Singapore! Upon exiting the train station, we realize that we are in a quiet, tree lined neighborhood in Singapore. A neighborhood that doesn't have any access to public transportation! It's only 150km or so to the equator, and even at 8am, the heat sure feels like it! Trung and I start using the rubber express (that's how you say you're using shoes, right?) and we naturally just walk towards the towers of downtown, a few km in the distance. Well dressed people are walking down the perfectly clean sidewalks also towards downtown. It's rush hour on a Monday morning. Eventually we decide to set up camp at a coffee shop, load some maps on our computer and find the backpacker district so we can explore some hotel options. I find a Tom'n'toms, which is a Korean ... read more

Koh Tao > Phuket Our ferry from Koh Tao pulled in to the Southern ferry port near Surat Thani around 3:00pm, after saying goodbye and leaving Koh Tao around 10:30am. I had bought a package deal from my dive resort for 800 baht to have the ferry and bus arranged to take us directly to Phuket from Koh Tao, so the bus was waiting on the pier to take passengers onwards. After jumping on the bus, which was quite comfortable, it pulled out towards the village of Surat Thani, about 45 minutes away. Once there, the bus dropped us off at a small eatery on the side of the road to 'transfer busses', where a nice man suggested we spend an extra 300 baht for an 'express' bus to Phuket, otherwise we wait for our bus ... read more

Our bus pulled into Siem Reap at about 3pm. Its the hottest ever, I think about 38 celcius before the humidex. Mr. Lucky, our hilarious Tuk Tuk driver from Phnom Penh called his 'Brother' John in Siem Reap to let him know we were coming. He's going to give us a 'free' tuk tuk ride to our hotel. He's at the bus station, as promised, with our names neatly written on a board, which is a nice touch. He does the usual TukTuk driver special and tries to get us to go to his hotel (or, the hotel where he gets a cut). I had emailed another hotel to reserve a room and the hotel confirmed, so I got John to bring us there first. "We'll check it out and if we need to switch, we'll ... read more

Our bus has finally arrived from Hue, after 16 hours of semi-sleeper bus goodness through the dark Vietnamese countryside... its 6 or 7am or something, and its already hot in the quickly growing city of Nha Trang. The city is stretched on a thin strip of beach, sandwitched between the mountains and the ocean. Our hotel is central, about 100 feet from the beach. Not too shabby for $20/night (for both of us)! As soon as we arrive, I head out to see the sunrise and what the beach is all about while Trung tries to compose himself after the long bus ride. As I sleepily walk out to the beach, I'm greeted with 10 foot, slow breakers on the calm water, white sand, and a cabana club/brewery called the Louisiane Bar opening up for the ... read more

We've just finished our showers and breakfast after the overnight train from Sapa. We're scheduled to leave for the Perfume Pagoda (Chùa Hương) on a day trip in three hours time. A 2 hour bus journey is fairly painful running on no sleep, not to mention that a nice, cold rain starts just as we arrive at the river to catch a boat to take us to the Pagoda. Chùa Hương is an important pilgrimage site for many Vietnamese, and we're heading there at the beginning of the lunar new year, the busiest time for visitors. The perfume pagoda is at the centre of a vast complex of caves, temples and pagodas. The geography is similar to Ha Long bay, only inland. Huge towers of limestone with sheer faces appear out of the mist, with rice ... read more