Up the Nam Ou (Not a euphamism)

As the small boat left Luang Prabang complete with four tourists, us, three locals, the driver and a pile of goods, from beer to bicycles, the heavens opened. The first two hours chugging upriver spent clutching tarpaulin sides to stop them flying up and the rain flying in.

Two hours later and the rain cleared. We were then treated to remote and mountainous scenary, for which Northern Laos has become well known. Sure, signs of slash and burn dot the hillsides, but with 75% of Laos still covered in unmanaged vegetation, greenery still abounds. 25% is still original growth forest, would be nice if more, but few counties can boast even that nowadays.

Water buffalo wallowed at waters edge, small villages briefly appeared as we cruised past, and children flung themselves into the muddy brown waters, frantically waving as we past.

The main fishing methods were also on show in abundance: throw net fishing from the shore or slim river boats;
static nets set from thick bamboo poles in fast rapids bending heavily under the flow of the current; the use of huge triangular hand nets, slowly wafted in the current; and ingenious bamboo wicker fish traps with a heavily stone weighted trap door, usually tucked in bushes at riverside.

A delightful and varied seven hours later and we had arrived in Nong Kieuw. At this point a large concrete bridge spans the river however in the presence of beautiful limestone mountains and the winding river the village is still pretty beautifully located. A quick scout around procured some nice chalets with hammocks.

There's not a huge amount to do in the area. Guided trekking probably the most popular activity although we were seeking more self guided pursuits and more hammock time. In the end we opted to hike between two sets of local caves. Their significance in Laos history that the Pathet Laos resistance used them as hideaways during American carpet bombing. The Pathet Laos were the communist group who eventually took control in 1975. Each cave was signposted with, 'telegraph station', 'hospital' etc. to show how these were utilised during the civil war.

The second set of caves were my favourite. Deserted and overgrown, the descent down into the darkness down rickety bamboo handrails silent and creepy. It was hard to imagine such solemn places alive with revolutionary fervour.

We also ventured further upriver to Muang Noi. Even quieter and more rustic, electricty arrived in the last 6 months, a beautiful place to relax. Our single exertion hiring a row boat and attempting to venture upstream. A fun few hours although our puny rowing skills proved no match for the fast flowing river, physically pulling the boat  whilsy wading through the fast stretchs the only answer.

With the Laos visa nearing expiry though it was time to head to Thailand for the last couple of weeks.

Luang Prabang, an expected delight

The bus journey from Vang Vieng gladly over, windy roads with big drops, provided a heightened sense of terror as the bus driver sped through the curves. However spectacular scenery flanked the journey, and former banditry on the route is now a relatively distant event of the past. The usual tussle with the tuk tuk drivers over prices and we had arrived, albeit not quite where we intended in the town.

Old Luang Prabang sits snugly on its peninsular jutting into the Mekong river. A now familiar asian/french architectural style pervades, but with vastly more charm than other population centres encountered. Definately the nicest city we've visited in old French Indochine. Nice when somewhere lives up to the reputation.

Planning a few days here we had time on our side for a relaxed pace of sightseeing. The highlight for us the bear rescue centre and waterfalls. The bear sanctuary providing a home for Asiatic black and sun bears formerly kept for Chinese medical trade, and sideshow purposes. Much happier in their new environment they amble sedately through large enclosures and clamber on their own giant jungle gym.

Alongside the bear sanctuary sit some of the nicest waterfalls we've seen. Though not the biggest, tiered cascades drop into turquoise pools, certainly some of the most beautiful. Swimming is also popular in the pools, one even featuring a rope swing. Comedy here provided by a chinese tourist who decided to pretend to be drowning after splashing down from the rope swing. As he bobbed under repeatedly popping up to glug help, we began to question the length of the routine. Then his friend piped up, 'he really can't swim'. Whilst he was retrieved, fine but spluttering, by some other tourists in the water we couldn't help look incredulous that someone who can't swim would launch themselves from a rope swing into a deep pool.

We also managed to get a days climbing done. Whilst the mornings were a little damp with things drying quickly we hired some slightly aged but functional kit and spent a day at the local crag. Only four routes were bolted up to 6a+ but a fun morning nevertheless.

A key attraction of Luang Prabang is the shopping although I started getting night marketed out. Needless to say I finally succumbed to Em's persistant hunting for bargains and am now carrying a nice hmong wall hanging and some cushion covers, not to mention a range of other nick nacks. Fortunately as travelling time is fast diminishing binning worn out stuff is making way for souvenirs!

A foodie highlight was a Laos barbeque. Local food Em could eat as she can see what goes in, thus avoiding the deathly prawn. The Laos BBQ is a bucket of hot coals on which a fondue/bbq tray is placed, cleverly allowing cooking of noodles and veges in the pork stock filled rim whilst utilising the top for meat or fish, bbq juices flowing into the stock. Yum.

One tourist attraction we missed was the morning alms giving to the Monks. Reduced to a predominantly tourist side show we weren't too sad to miss it. Rumour has it that the monks getting finally fed up of tourists disrespectfully shoving cameras in their faces and inadvertantly giving bad food, sold by touts, were keen for action. The authorities response, to threaten cladding actors in saffron robes to maintain the tourist spectacle. So the monks soldier on.

Assessing options it was time to head for more remote parts so a boat journey was booked and off to Nong Kieuw. 7 hours up the Nam Ou river.

