Our first destination with the Open Tour Ticket was Dalat, a city 1500 metres above sea level, built by the French to escape the oppressive heat of Saigon when it was the capital of French Indochina. Another bus journey to remember. We set off first thing in an older vehicle, and it quickly became apparent that it was a bit clapped out, even on the flat our driver had trouble finding some gears. Loads of different companies run Open Tour buses, and every one of them heading to Dalat overtook us. The flat was bad enough, but once we started to [View Full Entry]

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Even although it was dark as we crossed into Vietnam, it appeared to be more affluent than Cambodia, which wouldn't be too difficult. The roads were better, and it had a cleaner look about it. When we arrived late in Ho Chi Minh City, the bus dropped us off on the actual street, which we were planning to find accommodation in. Walked about with our rucksacks on our backs, trying different hotels, guest houses, then tiredness set in, so we agreed to settle for the next one, which happened to be Hotel 96 for 15 Dollars per night. Couldn't have picked [View Full Entry]

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Time to head for the beaches again, arranged an overnight stay in Phnom Penh before setting off on an early bus to Sihanoukville. Only paid 2 pounds to join the locals on a full bus, so full, in fact that a Cambodian man pulled up a plastic chair, and sat in the aisle beside Eileen for the second part of the trip. She said afterwards, "it wasn't so bad, he didn't move much, cough, or anything. He, like the rest were all seemingly engrossed with a crazy, loud, show on the TV. I had to listen to my MP3 to try, [View Full Entry]

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8 dollars each for a 6 hour coach journey to the town named Siem Reap, the reason practically every tourist visits Cambodia for. The name may sound unfamiliar to some, but it is the location of the magnificent temples of ANGKOR WAT, the capital of the ancient Khymer Empire, and the largest group of religious buildings in the world. They were constructed between the 9th and 15th centuries, covering a vast area just north of town. The bus journey from Phnom Penh was, as ever, eventful. Halfway into the journey, it stopped for lunch. We were literally dropped into mayhem, amongst [View Full Entry]

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A visit to Phnom Penh cannot be called complete unless you visit Choeung Ek and Tuol Sleng, no matter how grim or depressing it turns out to be. We hired a Tuk Tuk driver for an afternoon. weren't sure what was the better order to see, ended up heading for Choeung Ek, better known as one of the KILLING FIELDS. They are situated some 15 kilometres from the city centre. The trip along mostly dusty roads was interesting in itself, a gave us an insight into ordinary Cambodian lifestyles with such a mix of local people going about their business. Not [View Full Entry]

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Arrived at Phnom Penh airport, and went through the visa application process. It cost 20 US Dollars each, and took some time, just when you thought it was done, an official tells you to fill in another form. Supposed to be picked up, never happened. It didn't matter, a taxi into the city costs a standard 7 US dollars anyway. It was rush hour, couldn't believe how busy it was. More of a gridlock than Bangkok. Pre booked the Hope & Anchor guesthouse at the riverside. They offered us a room for 25 US Dollars per night, we got them them [View Full Entry]

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Wanted to travel the far north of Thailand by train, but once we realized it takes 13 hours we started looking at other options, ended up booking flights online to Chiang Mai from Bangkok. This is the countrys’ second city situated 500 miles or so north west of the capital. Young travellers arrive here for outdoor pursuits, mostly trekking in the hills, it is also a convenient gateway to Myanmar and Laos through the Golden triangle famed for the illegal production of opium. We already possessed through tickets to Bangkok but these restricted us to leaving at 1700 hours. A 3 [View Full Entry]

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Hua Hin pronounced something like (Wha-heen) was a destination we hadn't initially thought of in our planning, but as we were forced to leave the Ko Samui area sooner than hoped, we decided to give it a go, especially since it was on our route back to Bangkok. Guidebooks describe Hau Hin as a resort for Thais mainly from Bangkok, didnt appear so at first, it had plenty of western tourists with the usual bars and restaurants, once we visited the night market and beach we realised they were right. We also noticed prices here were the cheapest so far. When [View Full Entry]

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And it's not Dundee, Koh Samui, the sunshine paradise will always be remembered for a constant deluge. Just when you think it has to let up, it gets even heavier. Then there is the thunder and lightning. In the early hours of the morning whilst we were under our mosquito net at the top of a hill in our little jungle hut, "the show commenced". Flashes of lightning followed by almighty thunder claps which shook the ground, it had us diving for cover, we thought our time was up with the next strike reserved for us. Crazy thing was, in between [View Full Entry]

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Figured it would be a good idea to pre book one nights accomodation in Phuket as you also can arrange a pick up from the pier to your guest house. After checking in to and checking out our 700 Baht room, we went a walk and made enquiries at varioius other establishments. Came up trumps with a deluxe room in the Silver Resortel for 800 Baht including breakfast. (about 12 quid) Mr Payap, hotel manager, looked after us well, so stayed there for 4 nights.Patong is a busy tourist resort with a great beach, lots of shops, bars, & restaurants. Spent [View Full Entry]

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