So after being stamped into Cambodia we drove for around 2 hours to Phnom Penh and settled on Okay guesthouse near the river which is actually rather nice. We got settled in and took a walk up the river inn search of some good food and found the lasagne to satisfy our cravings. We were a little shocked to see just how many kids were passing by and coming into the restaurant trying to sell books, bracelets and scarves to customers. In the morning we found ourselves a tuk-tuk to take us to Tuol Sleng museum and then the Killing Fields. The museum is the old Khmer Rouge S-21 detention centre where they tortured ‘traitors’. Inside we watched a documentary and walked the celled rooms where prisoners were kept. On display are pictures of all the ... read more

The drive to Can Tho was reasonably comfortable, we stopped once at a noodle shop where we witnessed some local guy going crazy and trying to fight the staff. It provided us with a few minutes of entertainment before we set off again. We arrived and took moto-taxis to the river and found a hotel overlooking it. We went out for lunch at a restaurant where most of the dishes on the menu contained snake – a local delicacy. Although we had ordered beef it out us off somewhat and we didn’t really enjoy our meal. To make up for it we bought popcorn, onion rings, grapes and sugary drinks and went back to the hotel where we watched TV and ate junk food. In the evening we took a stroll around the river front, stopping ... read more

The change over at Danang was pretty simple although once again the bus lady tried to charge us 3 times the normal price and then when we agreed on a lower price tried to short change us, refusing to give us the right change until we started to make a bit of a scene. We arrived an hour later and crossed the road to grab some noodles before walking into town. We quickly found a nice room for $10 and took a walk around. We rented a scooter in the evening and rode down to the beach which was packed with tourists, mostly Vietnamese. After a swim we decided there were just too many people and drove back to town for some dinner. We got up early the next morning and drove down to the beach, ... read more

We arrived in Cat Ba Island after a 4 hour journey. A bus from Hanoi to Haiphong then a short boat trip from Haiphong to Cat Ba followed by a bus ride into Cat Ba town. Most tourists just book a trip to Halong bay from Hanoi and do not venture out this far, so they do not make it to Lan Ha bay which was recommended to us by many travellers who said it was more beautiful than Halong Bay. We arrived on a Friday and the weekends are a busy time in Cat Ba as the local Vietnamese tourists come swarm the place. We spent the next hour trying to find accommodation which proved to be difficult as most had been snapped up and Hotel owners were asking ridiculous amounts like $30 a night. ... read more

The bus to Vieng Xay was short and sweet, we arrived early and headed off to find a hotel and settled on somewhere cheap but a little grotty. The scenery outside our window, however, made up for this. As we only planned to spend a day here we found somewhere to eat before heading to the caves. These caves are where the Pathet Lao hid during the secret war and the area was bombed hard. People had to stay in the caves during the day and farm and travel at night to avoid being seen. We heard about some truly horrible things the Americans’ did here, but were amazed at how the Lao people had created a ‘cave town’ here. We cycled round the caves with our guide who spoke little English but was nice enough ... read more