Vang Vieng - Neutered party town

Vang Vieng has been a staple of the Asian backpacker circuit for a number of years and as with so many other places we have visited it bears the scars of overdevelopment. A friend who had visited first over 10 years ago lamenting the decline, from tranquil haven, the misty river gently rippled by drinking water buffalo, to noisy party town. That said the town may be busy with drunken 18 year olds showing scant regard for Laos sensibilities, bare chests and bikinis abound, yet still sits in a stunning spot.

Famous mostly for its 'tubing', floating down the river, in a tractor inner tube, beer in hand, there have been significant changes to this activity over the last year. With a death toll reaching relative epidemic proportions, 20 plus backpacker deaths a year recently, change was required. Most deaths resulting from drunken dives into all too shallow waters. The authorities have acted, pulling down all but three bars on the tubing stretch making this a more sedate pursuit.

We gave it a go and time spent floating down the river in the sun with a cool drink will always be fantastic. As its less of drinking pursuit than it was though you have to wonder if Vang Viengs star will wane. There are nicer places to go tubing in Laos. A sleepy town returning albeit hosting a glut of empty concrete hotels. Or maybe its location as convenient stop off point between Luang Prabang and Vientianne will keep it ticking over for the foreseable.

We did try a days rock climbing however rain stopped play so instead we decided to head on to Luang Prabang.

Legless in Vientienne

For a capital city Vientienne is more akin to sleepy French town. Colonial era architecture keeps the city low rise and the Laos people's relaxed attitude permeates all walks of life. Even the tuk tuk drivers manage just a single "tuk tuk" as you pass, if that, in contrast to Cambodia and Thailand's endless string of questions. "You want tuk tuk", "Where you go?", "What you do tomorrow?".

Whilst Kaylie and myself enjoyed a coffee Em and Nat went in search of a hotel and succeeded in finding a good price on an air conned room for a treat. Discussing things to do in the city the others opted to hire a bike and tour around whilst me and Em opted for shanks pony.

One of the most interesting experiences was a visit to the Cope Centre. In a country with considerably shaky health care provision the Cope Centre provides support for the disabled, a significant proportion of these by UXOs. Laos is the heaviest bombed country per capita in the world. The culprit, American carpet bombing during the 60s and 70s. Many of these bombs were cluster bombs and with a high failure rate, unexploded "bombies", litter significant parts of the country. Over 60 million of them to be more precise. No suprise that 100 or so people are still killed every year by UXOs, many children.

The most frequently found bombies are tennis ball sized spheres packed with ball bearings. These are still unstable and get set off by all manner of things from cooking fires which heat the ground, to ploughs, curious children and scrap metal collectors. Pretty disturbing to think every time you send the kids out to play they could be blown up or lose a limb.

Cope provides funding for a huge range of support, from prosthetics to rehabilitation, surgery to education. After exploring the center exhibitions and reading a few testimonies to the work you certainly feel humbled by our relative healthcare facilities. One story of a 9 year old lad who died in 2006 at home as the closest hospitals did not have the blood or equipment to save his life was pretty hard hitting. His parents having had to hire a Sangthaew (pick up style taxi) on the futile journey to take him to two hospitals, find these couldn't help and doctors suggest better he die at home.

Anyway to not go on too much of a charity rant more info at http://www.copelaos.org/

Also interesting was the national museum. Although crumbling and old fashioned the museum follows a gallery format of prehistoric Laos to the present (well 90s).

Whilst some of the ancient artifacts were fascinating, reading about the 'American Imperialists and they puppets' on every sign that accompanied modern exhibits was a giggle. Even though the likes of America could do more to assist mitigate the ongoing destruction caused by their previous trigger happy approach to cluster bombs etc. the communist way of dealing with history is fairly silly. "This is the spoon used by comrade [insert suitable comrade] to eat his rice in his brave struggle against the American Imperialists and their puppets".

Our next stop was at Vientiennes 'Arc d'Triomphe', the victory arch, which also has an interesting story. Built with concrete, donated funnily enough by the Americans years back to build a bridge, this fairly spectacular arch reveals its inner concrete ugliness when you get closer. Although the interior floors, now used by souvenir sellers, have ceiling plasterwork which would look more in place in a French chateau.

After two nights however, and with time before our flight home starting to tick by more quickly we opted to take the bus up to our next destination, Vang Vieng.

The Loop and Kong Lor cave

The bus ride from Pakse to Tha khek provided a slice of Laos life we were happy to experience but keen not to repeat. A 6 hour journey by local bus transforming to a 10 hour epic replete with many stops to jam in more passengers and rice. Lots of rice. In fact luggage was displaced to the roof to allow safe passage of said rice which was piled under seats and down the aisle to the point where movement on the bus required 4 limbs.

We arrived in Tha Khek a little later than expected however as Nat and Kaylie had arrived the day previously plans for the next few days were nicely in place. The big draw for the area being 'The Loop'. A 3-4 day circular route by scooter through stunning limestone kharst scenery, the highlight a boat trip through the 7.5km Kong Lor cave.

Now I'm not a motorcyclist and Em has no pretensions of two wheeled expertise, however bikes offer the only sensible option of exploring the area properly. Bikes are more scooters really, the ubiquitous 125s as loved by Asia and simple to operate, being semi automatic. Our practise run around Tad Lo perfectly sufficient to gain basic proficiency. The other key factor assuaging concerns being the relatively quietness of Laos roads.

