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South East Asia is a big place but it’s incredibly easy to get from A to B using any number of ways – Flying, Buses, Jeeps, Taxi-shares, organised tours…the list goes on.  Anyone who has travelled in the region before will know that taking a bus is usually one of the most cost-effective options.  However the quality of the bus service varies vastly from country to country, this is something we have learned with each bus we stepped on.  With this in minds I thought I would write a few …

There are some moments on a trip like this that money can’t buy and this was one of them.  We had just had an unforgettable 2 days on the slow boat down through Laos, from Huay Xai to Luang Prabang, and were arriving as the sun was setting over the Mekong River.  The picture above was taken as the boat quietly chugged along the in the last few moments of daylight.  Needless to say – if you have read our previous post about the journey – we were all feeling …

Following on from our previous Photo of the Week of the talent show winner in Chiang Mai I thought I would post a video from the event.  The video below is off one of the contestants at the talent show.  A you can see, this kid just oozed enthusiasm and talent.  Quite why he didn’t win is beyond me.  Check it out and decide for yourself.

Halong Bay was high on the list of priorities on my “must see” list of things to see in Vietnam. Believe it or not, the main reason for this was down to the Top Gear Vietnam special. If you haven’t seen it yet, you really should look it up. It shows the beauty of Vietnam perfectly, alongside the usual larking about from Clarkson, Hammond and Captain Slow.
Halong Bay is one of the most iconic places to visit in Northern Vietnam. You can’t visit Hanoi (or northern Vietnam) and not do …

Crossing the road might seem like a simple task to many who haven’t experienced the traffic in Vietnam.  “How difficult can it be?” some may ask.  Surely the simple rules “Stop, Look & Listen” can be applied to any road crossing in the world.  Myself and Donna soon found out that this is not true, especially in Hanoi.  If you apply this rule in Vietnam you would be waiting a lifetime to cross the road.

As you can see in the video above, Donna demonstrates that crossing the road in Vietnam …

During our visit to Halong Bay (blog to follow soon) we had the opportunity to stay in a bamboo beach hut on an Island known as “Monkey Island”.  Named so mainly because of the monkey population that lives on the island.  After a quick afternoon snooze our guide took us on a bit of a trek over the rocky terrain and onto an neighbouring beach.  We were informed that this was where the main monkey population hung out.  We were initially unenthusiastic about the trek as we were sure we …

During our stay in Chiang Mai we took the opportunity to take a tour out into the surrounding area and view a number of the Hill Tribes that still live in the mountains of Northern Thailand.
First stop on the trip was a rather uninspiring Orchid farm where they cross-pollinated and grew large quantities of Orchids.  After a quick blast through the farm we were on our way to visit the fist of the hill tribes.  We were informed by our tour guide that this tribe is responsible for crafting the infamous …

The gracious winner accepts her prize money.

As part of the Chinese New Year celebrations in Chiang Mai, Chinatown was running a kids talent show.  The show basically consisted of many unenthusiastic kids carrying out traditional Chinese song and dance routines.
This little girl was chosen in the final 10 and stood smiling graciously as the 3rd and 2nd prizes were given out.  All the other finalists were huffing as the hadn’t been chosen but this little girl stood firm, smiling throughout, thinking she hadn’t won.  In actual fact she came 1st …

Moving from one country to another can be quite a hassle.
We always pictured crossing the border to have high security, uniformed officials and sniffer dogs at the ready to give us foreigners the once over before entering the country.
The ‘ordeal’ from leaving Thailand and getting to our first stop in Laos, (Luang Prabang) was one that will never be forgotten!
Best way to explain it is to tell you first what was supposed to happen. We would get the bus to Chiang Khong in Thailand, cross a small river and go …

After the interesting couple of days in Ayutthya (see here) we decided it was time to start making tracks North towards Chiang Mai.  Before that we wanted to make one more stop on the way before getting the sleeper train.
Upon consulting the Lonely Planet guide we decided that the next destination should either be Sukhothai or Lopburi.  Our mind was soon made up when we discovered that Sukhothai’s primary attractions were more temples (something we had already seen plenty of).  Lopburi, on the other hand, had been described in the …