Started my travels in Laos in a town called Luang Prabang. It would have to be the cleanest, tidiest place I've come across in south east Asia. Spent a few days walking around the town, checking out some temples, stopping for beers and trying out the local food. Spent a day kayaking down part of the Mekong river with some fellow Kiwi travellers, seeing some caves along the way. But probably the best experience was catching a boat over to the other side of the Mek...

Siem Reap was all about the Angkor temples. I spent three days getting driven around by my tuk tuk driver, Nit, and saw heaps of temples. Watching the sunrise over Angkor Wat (the most famous temple) was pretty special, but there were hundreds of tourists there. I preferred visiting some of the older and less well known temples, some of which date back to the 9th century. Apart from the temples, I spent some time wandering about in the city and having a few beers...

Just when I thought Cambodia couldn't get any more laid-back, I went to a sleepy little town called Kampot. And like Sihanoukville it was a great place to have a beer at one of the bars along the waterfront and soak in the chilled-out atmosphere. After a few more days back in Sihanoukville (my favourite place so far) it was a very rocky 10 hour bus ride north to Battambang. I met a French girl (Emilie) on the way and we hung out for a couple of days, doing some t...

Arrived in Cambodia late in the afternoon and found a place to stay in Phnom Penh by the river. First impressions were that it's a lot like Vietnam but the people are much friendlier. Did a bit of sightseeing including the killing fields and the S21 prison, which was all quite horrific, but really interesting. Also checked out the temples at the Royal Palace, which were pretty impressive. After a few days it was off to a place on the coast called Sihanoukville. I...

Last day in Thailand. I've spent far too much time and money in Phuket (apart from heading up to Ko phangan), but I've had an amazing time! The people are so friendly here and I was well looked after by the staff at the small guest house I was staying at. One of the girls even went with me to the hospital to get a mole cut out of my back. It's been more like a holiday than a traveling experience, but I'm ready to get back to the proper backpacking. Cambodia here ...