With Em perched on the back with a small rucksack off we popped the next morning at a steady 30mph in convoy with Nat and Kaylie. We were soon confronted with the raved about scenery. Jungle clad mountains thrusting vertically skywards, speckled with untouched limestone faces. We stopped briefly at our first cave, a spectacular cavern with calm blue pool however knew better was still to come.

Onwards we trundled pausing here or there to stretch legs and soothe numb bums. We paused for an hour or so at a hydroelectric plant visitor centre. The centre certainly made a strong case for the project completed in 2010,  covering in depth, funds and projects to help the environment, local people and unexploded ordnance clearance (UXO). Laos was carpet bombed with cluster bombs by the Americans during the Vietnam war era to disrupt supply lines ( More on that later).

Whilst one always has to take a one sided argument with a pinch of salt, it is certainly true that the electricity produced by the plant generates big money for Laos, 95% is sold straight to Thailand. The project has also seen living standards and healthcare in the area rise, villagers being rehoused to spanking new dwellings and having their earnings rise due to the substantial fishing industry growing out of the 400km square lake.

Our stop for the night was at a small guesthouse overlooking the reservoir, where we were treated to a huge thunderstorm which cut power for the night and raged overhead for a number of hours.

The next day we met our first sign of last nights excitement, a smoking tree stood amidst an arm of water. The second was more disruptive. A landslide had blocked a large chunk of road, a huge boulder sat plum in the middle. Diggers and bulldozers, already present for road finishing were hard at work clearing the debris. With a small column of vans, bikes, locals and tourists we sat for a couple of hours watching them work before enough was cleared to allow passage. A rather bumpy slither through muddy ruts at walking pace until road proper was reached again.

Slowly we dropped from the plateau, enjoying spectacular views and changing scenery before entering the mountain flanked limestone river valley home to Kong Lor cave. Retreating to our bamboo huts by the river and flanked by spectacular limestone cliffs we slept soundly and looked forward to next days exploits through Kong Lor cave.

Likened to a descent into Hades the cave is a must for a any Laos trip. A winding river snakes 7.5km through the darkness and is journeyed by a small boat with two or three passengers, driver and front man, who helps steer the boat from the bow.

The cavern is cathedral like and as atmospheric. As you putter downriver torches strain to light walls and ceiling high above. A brief walk through a stalactite forest allows the boatmen to drag the boat over shallower water. Occasionally another boat appears briefly with blinking torches before passing swiftly into the darkness.

A brief sojourn for drinks in the village at the other side, provisioned through the cave, the journey a part of everyday life, was enjoyed before the return journey. This time i provided some comedy with a plunge down a waist deep hole as I hopped out to assist the boatmen with a small rocky step. Fortunately I had placed my wallet and phone in my waterproof bag prior to this excursion.

After emerging with went for lunch at the excellent Chanta guesthouse. Our party had now expanded by a few people, having met Aimee and Chris from North Wales and Sabine and Erna from Switzerland. With rain now looming, another thunderstorm crackling in the distance, we all decided to stay here for the night. An evening of cards and beer Laos.

The next day our enlarged convoy set out for the lengthy journey back to Tha Khek. With our enlarged convoy and frequent stops, including a string of punctures for Aimee and Chris and a lot of need for bum un numbing it was slow going but we finally said good bye to the spectacular scenery and prepared ourselves for the lengthy bus ride to the capital Vientienne.

Tad Lo and the Bolaven plateau

Laos primary coffee growing region the Bolaven plateau is becoming a popular detour on the backpacker trail. With spectacular waterfalls and trekking opportunties we opted to zap up there for a couple of days. Accessible with a two hour bus ride from Pakse we headed straight on with a connecting bus from 4000 islands.

Arriving at Tad Lo the sleepy charm of the place is immediately apparent. 3 or 4 mostly empty guesthouses and a couple of restaurants set by the river and waterfall and that's about it.

Having decided to save elephant trekking for later on the four of us decided to hire a couple of rattly scooters to explore the area. Partly as practise for the more demanding 'loop' due later in the trip. A fairly undemanding day followed gently schlepping around the 3 local waterfalls, enjoying a cooling dip at one.

We also whisked up a dirt track to a local village where many small children were entertained by our mere presence. Fortunately the cash demanding hasn't corrupted the young ones yet although some older kids on the outskirts of the village chanced their arm. The tourist office specifically recommends not giving kids money or things as it encourages begging.

The next day, Nat and Kaylie opted to head straight to Tah Khek to scout out the loop and we took the shorter trip to Pakse for a night before joining them the next. Pakse having no features of much note, although we did enjoy a nice curry there, a nice break for Em from western food and her need to avoid south east asian fare.

Into Laos - 4000 Islands

Sprawling across the wide Mekong river just across the Lao Cambodia border sits the tranquil 4000 islands. Our bus dropped us at the village where the boat runs to Don Det, the most popular destination for backpackers. Dodging a few water pistols and a mild hosepipe soaking, Lao new year still in full swing, we loaded into a longtail and struck out into the current under torch light.

We were greated the other side by a group of 18 something naked british backpackers who had gone for a swim loading their clothes onto a boat which had subsequently departed. Having been in the water for a while we donated one a sarong to go and find some more clothes and we went in search of a hostel.

Along with Nat and Kay, who we had met on the bus we eventually managed to source some rooms from the drunken celebrating backpacker staff, a crazy french lady just about managing to show us a room and agree a price.

