I hated Phnom Penh. From the plane ride there (spending ages on the runway, for a sickeningly bumpy trip, and the whole plane ride smelt strongly of burning plastic/ smoke that got stronger the longer we were on the plane) and the moment I stepped off it… The entire city smelt like a garbage tip,…
Vroom-vroom Vientaine
So apparently we arrived in Vang Vieng around midday. Apparently I regained consciousness around dinner time, apparently we went to a few bars that night and enjoyed the night life. I don’t recall any of these occurrences. The next day I got a chance to get the lay of the lands in Vang Vieng. It…
Van Vieng, Venergan
The next day we woke early to offer alms (food) ((rice)) to the Buddhist monks. They hold a procession down the main street each morning from 5.30am to collect their food as thanks for devoting their life to Buddhist teachings . Then we were back on the bus. I woke up feeling fine and dandy…
Lounging in Luang Prabeng
After our quick trip to Pakbeng we were back on the boat, stopping at a pretty temple at the halfway point to to **ahem** stretch our legs, we arrived in Luang Prabang. I really enjoyed Luang Prabang. It was off the beat track enough to be pretty genuine but built up enough to be pretty relaxing…
Packin’ to Pakbeng
After a pretty long ang boring bus ride we collected our passport stamps and jumped on a Laotian tuk-tuk to get on our boat to Pakbeng. Before we left Jono and I took out the maximum amount the ATM would let us at $200. This will be important later. Now Pakbeng is an endearing little…
Chilled out Chiang Rai
We climbed back in a bus seat to take the meandering ride on to Chiang Rai. But first, we made an interesting pit-stop. Cabbages and condoms, self-dubbed “the rubber triangle”, is located between Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai. It’s a community-centre-come-roadside-diner that provides services and education for locals, promotes environmental protection, and, of course, some…
Chiang Mai, Oh Mai!
700kms later, we arrive in Thailands northern capital, Chiang Mai. The train was supposed to be about 12 hours, it was much closer to 15. I was jolted awake early in the morning and those three hours were lost in the last while of our trip. Stop. Start. Fast. Slow. Stop. Stop. Slow. Stop.. You…
Thongs, Klongs and Locomotives
After a big night in Bangkok, it was hard waking up at 8am to get to the Royal Grand Palace. Fortunately, I was deeply motivated by my prepaid ticket and photo opportunity and managed to drag myself out of bed. Unfortunately, my dear significant other was very much hungover/still inebriated from the previous night’s festivities and spent…
Bangkok Buckets and Back Alleys
Woke up very early, around 4am, so I started the day with an independent breakfast while Jono caught some Z’s. While eating at our hotel’s breakfast buffet I met Sarah, who is doing the same tour as us tomorrow who also had the day to kill today. We decided to all catch a tuk-tuk to…
Welcome to Bangkok
Checking in for our flight at 7am, it was busy at the international airport and the three hour wait went by really quickly (after I went through trying and testing nearly every eyeshadow at Urban Decay). We were pretty pleased with ourselves when we got reassigned the exit row seats after asking our flight attendant…
Paige Penning 