Our bus journey from Siem Reap to Bangkok was delightfully unexciting and remarkably efficient. We left on time, were given pastries for breakfast and trundled along in our very comfortable well air-conditioned bus with nicely reclining seats. The border crossing was an absolute breeze. We just gave the guy our passports and he got us … Continue reading Baking hot in Bangkok
Asia
Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor
We spent five full days in Siem Reap. This gave us three days to visit the temples and a break every other day to avoid getting templed out too quickly. For this reason, we booked a hotel with a pool which provided the ideal setting for some lazing around. We would highly recommend taking this … Continue reading Siem Reap and the temples of Angkor
Battambang and the boat to Siem Reap
Getting from Kampot to Battambang entailed a fairly epic, hellish bus journey via Phnom Penh. It was a typical south east Asian bus journey in that we never really knew if we were on the right bus and we were forced to entrust our futures to a group of young bus workers with whom we … Continue reading Battambang and the boat to Siem Reap
Slowing down in Kep & Kampot
As with most Asian bus travel, our trip from Phnom Penh to Kep took considerably longer than advertised and we pulled in to the beachside town after 5 hours on the road. We say town, but village is probably more appropriate to its size and we found little by way of a cohesive community feel. … Continue reading Slowing down in Kep & Kampot
S21 and the Killing Fields
We had booked a half day tour to go to S21 and the Killing Fields, Phnom Penn’s truly gruesome “sights”. As with Auschwitz, we felt that this was something that we should do, and the experience was similarly harrowing. We didn’t take any pictures save for one of the memorial at the end. S21 or … Continue reading S21 and the Killing Fields
Exploring Phnom Penh
Bar a small amount of excitement when we realised that Princess Beatrice was on our flight, our journey to Cambodia was largely uneventful. Having navigated our way through the pristine airport we secured a tuk tuk and set off through the hellish traffic of Phnom Penh. Our hotel was only about 10 kms from the … Continue reading Exploring Phnom Penh
Shrugging our shoulders in Vientiane
We left Vientianne bemused; we weren’t really sure what, if anything, we had just experienced. It’s a strange city, very understated save for a couple of notable examples, and well earns its reputation for the sleepiest capital city in the world. Getting there was the usual nightmare, Laotian bus travel has not been a high … Continue reading Shrugging our shoulders in Vientiane
Kicking back in a rehabilitated party town – Vang Vieng
The bus journey from Phonsovan to Vang Vieng was a quick 4 hours, but was absolutely stomach churning and, for Caro, was one of the worst ones yet. It was still breathtaking; Laos has to have some of the most underrated countryside that we have come across. Matt was still with us, lucky him, and … Continue reading Kicking back in a rehabilitated party town – Vang Vieng
Attempting to fathom the unfathomable at the Plain of Jars – Phonsavan
Going to Phonsavan struck the perfect balance for us; we were going off the beaten track, but not so far off it that tourists were unheard of and so a bit of infrastructure is in place. Just three white people arrived in Phonsavan from Luang Prabang that day, us and a guy called Matt. Probably … Continue reading Attempting to fathom the unfathomable at the Plain of Jars – Phonsavan
Luang Prabang again
We went back to Luang Prabang for a couple of nights rest before shooting off again. Caro did absolutely nothing other than sleep and eat, which she enjoyed very much. So, James is going to tell you what he got up to. The Mekong runs past the town and I thought I should at least … Continue reading Luang Prabang again
The Rolling Stones 