We awoke the next morning and decided to move to the quieter Don Khon, me starting to succumb to a throat infection. I assume due to my immune system taking a blasting from the stomach bug. Poor Em was also now well stricken with the stomach thing so our time on the islands was slightly marred by this however it proved a reasonable place to recuperate. Em managing to source me some antibiotics from the 8 year old pharmacists manning a wooden cabinet acting as the village pharmacy which put me right after an unpleasant couple of days.

On a more positive note the islands, aside from the Don Det backpacker area are a relaxed delight. Laid back and friendly people with absolutely no hassles. With various maladies in full swing we didn't manage to make the most of them, kayaking, tubing and mekong dolphin spotting key attractions. We did rent bikes and take a pleasant, and gentle, cycle to the nearby waterfalls. Impressive cascades even in the dry season. Some hefty thunderstorms heralding the upcoming change to wet.

With new year still ongoing we were also treated to a slightly peculiar and popular pastime. Each individual village homestead seemed to take it in turns to fire up a huge and crackly PA system to blast iffy pop and random shouting across the peaceful river setting.

Accommodation was reasonably priced riverside bungalows, with obligatory hammocks in situ, coming in at 60,000 kip per night ($7.5 US).

Difficulties aside however Lao had already revealed a key part of it's attraction, a laid  back and friendly people, amidst a beautiful countryside.

Angkor Wat

The big draw, Cambodias jewel in the crown, and number 1 tourist attraction are the Angkor temples. A source of immense national pride, even featuring on the flag, and representing a time when the Khmer people ruled the roost in a large swathe of SE Asia. Angkor Wat is actually just one temple of the many Angkor era temples, albeit the largest individual building and nowadays almost analogous with the area in the mind of the tourist.

We arrived after a 5 hour bus journey and more Cambodian karaoke pop at the bus companies terminal. Rather shamefully, in an effort to extract more money from the tourist, the big bus companies are in cahouts with tuk tuk cartels to make sure nobody slips through the net and all foreigners pay extortionate fees. Cheerfully suggesting we'll walk usually brings the price down considerably.

We stayed at the Mad Monkey hostel. Slightly overpriced really but clean, friendly and with a bar/restaurant offering tasty and generous portions. Sometimes it is nice to pay a little more to network a bit with other backpackers.

Day 1 we got our bearings and made plans for the coming days. Em also had the opportunity to visit the numerous shops and markets with me worriedly skulking in the background fretting about budgets. We also found ourselves a tuk tuk driver. We deliberately knocked back any pushy ones who harrassed us, very common in Siem Reap.

Wut, our driver, agreed to pick us up for a civilised 8.30am. After collecting our visitor passes, $40, and rumour has it most of this is whisked off to prop up the national coffers, we headed off to see the Ruolos group. The oldest of the main complexes dating back to the 8/9th centuries and built by king doo dah the 1st or some such (lost track of who built what) a good place to start according to the guide. Basically leaving the big guns until last avoids serious underwhelment of doing the reverse.

The older temples feature more prominent use of bricks for construction, the other two materials being xxxxx, a coarse bubbly and friable rock, and sandstone. The first two mediums requiring rendering for decoration with moldings etc. the latter much easier to sculpt into the many reliefs and forms Angkor is famous for.

After the roulos group we whisked over to explore the Eastern temples. What was quite impressive was the variety, from jungle face towers, to Mayan esque pyramids, a good introduction to the place.

Day 2 saw us rise at 5am and a wacky races style journey for Sunrise at Angkor Wat. Wut expertly whisked us past slower tuk tuks and tour buses, an endless column of blinking lights on the road to Angkor. Our foolish expectations of a serene and moving experience were dashed as we joined the thousands jostling for positions in front of the muddy pool to Angkor Wats west. A damp squib of a sunrise followed, the sun not visible for 15 mins or so after sunrise time, a light disk in a grey cloudy sky. We wandered off quickly to explore the temple itself before the hoards had finished their coffees.

I've been mildly underwhelmed by some of the worlds great archeological sites from Pompeii to Delphi to Stone Henge and can now place Angkor Wat to that list. It's not that they aren't fantastic places, they are and should be on every traveller with a vague interest in histories list. It's just that the efforts to preserve them, present them to tourists a certain way, and of course endless busloads of Chinese and Russian tourists, have dampened the magic.

Unless you get your timing just right it's really hard to enjoy the best areas in peace, sit and contemplate the ruins, and things that happened there. You are continously buffeted by waves of snap happy punters, dodgy touts trying to sell you guided tours or impoverished urchins keen to sell you yet another set of postcards.

The management of sites is sometimes heavily to blame IMO. Ta Prohm, the famous Tomb Raider temple a key example, yes the juxtaposition of immense strangler figs and temples slowly being torn apart is spectacular but with wooden walkways, handrails, litter bins, scaffolds (to prevent further destruction) and sign posts having sprung up even in front of the most photogenic spots you don't find yourself saying 'wow that's amazing', more 'sod, why's that blasted handrail just there'.

Sometimes, slightly selfishly I like it when they accept something won't be there forever and allow you to enjoy something. Accepting that your presence will perhaps contribute to its slow destruction. Petra was perhaps the best example where it is possible to just wander off up random ancient staircases and have areas to yourself, for contemplation or even just a different viewpoint to the postcard norm.

An obvious choice but perhaps my favourite was the Bayon. Central to Angkor Thom this maze like temple features huge smiling faces on every side of every tower, pretty much, in my mind this would be a better choice for sunrise, albeit you wouldn't see the sunrise itself, in the hope that the hordes would all be otherwise engaged at Angkor Wat. Whilst rammed to the gills with tourists this was still a jaw dropping piece of architecture.

