ko toa is the quietest of the three major islands on that side thailand, ko samui has mcdonalds and starbucks while ko pha-ngan has its infamous moon parties and bar after bar on the beach playing loud music and selling buckets of alcohol. ko tao is lined with bars that are very chilled where people eat drink and dive, with only a couple of party bars. its sounds the least developed the irony being that unlike the others it has no indiginious population and there fore everything you encounter is manufactured. we trundled off the boat along a rather unsafe looking [View Full Entry]

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Landed at 3, after an 11 hour flight where I had consumed several bottles of wine, two sleeping tablets and not a wink of sleep. Apparently they are very concerned about swine flew and I had to fill out a health questionnaire, they had a machine to check the temperature of anyone displaying any symptoms. I walked out of the cool air conditioned airport arrivals lounge into the humid hustle and bustle of Bangkok airport forecourt, it was almost a year since I was here last time, but it felt like yesterday, turn left and head to the ‘Public Taxi’ agree [View Full Entry]

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The final bush camp of the trip was in some wasteland in the shadow of the ancient temple of Orcha. On the way there we were given the option of instead of camping staying in a nice hotel just down the road with all the mod cons and a swimming pool, although tempting I had enjoyed the previous bush camps and I didn’t want to miss the last one. A number of people were suffering with the famous Delhi belly and Imodium was the drug of choice more just about everyone, with conversation dominated by toilet activity. Some people were suffering [View Full Entry]

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Varanasi, Escape From India Late at night we arrive at our hotel, it was fantastic, a proper European standard hotel, three four storey blocks surrounding a grass lawn which was littered with tables with people eating supper, and joy of joy a pool. We checked in to our rooms, and agreed to meet up to go to the near by McDonalds. The room is fantastic its like being in a Marriot two single beds and a balcony overlooking the lawn. I take shower in the pornoesque black bathroom suit. The hot water pummels my body the drama of the journey starts [View Full Entry]

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Before arriving at our hotel we stopped of at Agra Fort, which is a world heritage site although impressive it is yet another red fort where a sultan lived who had numerous wives ect, perhaps I have been spoilt over the last few months, but my interest level at seeing another fort was at zero. All i wanted was to get out of the sun, a lay in an air conditioned hotel room. The constant long drives and heat were starting to take there tole, and i was tired. In retrospect i should have taken more interest in the fort as [View Full Entry]

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As i crossed the boarder into cambodia it becomes obvious from the landscape and the peole outside their dwellings that the poverty in cambodia is greater then the other countries in south east asia, on the boat crossing the Mekong there were gangs of limbless child beggars, out of principle i never give beggars money but is was heart breaking. Much of the poverty is due to the catastrophic rule of the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970's when an estimated 2,000,000 people died. the cambodians also look different to their neighbors in thialand, loas and Vietnam, they are much darker [View Full Entry]

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flew into Ho Chi Minh City which is still Saigon to everyone who lives there, the city is in constant fast forward and the traffic was as busy as Hanoi, except the roads were bigger, crossing the road either takes a long time or a lot of guts, you have to accept that you are part of the traffic and the swarm of bikes rushing towards you at different speeds on on various sides of the road will just treat you anothe4r obstacle and move around you. the traffic interchanges like a flock of starlings with a red sunset behind them, [View Full Entry]

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before i talk about nha trang, one last story from hoi an, when ever you walk around south east asia, or see pictures on the television you always see the women wearing masks that cover their mouths and faces to protect from pollution. while i was on the beach talking to the teenagers who wanted to learn english one of the girls was wearing such a mask, i said 'surly you dont need this here?', she looked at me strangely, 'no pollution', the other girls rolled around laughing, 'this is not to protect from pollution, this is to avoid sun, so [View Full Entry]

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hoi an was an international trading port as far back as the 17th century and influences from chinese, japanese and european cultures are well preserved in the architecture. it is a charming old town which still maintains a rustic feel, mixed with the glow of busy restaurants and cafes at night. we travelled their by sleeper bus although the journey was only 5 hours or so, arriving early afternoon. before i designated drop off point the bus stopped in hoi an at a hotel about 5 minute walk from the center, it was four star with a pool and only 6-7 [View Full Entry]

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hue is an ex capial, situated on the central east coast and is the forth largest city in Vietnam. we set out to explore the town on foot and bumped into a guy called archie who helen had met on one of the day tours she had gone on while i mooched around hanoi on foot. we walked over the Song Huong River and through the walls of the old town. as we entered there was the usual mob of tuk tuk offering us a tour of the old town, we declined and asked which way to the citadel, they said [View Full Entry]

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