My first thoughts as I arrived in Bagan were of Ankor Wat in Cambodia. I'm still not sure whether it was the early morning, the stifling heat or the crumbling ruins that lined the roads that made me think of Ankor, maybe a combination of all three. Like Ankor, it's hard to believe Bagan and its pagodas aren't a wonder of the world. Bagan isn't even a UNESCO World heritage site, which is even harder to believe, although there is an ongoing dispute lead by the Burm...

I left Koh Tao, having spent almost a week there, feeling refreshed and recharged. It was nice not having to repack my bag every couple of days and I didn't miss the lengthy bus journeys however I was definitely ready to start travelling again. Thailand felt more like a holiday than backpacking. It's well prepared for tourists which makes everything so accessible. It was while I was lounging around on the beach between dives that I doubted Myanmar would be quite ...

It was a couple of long days with early mornings and late nights; two flights, one ferry, a few taxis and one over night stop in Koh Samui, but in 36 hours I went from an elephant sanctuary in Chiang Mai to scuba diving in Koh Tao. It was a bit of whirlwind but everyone (with some gentle persuasion!) and everything i.e transport, was surprisingly efficient. The plane was on time and landed at around 2200 local time. I got to the hotel, in Samui, at about half pas...

Hellish; a suitable word to describe the coach journey into Thailand, the worst to date. It was 22 hours on a normal sitting bus, on unmade roads, made worse by the unfortunate Singaporean girl who refused to stop being sick...on the seat opposite me. After the fifth or sixth time, the driver refused to mop it up. The smell was unbearable. To make matters worse, it just kept on coming. God knows what she had eaten. Well actually, I could give you a pretty good de...

It was early in the morning and I was tired when the bus arrived in Luang Prabang. We got to the hotel at around 6am which was too early for our room to be ready. Together with the guys I had been travelling with that night, we sat hugging mugs of tea, waiting, bleary-eyed. We had chosen that particular hostel, The Khounsavan Guesthouse, mainly because it had a swimming pool. As soon as the rooms were ready it was time for a quick nap and a long shower. We eventu...