Jumping off on another rant it's one other aspect that perhaps means once is enough for me for Cambodia, glad to have visited, both impressed and saddened by the people and their history and definitely recommended to visit. However the feeling of being a walking ATM gets wearing. Every man, women and child on the tourist trail expert at wheedling, or downright pleading for the extra dollar or five wherever possible. And yes whilst we are far wealthier than the average local, and bought our fair share of postcards and tat, if we gave a metaphorical dollar to everyone that asked the travel budget would soon be gone.

Where you wander slightly off the main tourist path, the friendly passing children in towns where tourism isn't the key breadwinner, the chance conversation with the filling lady at the petrol station as she fills the tuk tuk etc. all reveal a much friendlier less shark like Cambodian to whom friendliness isn't just a technique for wallet raiding.

Well after 5 days due to some issues with Khmer new year transport, although this meant I caught the 3rd F1 race, off to Laos. 15hrs of Cambodian pop and a 5am start await.

Battambang and a bamboo train

Cambodia's second largest city, Battambang's atmosphere is the contrary to what you would expect after the craziness of Phnom Penh. Laid back and sleepy with quiet streets and low rise architecture it feels more market town then metropolis.

With my stomach still on the mend however a good place for a couple of days recuperation and a gentle tour of the main sites.

Most tourists visit three main attractions with the biggest draw being the famous bamboo railway. This ingenious use of old narrow guage french railway tracks was a useful form of transport for people and goods across the remaining rail network although seems more of a tourist concern nowadays. The stretch run for tourists controlled by a queuing system and police and attracting a $5 fee for the hour return trip.

The trains are simple but effective in constructuon. Essentially two axles placed on the track with a bamboo tray sitting on top.  A drive belt being looped between pullys on the rear axle and a tiny petrol engine bolted to the bamboo. This means the whole train can be lifted off the track in approximately 20 seconds to allow a train passing the other way through.

The trains rattle along at a fair lick, 20-30mph and rules for who gets off the track in a head on situation pretty much seem to follow some basic rules. Firstly load of each train, the less people and goods the easier to get out the way, secondly number of trains in each direction, one would make way for two, and finally in an even contest direction of travel. With only two of us aboard we ended up making way every time, about 8 times. A fun journey however.

The second stop for the day was the Angkor era temple of Banan. Necessitating a steep slog uphill you are afforded a great view of the surrounding countryside. The crumbling temple remains follow the 5 tower structure common to this era, and Angkor Wat itself, with some nice carvings still in places.

The final stop was to the killing caves. Like many of the killing fields throughout the country now shrines to the dead. The caves themselves beautiful limestone caverns which had the executed thrown in. A drop of perhaps 60ft in the main cave, which as well as a shrine of bones features a large reclining buddha, carefully washed and maintained by a local monk. The smiling buddha in some ways incongruous with the bloody history of the place but perfectly adding a calm and reverent air.

With the big Cambodian draw of Angkor Wat next on the list, we booked our bus and headed north east to Siem Reap.

Phnom Penh

The journey by bus to Phnom Penh proved longer then expected and not a lot of fun as I started to become slightly feverish. However we made it ok and after a bit of haggling with the swarm of pushy tuk tuk drivers at the bus station headed for our first hotel in the Monivong West area. Tbh we were not particularly keen on this area despite guidebook recommendations and opted to move the next day. We found the central area near the national monument more pleasant.

After an afternoon feeling grotty, fever and headache, I felt up for a stroll to find a restaurant and we ended up at the well known Romdeng. Run by a charity called Friends the restaurant trains street children for the hospitality industry and offered super service and lovely food. Although suffering a bit the fish Amok, a Khmer curry, was excellent. Em's salad choice was generously portioned and very tasty.

The next day brought a twist to my ailment, fever fully abating, but being replaced with digestive issues. This was later potentially diagnosed as Cryptosporidiosis with a trusty bit of internet self diagnosis, and with an Aussie doctor friend we met agreeing this could be a possibility. Likely place of infection being the jungle trek which supported likely incubation timescales and also discovering my water purification tablets used on jungle water do not prevent this. With rehydration and recuperation the key to recovery we would take it fairly easy for the next few days. This parasitic bug typically passing after several days.

After a gentle start for obvious reasons we visited both the Grand Palace and Silver Pagoda. Whilst slightly less impressive than the Thai equivalent the palace was still a spectacular piece of architecture. The Silver Pagoda's key differentiator its solid silver floor tiles. Expecting gleaming solid bars, in reality these felt a little more like an industrial tin floor beneath the feet. It was here we met Steve, the aussie doctor, and Lorna who we enjoyed drinks and dinner with, the next couple of days. Albeit taking it a bit gentle on the food for me knowing eating still produced abdominal pains and more nightly trips to the porcelain bicycle.

We also had the pleasure of meeting up again with our Irish friend Jamie from earlier in the trip. The next day we jumped in a tuk tuk together with Jamie and his friend Patrick, $15 for the day's hire, and made the necessary but sobering trip to the killing fields and S-21 prison.

These two grim and historic sites are inextricably linked. When the Khmer Rouge fought its way to power in 1975 it began a brutal programme of restrucuring the country into an agricultural based cooperative. This extreme maoist ideology resulting in the death of 1-3 million Cambodians. Amoung these 20,000 being detained and tortured in S-21 before night time transportation to Cheong Ek killing field and a brutal death.

