** This Blog has no photos but I'll get them up as soon as I'm able to ** Onwards from the pure madness of Hanoi we visited a few towns in central Vietnam before arriving at Saigon. We spent a few days in Hue and then Hoi An both of which had wonderful sandy beaches - some of the first we'd encountered in Asia! - and all of the cultural intensities I've come to associate with Vietnam. From there we travelled to a town called Nha Trang, a very touristy place, filled, somewhat bizarrely with Russians. Which I don't particularly have a problem with but it was a little strange to not encounter a single Russian in months and then wham! they're everywhere, menus and everything in Russian too. Very strange. The beach here was wonderfully ... read more
We've been travelling really intensely these past few weeks, really packing a lot of things into our days so naturally I haven't had any time to sit at a computer and write a blog for a while. Out of the past eight nights, five of them have been spent on overnight sleeper buses! I seem to be leafing further and further back in my journel to find what I want to write about so I thought I'd just cover some of the best things and catch up with myself a little bit! Vietnam was a really incredible place and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. From the bonkers, mopeds-absolutely-everywhere madness of Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to the incredibly peaceful and naturally beautiful beaches and islands further south it's a great place with some ... read more
This is the first blog I've done in a while, partly because the internet connection in Laos is very primitive and partly because I've been having too much fun to bother spending a couple of hours sat at a computer screen. I think last time I blogged about arriving in Luang Prabang so I'll kick off with that. The first thing we did when we got to Luang Prabang was climb the Phousi Mountain. I say climb, I really mean walk up a lot of steps, but it was really quite demanding given the 35 degree heat. There were various statues of the Buddha in his various different poses dotted around. I'd say my favourite was the one in the cave about halfway up. The respite from the heat might have played a part in this ... read more
We've spent the last three days travelling from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang, using almost exclusively local transport methods, which has definitely upped the heartbeat on more than one occasion. I can't imagine this post is going to be particularly interesting but I will do my best. In order to get across the border into Laos, we first had to get the bus up to border crossing town of Chiang Khong. We headed to the bus station in Chiang Mai to get the coach, but sadly it had already sold out, meaning we had to head for Chiang Rai and hope there was some kind of way of getting across to Chiang Khong before nightfall. As it turned out, there was: the local bus, a vehicle that has been laughing in the face of health and ... read more
Since we've found a fairly cheap and decent internet place close to where we're staying at the moment, I thought'd I'd do another quick blog before we head up to the Laos border, where internet cafes full of excitable Thai nerds playing some kind of online fantasy game are probably quite difficult to come by. Following our elephant adventure yesterday we rounded the day off with a BBQ put on by the hostel owner. It was a cracking meal and really nice to spend the evening chatting with all our fellow travellers at the place. I was sat next to a very amiable american guy named Tom, he'd been travelling around the world for 8 months already, so it was great to pick up some tips and advice and hear some of his stories. He also ... read more
Following a pretty fantastic jazz session after the last blog in Chiang Mai, we took the bus up north to the mountain town of Pai. Despite it being a 762 turn road and rumours that it was a pretty hairy ride, the only real issues were a Japanese girl throwing up and me accidentally holding up the entire bus whilst trying to negotiate a particularly difficult frozen cornetto. Hairy stuff indeed. The first thing you're hit with when you arrive in Pai is the sheer beauty of the surroundings. It's a wonderful hippy town set up in the mountains with incredible views all around it. I'm not a great believer in scenery, bu Pai has pretty much nothing but mountains and valleys surrounding it. It's the location of a couple of popular Thai films; and very ... read more
I am writing from Chiang Mai, in the north of Thailand and I feel like a real traveller now. Everything had started to feel a bit like a city break in Bangkok, but I have now washed my pants in a sink and sat for hours on various buses, it actually feels like I'm on the road and I'm going to be here a while. I've been getting used to Thailand a bit too, I don't tend to do a double take when I see entire families piled onto a 50cc scooter or temples that are pretty much located in petrol station forecourts. I did have to cross a busy road earlier though and it took about 20minutes. It was ridiculous, four lanes of traffic and a broken pedestrian crossing. Still not quite comfortable with the ... read more
So I did it. I got on an aeroplane and travelled for almost 22 hours away from pretty much everything and everyone I've ever known with only a bag to live out of for the next six months. A slightly scary thought, but aside from a fairly comprehensive wine spillage all over my brand new 'travelling shirt' and the scottish girl next to me, pretty much everything went to plan on the flight over. I even managed to watch the new On The Road film for a little bit of inspiration too. Despite the fact I arrived a little dishevelled, covered in wine and generally looking like an alcohlic homeless man, I decided to drop myself in at the deep end and get the skytrain from the airport to the hostel. This turned out to be ... read more
Testing, testing, 1, 2, testing... So since I fly to Thailand tomorrow evening I thought I should probably check I know how to post something on here from the comforts of my own bedroom, instead of trying to figure it out in some hectic internet cafe in Bangkok. So far, so good. I think. I have had a cracking last few days saying my goodbyes to friends and family, they even made me a cake! I will miss them all immensely. I have to say though I am somewhat concerned that pretty much every single 'have a great time' is annexed with something along the lines of 'and watch out for the ladyboys!' Unfortunately, I don't think it is within social ettiquette to be checking anyones genital areas for suspicious bulges so I will just have ... read more