First impressions of Auckland having gotten through a strenuous visa and baggage check are pretty positive. The bus from the airport is speedy but pleasant and takes you through a range of motorways, leafy suburbs and then into the city itself. Auckland is not really somewhere for us to come to so as to spend time here, it is simply the cheapest place to fly to and more likely to possess a suitable van for us to travel elsewhere. A short amount of looking around in the hostels and its simply a case of waiting for responses to SMS. Off to the Backpackers Car Market for a mooch about. Very little on offer and our price range is on the low end as money has run out quickly lately. A test drive in a Toyota van ... read more

Cambodia's capital retains an undeniable charm, despite its tumultuous, often violent past. The crumbling colonial architecture makes an attractive backdrop to bustling streetside cafes and the redeveloped riverfront precinct. Visiting the major sights, including many emergency trips to the loo we took in: Royal Palace and the two magnificent pagodas in the Palace Grounds, the Silver Pagoda and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, are among the few public buildings in Phnom Penh really worth seeing. They were built in the 19th century with French technology and Cambodian designs, and have survived the traumas of the 20th century amazingly intact. Pants as all the best bits were closed off to the public and very expensive as were white...foreign I meant. The National Museum (opposite the Royal Palace; admission US$3). Contains an excellent collection of art from ... read more

Do you guys realise the arduous conditions I have to work under to bring you this sh1t? I remember using better computers in school than they have over here. Good old BBC computers, probably handles broadband better than these ones anyway. 3 days of temples and I am suffering with temple fatigue and a very bad gut. No worries though as Kriss is on hand to race me to a toilet at the first sign of trouble! I wont tell you about the temples as you can see pics for yourself at XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX One of the highlight of the trip here are the stories the tuk-tuk driver tells us. I wont go into detail but Cambodian women dont want to be touched to much and use their teeth alot when they do get down to business. ... read more

Four days, not a pedo in sight, nowhere near as sleazy or scummy as ppl make it out and overall a really pretty nice place, thats the gospel according to Mike. OK all we really did was go to Phuket gym, the beach and spend a lot of time in bed. Finally, we took in a girly show. After a couple of nights of walking up and down the stip hoping to see something exciting we gave in and went for a gander at one of the many shows on offer. What we saw, despite being promised "ping pong", disappointed us quite a bit. Lots of slim, small breasted grils with pants on jiggling near a pole. Some simulated lesbian sex and nothing else. NO PING, NO PONG, NOTHING. Ok, we apid no entrance fee but ... read more

Just for the hell of it, we signed up for a snorkeling trip. A tour to four different islands off the coast started out looking a bit sketchy, but ended up being a great day. 3-4 days in Krabi town doing very little is enough to drive anyone mad although the girl that cut and shaved me was very nice and gave me another good experience. Krabi is a small city with a population of around 18,000. Located just upriver from the coast, it has no beaches and hence visitors make a beeline for Had Yao, Ao Nang or Rai Leh (Railay). There are numerous good beaches in the area and are described at the bottom of the page. Onto the 4 islands tour. Being picked up and then dumped from our songthaew near the beach ... read more