Our first stop was the killing field. Strangely serene this national monument to the atrocities includes a memorial pagoda displaying tiered shelves of victims bones unearthed from the mass graves on site. A sober and reflective site which takes the visitor on an excellent audio tour of the sites graves and workings. In places bones surface in the path beneath your feet and remind of the recency and brutality of all that happened here. An essential visit revealing the nations deep scars and attempts to reconcile and heal albeit not a lot of fun.

The afternoon saw us back in town at S-21. A school prior to the Khmer Rouge ascendancy, prison would be a slight misnomer. S-21 was more  torture centre where political prisoners and others were held whilst confessions were extracted. It's a strange feeling place. The layout and wide stairwells consistent with schools the world over you could imagine childrens voices echoing up the stair wells. However stepping into the first rooms you encounter the true horror of the place.

With a single original photo blown up on the wall of a classroom you are presented with a steel bed and shackles in the centre. The photo illustrating the position of the dead final prisoners found chained to these beds. Killed just before the captors fled advancing Vietnamese liberation fighters.

Victims passing through the complex were kept in brick or wooden cells in another school block. In other blocks all were photographed and confessions archived. Reading some of these confessions was eerie. All were extracted repeatedly under torture until they hit the right note with the prison authorities, usually admitting treasonous activities against the wonderful regime.

One that particularly struck a cord was of Australian David Lloyd Scott. Alongside other westerners Scott, 32 years old, was in a sailing yacht which strayed into Democratic Kampuchea waters. Arrested, tortured and murdered under the pretence that he and the rest of the crew were CIA spys.

Whilst every victim of the Khmer Rouge regime is just as tragic the fact that it is so easy to relate to someone like yourself in some way made his story hit hard. The rest of the crew including Brit John Dawson Dewhurst all met the same cruel fate. Young guys on an adventure sucked into something unimaginably awful.

Also notable was the disregard held for the the innocence of children. Brutal treatment and death were not withheld, with the regime extolling the removal of the roots as well as the grass of opposition.

Trials are still ongoing for some members of the regime. One of the saddest things surrounding this whole dark chapter in the worlds history is how little the international community did to prevent the killing and even assist in the fall of the regime. The UN even affording the Khmer Rouge the Cambodian seat in the UN. Geopolitics and national interests over riding humanity. It was the Vietnamese army who finally brought about the fall of the regime in 1979 although pockets of Khmer Rouge fighters lived on in the jungles in the west well into the nineties.

Next stop Battambang.

Sinoukeville - Cambodia's diving capital

Sinoukeville is holidaying Cambodia's primary beach spot. With sweeping beaches and a well developed tourist infrastructure it's a town heavily shaped by tourism. And it's not all good, the touristy strip around Serendipity beach is not somewhere you visit for a touch of tropical paradise but offers a big night out. Lines of rickety establishments, squeezing ever closer, and a litter strewn beach.

Around Serendipity are the concentration of Cambodias dive shops, and offshore the true tropical paradises of the surrounding islands offer the real draw.

We chose to stay down at Otres beach. A $4 tuk tuk ride from Serendipity, far quieter and cleaner. After a scout about we ended up in Done right bungalows. Little concrete igloos remeniscent of the opening scenes in Star Wars. Light and airy and featuring friendly and chatty staff a great option. Food here was also tasty and in generous portions, with tasty Swedish dishes alongside local fare, due to Swedish owners. You even got a portion of Lingonberry to go with the rosti which made us happy. Small things after two months of rice.

After a few days of relaxing here, including some additional hammock time we decided to sample some Cambodian Scuba. After serious deliberation Em decided to join the dive trip but only as a snorkler. She is contemplating the full Open Water Padi course but wanted a bit more time to consider. We chose an overnight trip with 5 dives for me and some good snorkeling for Em. Scuba nation was our choice of operator, Cambodia's oldest, and with a good reputation.

The trip itself proved excellent. Not knowing how Cambodia's diving would measure up I was pleasantly suprised. Dives were fairly shallow, 5-16m, but packed in great condition corals, huge barrel sponges and a profusion of marine life. With a mild current running most dives had a pleasant drift feel, the shallow depth, and lack of effort required allowing long 1hr plus dives covering a lot of ground. Notable marine life presences for me included some not spotted on my Thai dives, many blue spotted rays and Barracuda. A big pair of 1.5m lenght particularly impressive. A coral cat shark was also a new sight for me.

Em also spotted some barracuda snorkelling as well as a wealth of new fish for her including inquisative bat fish and friendly remora which would detach from the boat and latch onto a diver or snorkeller. Tickly and a bit of a suprise when you didn't expect something to suddenly latch to your back.

I was also lucky to get a night dive in. As the only certified diver on the boat, I was joined by the instructor and a dive master. With a stong current now racing through this was challenging to start, juggling a torch and just trying to stay close to the guys in the current for the first 5 minutes. After flying over the edge of the reef at a rate of knots trying not to get urchined, the spiny critters were everywhere, like cartoon sea mines waiting for the unwary, we ducked around the point of the island and into slack water. A great dive. Phosporescence and small shrimp everywhere.

Overall whilst Cambodian diving would probably not rank with the worlds best it is certainly well comparable with Thailand, perhaps the more flung Similan islands diving aside, with better condition reefs, fewer divers and less overfishing impact. Vis was a perfectly acceptable 6-10m. As a bonus it was also slightly cheaper than Thailand.

With diving over with it was now time to say goodbye to the sea and beaches and strike out inland. With the hot season in full swing a cooling dip will definately be missed.

