In a word Vang Vieng was epic!! Though we both need new livers... The bus ride from Luang Prabang (advised 5 hours though naturally was 8!) turned out to be incredibly scenic and interesting. We passed through many small villages along the way, and the scenery was stunning with oddly shaped rock formations/mountains...During this journey it became most obvious that Laos is an incredibly poor country yet the people remain very happy indeed. We had been advised th...

Laos so far has been an incredibly beautiful country and it is sooo different to every where we have been to so far. In a nutshell this place is very relaxed and laidback. We are barely hassled (if at all) and even horns aren't used much in traffic (even though the driving is still pretty crazy...). Prices are pretty much on par with how we found Vietnam, if not a fraction more expensive (though only just!). We arrived on Monday in Luang Prabang by air (although...

Unfortunately our visit to Siem Reap was hampered by the fact that Aza encountered a nasty bout of what we assumed was food poisoning. What made it worse was the fact that it all began during the 12 hour bus ride from Sihanoukville to Siem Reap... Without going into details, Aza endured the ride (luckily for the frequent stops)...Though when we arrived it all seemed a bit odd: we had chosen the local bus (cheaper) which dropped us all off approximately 5kms out ...

After the last hectic few days of travelling, one thing was in order....beach time!! So from Phonm Penh our group ended up parting ways - those who were in a rush went further afield whilst 5 of us chose to head south to the beach resort of Sihanoukville. An easy 4 hour bus ride on a very well maintained road, which came as a surprise as apparently Cambodia is well known for having some terrible roads... Anyways on arrival last sunday the bus dropped us off in t...

SO we arrived into Cambodia on Thursday the 11th December 2008 after completing a 3day cruise up the Mekong Delta from HCMC, Vietnam. Arriving into Phnom Penh we immediately noticed some very clear differences from Vietnam...firstly the traffic. A lot more cars yet less motorbikes, less craziness, and a lot quieter (compared to HCMC, it is still pretty crazy mind you). Secondly the fact that the local alphabet is not the standard "abc" so basic signs ar...