mborowedge

Ok, I’m not going to lie, I just can’t do that to you readers; this is a long one. And what's more, there are a LOT of photos to flick through -some are on the next page so don't miss them! So, put the kettle on -or better still crack open a can and get yourselves comfy. Eyes down and looking. China Part Two: A Country Like No Other Now then, where were we? Ah yes, Hong Kong. So on Boxing Day we got our passports stamped with ‘departed’ by the friendly and English speaking Hong Kong customs officers, and then essentially struggled to get back into China with the aggressive, no nonsense Chinese customs officers. “Where you go in China” he barked at me. Note the absence of the question mark. This was ... read more

I tried. I tried hard. But the obligatory urge to imitate Robin Williams’ “Gooooood Moooorning Vietnaaaaaam!” as we crossed the border from Cambodia, was just too difficult to suppress. After all, the amount of visual connections I had with this place were hardly in plentiful supply. Sure, I’d seen the majority of the war movies (and a Top Gear special) but aside from a bunch of yellow-star-on-red-T-shirted backpacker types we’d seen travelling in the opposite direction, Vietnam was one big lesson waiting to be learned, and I was the geek in the front row with my pencil sharpened. We began in the south, crossing the border into Ha Tien and as quick as we’d arrived in Vietnam, we were leaving again -well leaving the mainland at least- hopping on board a ferry to Phu Quoc island. ... read more

Sabai-deeeeeeee from Laos! Sabai-dee (hello) was the first Lao word that we learned upon arriving in this so-laid-back-that-horizontal-doesn't-do-it-justice country. And it's also the word that we've used (and heard) thousands of times since, over the past two weeks that we've spent here. There's something about the word, other than the natural smile that you produce when both saying and hearing it, that seems to sum up the atmosphere in little landlocked Laos. The smile begins with the first 's' sound but then after a little nod of the head with the 'bai' the teeth come shining through the 'dee' ending; and it´s here where the word comes alive. If you eeeeee-longate that 'deeeeeee' with as many e's as you like you're well on your way to smiling like a super laid back local, or like a ... read more