Koh Kong, border scams, beaches and a few more leeches

Our journey to Cambodia began with an early start and mini bus to the Cambodian border from Koh Chang. After a longer than expected 4hr ride to the border due to a undetermined boat issue we arrived at Hat Lek. Steeling ourselves for the onslaught of dodgy touts and scams the guidebook assured us were prevelent we stamped out of Thailand and into no mans land.

Swerving the first unecessary service offered, that of wheeling our bags 100m over the border, we strode quickly past the Quarantine office, a bona fida scam, with a firm no and into immigration. Despite being situated next to the immigration office the authorities seem quite happy for tourists to pay the fee for an unnecessary quarantine form and health check.

The immigration office is of course not much ber, despite the official tourist visa costing $20, routinely extorting 12-1400 hunded thai baht for a visa (£30 to £35). Despite the stern faced police women telling the previous person in the queue "Thai Baht only" we managed to get away with a $25 fee which felt like a minor result. Extra costs 3 and 4 semi dodged (3 is for a tout to fill in the visa form on your behalf).

Feeling pleased at not having our wallets totally emptied however we tripped at the last hurdle, not incurring cost, but falling for the oldest trick in the book, and one we had both read about. Our friendly tuk tuk driver with excellent English and unpushy demeanor, telling us the hotel we intended to used had closed, and dropping us a block away at another, the Apex Hotel. We had a look at the rooms and to be fair they were clean, air conditioned, with en suite, TV, hotel pool and reasonable rates we checked in. Needless to say we kicked ourselves later when we strode past our normally functioning original intended hotel however were not too bothered.

Activities in Koh Kong center around two key attractions, trips to unspoilt Koh Kong island and Jungle treks in the southern Cardomans. We arranged both through Cambodia Eco tours. Koh Kong town itself offering little for the tourist, more a dusty collection of streets and local commerce insulated from the sea by a swathe of ramshackle fisherman's stilted houses and boats.

The island trip was slightly disappointing, not due to the tour company specifically, but due to rubbish on the beach, and not very good snorkelling, however was still an enjoyable trip, the staff both friendly and bbq'ing an excellent barracuda lunch for us on the beach. A pit stop at the large mangrove forest adjacent to Koh Kong on the return journey was nice to see, however the tourist walkway was in a state of disrepair and lacking informative signing or information.

The second trip, an overnight jungle trek in the Southern Cardomens was lots of fun and well worth it although we have a feeling the area of jungle trekked was a small corner of the forest, more chosen for easy access than flora and fauna. Our twisty path never affording viewpoints of the mountains although offering a rarely trodden feel, plenty of Indiana Jones esque leech excitement and dense jungle feel. The highlight was also a night spent in hammocks next to a small waterfall, the jungle noises coming alive around us, and waterfall pool offering a cooling dip after a hot day's trekking.

The Cardamons are still largely little trodden, offering a refuge to dwindling bands of Khmer rouge fighters as recently as the nineties. A place would definitely recommend, slightly regretting not detouring to Chi Fat, a village deeper in the forest which offers more spectacular trekking, boat rides and authentic Cambodian village experience.

Our next stop was to be Sinoukeville, centre of Cambodia's beach attractions, and after shopping around a $7 and 4 hour bus ride way, again through the helpful Mr Ritthy at Cambodian Eco tours.

Of note Cambodian tuk tuks differ significantly from Thai. Whilst Thai ones are of a one piece construction and quite light and nippy the cambodian ones are basically  large motorcycle trailors. Slower and heavier than the Thai equivalent, typically using 125 or 150cc rattly old fashioned looking bikes of indeterminate origin.

Koh Chang and a beach wedding

Accessible in a short hop from the mainland Koh Chang is situated in Thailand's south eastern corner and Thailand's second largest island. A mountainous and jungly island, with a selection of nice beaches to choose from. We stayed at White Sand Beach, the main wedding party in the beaches main resort and wedding venue, us opting for the cheaper Pens Bungalows 200m up the beach, and approximately 5% of the cost.

With the key focus of our visit being the wedding, not sure how many of those will attend in Thai fisherman's trousers, we didn't do much touring of the island, happy to enjoy some proper down time. Congrats to Sam and Nina and thanks for having us for the big day.

Our next stop Cambodia and specifically Koh Kong, but first to negotiate the Hat Lek - Cham Yeam border crossing, renowned for hidden fees and scams.

Bangkok and a tuk tuk or two

We arrived at Bangkok station early in the morning. Well 8 ish. Negotiating the ranks of taxi's and tuk tuk drivers we hopped aboard the Thai metro system and headed over to the Sukhamvit area. This is where our friends over for a wedding were staying and as we were invited to the stag and hen do's this was easier to organise than commutes between here and the usual backpacker ghetto of the Koi San road.

We opted to spend our first night at the Atlanta hotel situated on Sukhamvit Soi 2. Sukhamvit, Bangkok's longest street, has a huge number of smaller streets or Sois branching off. With the wedding party situated on Soi 11 a 10 minute walk away. The Atlanta is largely unchanged

since the 50's and features a nice pool, well priced restaurant and somewhat surly staff. The next day we moved to the Grand President where the others stayed, nice enough but a bit over budget for more than a couple of days for us.

The main focus of our Bangkok stay was of course pre wedding celebrations, won't go into too much on that! In order to look a bit more the part we whipped over to Platinum fashion mall. Jumping aboard our first tuk tuk of the trip we sped through Bangkok's busy streets weaving between cars and benefitting from the diminutive size of the tuk tuk. Our driver trying the usual patter of offering a discount for taking a pit stop at a friendly tailor, which we politely rebuffed.

