Having decided to go for the two day boat option to get to Laos, we woke up bright and early, well just early in my case, and waited for a van to pick us up from our guesthouse. The nerves had really kicked in as we'd heard mixed things about this journey; the majority bad and included stories of sitting on wooden boxes, crates and even rice sacks for two days solid among various species of live stock. The first leg of the journey was 'just' an eight hour ride in...

Next stop, Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand. Fate is on my side as having reluctantly agreed to travel by train (all this not peeing for 8 hour stretches cannot be good for my bladder), a sink hole appears two days before we were due to leave directly under the railway tracks stopping all trains from running (check it out - it looks horrendous...thank god no train was on it at time http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Trains-in-North-stopped-as-wet-causes-...

So after seven days in Koh Tao, having seen all that was on offer from the ocean, the bars and the Jack Wills summer catalogue, it was time to move north through Thailand. BG tried yet again, unsuccessfully, to get me to partake in a ridiculously long journey by public transport, "I know it will take sixteen hours and we lose a nights sleep but we'll gain a day" - is that actually supposed to an argument in his favour?! We (and by we, I mean I), decided it would ...

Having seen so many great fish floundering around in the shallow water of the beach, we decided that a snorkelling trip would be a good investment and would enable BG to further his quest to find Nemo and increase his empathy with all things aquatic. Quality being key at all times, we went for the cheapest trip we could find (£10 for a full day of being on a boat, going to five different snorkelling locations and including tea, coffee and lunch - bargain). Gett...

After the assault on the senses that was Bangkok (I fear I may never eat Thai food ever again), we headed to the Islands to chill and shake out the last of the stresses and strains of London life before continuing our journey. Having not even started to work on my fear of public toilets (bad enough in England, never mind Asia) even BG realised it was too soon to tempt me onto a 8 hour bus or train ride (using concern to mask the reality of being totally unwillin...