Having booked a posh hotel for Christmas we decided that we would just have a relax for the day and not do too much, hoping to catch some Christmas films on the tv. Unfortunately the only English speaking Chanel was 'aljazeera' so we spent the day at the pool instead. Whilst in Luang Prabang at a night market we had taken 50,000kip (about $6) each to go shopping for presents for each other so we both had some little things to open in the morning. We also had a w...

We have safely returned from an adrenaline filled adventure at the gibbon experience - something I don't think either of us will ever forget. The adventure began by packing ourselves into the back of a 4x4 truck and making our way deep into the Laos rainforest, this took an age and despite it being about 30 degrees we were both freezing because of the wind from the truck. After about two hours, having crossed rivers and dirt tracks we got out and hiked the final...

After a swift border crossing from Laos we arrived in Chiang Mai a day earlier than expected meaning we had to spend an evening in a budget option before moving to our posh Christmas hotel the next day. True to form, invisible but noisy building work started at the hostel at 7 am the next morning and we were pleased to check out to move to the De Lanna hotel the other side of the old town. The hotel was amazing complete with swimming pool, huge room and a hairdr...

With Anglo-European relations damaged this week courtesy of Mr Cameron, we took the hostilities one step closer with an obnoxious French couple on our overnight bus from Luang Prabang whom were sat behind us on the bus, resulting in something which came close to world war three!! Given that we were all on a sleeping bus and all had to endure and equally rough and bumpy nights sleep, this miserable couple complained every time we reclined our seat back beyond upr...

We have now arrived in the Unesco world heritage city of Luang Prabang in northern Laos, also known as the pearl of Indochina as it is meant to be the prettiest and most enchanting city in se Asia. Having been suitably impressed by the city on arrival we were not impressed with the accommodation which is roughly double the price of elsewhere in Laos. We were offered a room with a bathroom in desperate need of a revamp and another with only a mattress on the floo...