed price per person they pretty much operate like a bus. We found one heading to Ban Khoun Kham also known as Ban Na Hin and made the 41km journey east along route 8 we arrived at the central market and headed off in http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Tham-Lot-Kong-Lo/blog-457602.html Our next stop was a massive push up north after 10 hours on a local bus stopping at every possible place buying every possible thing on sale on the sides of the road we finally made it to Savannakhet. Savannakhet is a border town to Thailand we didnrsquot realise how close it was right across the river. It was too much for G who has been waiting to go to Thailand for 8 odd years since her http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Savannakhet/blog-456292.html Our next stop in Laos was Pakse founded by the French in 1905 as an administrative outpost it sits on the Mekong River and the Se Don River. It is a very small town with not much to do at all. We had the unfortunate pleasure in staying there for 2 nights because Tony got ill with a very high fever. We did not do much here just pottered and lounged around in our hotel room at Sabaidy 2 Guest http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Bolaven-Plateau/blog-456286.html Sabaidii Greetings this is the only thing yoursquoll hear from the locals in the most amazing chilled out place wersquove ever been too. Si Phan Don its literal English translation is the Thousand Islands. The Four thousand Islands is a stretch of the Mekong that during the rainy season stretches out to a breadth of 14km the riverrsquos widest point along its 4350km journey from the http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Laos/South/Don-Det/blog-455011.html We made our way East from Siem Reap to Kratie this took a monotonous 12 hours by various buses all of which broke down at some point. We eventually arrived in the dark never a favourite for any traveller but were kindly greeted by a man and his tuk tuk and a sign for the guesthouse we had earmarked to head too. So off we went and ended up at YouHong Guesthouse 5 for a double ensuite not ba http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/East/Kratie/blog-455010.html Once we arrived in Siem Reap from our 7 hour boat trip in the sun we jumped into a tuk tuk and headed into town picking up some local chap along the way who then proceeded to pestered us all the way there which was about 15 minutes he firstly wanted us to stay at one of his guesthouses and secondly to use him when we go to Angkor Wat well this pestering didnrsquot impress either of us so we http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Siem-Reap/blog-455004.html After a good few days in Phnom Penh we headed North West to Battambang Cambodiarsquos second largest city. It took about 6 hours on the bus and we were pleased to arrive in time to have a go on the Bamboo train that day meaning we could head straight to Siem Reap the following day. We stayed in the Royal Hotel at 6 for a double ensuite it was a steal. We dumped our bags had a beer 1 fo http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/North/Battambang/blog-455000.html Phnom Penh it always has a sinister notion to it that T canrsquot describe but is a really pleasant place We rocked up at midafternoon and the sun was searing down we decided to stay at the lake side in a mini lsquoKhao San Roadrsquo style section of the capital. We sStayed at guesthouse number 10 with a terrace on the lake now the word lake is vastly overstated and pond mosquito bre http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Phnom-Penh/blog-454999.html We set off on our overnight adventures in the Cardamom Mountains with our guide lsquoFrankrsquo and his mate Al. They run trips into the jungle to see a waterfall. On arranging our trip lsquoFrankrsquo suggest that we go off piste as there were some other tracks that he wants to try so the sense of adventure and the image of the Tarzan showrsquos of my youth take over and we agree. T http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/West/Kaoh-Kong/blog-453549.html After recommendations from H and Paul we boarded our boat to Bamboo Island and our home for the next few days the Koh Ru Bamboo Bungalow Resort. The boat trip took about an hour and a half and was a little rocky but all good as there werenrsquot many people on the boat. We arrived and were given bungalow number 4 a nice bright blue bungalow right on the beach with 2 double bedshellip.one http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Sihanoukville/blog-453548.html We arrived at Sihanouville midafternoon and checked into Mick Craigrsquos Sanctuary Guesthouse for the price of 7 US per night for double room with ensuite bathroom. After a swift freshen up we headed down the beach in search of the Koh Ru bar after a tip off from H Gower about a stunning island where they stayed a few years back. On arrival on the beach we discover that there is actua http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Sihanoukville/blog-453547.html ldquoThere is no corruption in Cambodia none at all The country like all of its neighbours is commission based thatrsquos why itrsquos so easy to do things here everybody will help you because they earn a small fee for their effort.rdquo Kampot Survival Guide KSGAfter arriving back in Ha Tien from Phu Quoc we went back to the travel agency to arrange our Cambodian visas and transp http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Cambodia/South/Kampot/blog-450889.html Our last stop in Vietnam was Phu Quoc Island. Phu Quoc is a tropical island surrounding by white beachrsquos and turquoise water and is a great way to while away a few days incidentally the Vietnamese government is planning to make the island a massive tourist destination they are building an international airport on the island so that tourists can fly in and out of Phu Quoc without having to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/Phu-Quoc-Island/blog-447988.html The adventure begins with an early start and this sets the scene for the whole adventure on the Mekong early mornings We were debating how to attack the Mekong not literally adventure do it on our own or through a tour. So to cost things up we stumbled into Delta Adventures and a tour cost about 18 US per day each including accomodation some meals and with some cool activities so we deci http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Mekong-River-Delta/My-Tho/blog-447986.html Next stop on our tour of Vietnam was Ho Chi Min City itself formally known as Saigon and fondly still called Saigon by all the locals in fact we think it is only tourists who call it good old HCMC Anyway we had a couple of days here to potter around it is so much bigger than Hanoi and takes a lot longer to get to all the sights. We only took in the War Remnants Museum Formally called Mus http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Vietnam/Southeast/Ho-Chi-Minh-City/blog-447985.html