Platinum mall is a sprawling place, full to brim of small shops peddling clothes of all shapes sizes for wholesale or retail at keen prices. The rub is many of the stores do not allow you to try on the clothes or return them, which made Em and Jo's task of sourcing hen do clothes more tricky. However they successfully negotiated some suitable purchases, as did I.

The next day we navigated the usual hen and stag shenanigans in one piece, with avoidance of ladyboys, facial tattoes and other potential disasters successfully achieved! Some images I may never successfully erase from my mind however.

The other highlight of our stay was meeting up with Em's dads old university friend Chai. Chai kindly fed us lots of food and took us on a tour of the city with his driver and travel companion Tong, as well as regaling us with interesting stories about David's university days and travels. We are of course tremendously grateful to Chai for charting us a successful course through the swelling tide of Chinese tourists and adding essential insight to our tour. And of course it was a lot of fun as well just relaxing with a cold beer and chatting to Chai and also one evening with Oak, Chai's son, who Em last saw a good 15 years ago.

As well as enjoying such sights as the spectacular reclining Buddha at Wat Po, the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace we also visited a fascinating exhibition showcasing Royal Thrones and other works commissioned for Royal Jubilees. One of the most striking features was the extensive use of irradescent green beetles wings, delicately inlaid into wood and gold panels with painstaking precision. One of the queens projects to grow traditional craftsmenship the works were impressive and help maintain traditional skills albeit posed the question of "blimey how much did this all cost?"

Chai also treated us to some time in the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, with it's racecourse, golf course, and polo fields, complete with veritable condiminiums for the horses a perfect place to escape the maddening hordes. The club is somewhat of a closed shop, membership being hereditory, so not something usually available for tourists.

We had now had invites kindly extended to Sam and Nina's wedding so hitching a lift with West Virginian expat and Sam's friend Mark, we all sped off down to Koh Chang for the wedding, as luck would have it en route for us for our next country Cambodia.

Tuk tuk fact for our disgruntled home counties readers: The name tuk tuk is onamatapeic, deriving from the sound of the two stroke engines originally used.

Bangkok and a tuk tuk or two

We arrived at Bangkok station early in the morning. Well 8 ish. Negotiating the ranks of taxi's and tuk tuk drivers we hopped aboard the Thai metro system and headed over to the Sukhamvit area. This is where our friends over for a wedding were staying and as we were invited to the stag and hen do's this was easier to organise than commutes between here and the usual backpacker ghetto of the Koi San road.

We opted to spend our first night at the Atlanta hotel situated on Sukhamvit Soi 2. Sukhamvit, Bangkok's longest street, has a huge number of smaller streets or Sois branching off. With the wedding party situated on Soi 11 a 10 minute walk away. The Atlanta is largely unchanged

since the 50's and features a nice pool, well priced restaurant and somewhat surly staff. The next day we moved to the Grand President where the others stayed, nice enough but a bit over budget for more than a couple of days for us.

The main focus of our Bangkok stay was of course pre wedding celebrations, won't go into too much on that! In order to look a bit more the part we whipped over to Platinum fashion mall. Jumping aboard our first tuk tuk of the trip we sped through Bangkok's busy streets weaving between cars and benefitting from the diminutive size of the tuk tuk. Our driver trying the usual patter of offering a discount for taking a pit stop at a friendly tailor, which we politely rebuffed.

Platinum mall is a sprawling place, full to brim of small shops peddling clothes of all shapes sizes for wholesale or retail at keen prices. The rub is many of the stores do not allow you to try on the clothes or return them, which made Em and Jo's task of sourcing hen do clothes more tricky. However they successfully negotiated some suitable purchases, as did I.

The next day we navigated the usual hen and stag shenanigans in one piece, with avoidance of ladyboys, facial tattoes and other potential disasters successfully achieved! Some images I may never successfully erase from my mind however.

The other highlight of our stay was meeting up with Em's dads old university friend Chai. Chai kindly fed us lots of food and took us on a tour of the city with his driver and travel companion Tong, as well as regaling us with interesting stories about David's university days and travels. We are of course tremendously grateful to Chai for charting us a successful course through the swelling tide of Chinese tourists and adding essential insight to our tour. And of course it was a lot of fun as well just relaxing with a cold beer and chatting to Chai and also one evening with Oak, Chai's son, who Em last saw a good 15 years ago.

As well as enjoying such sights as the spectacular reclining Buddha at Wat Po, the Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace we also visited a fascinating exhibition showcasing Royal Thrones and other works commissioned for Royal Jubilees. One of the most striking features was the extensive use of irradescent green beetles wings, delicately inlaid into wood and gold panels with painstaking precision. One of the queens projects to grow traditional craftsmenship the works were impressive and help maintain traditional skills albeit posed the question of "blimey how much did this all cost?"

Chai also treated us to some time in the Royal Bangkok Sports Club, with it's racecourse, golf course, and polo fields, complete with veritable condiminiums for the horses a perfect place to escape the maddening hordes. The club is somewhat of a closed shop, membership being hereditory, so not something usually available for tourists.

We had now had invites kindly extended to Sam and Nina's wedding so hitching a lift with West Virginian expat and Sam's friend Mark, we all sped off down to Koh Chang for the wedding, as luck would have it en route for us for our next country Cambodia.

Tuk tuk fact for our disgruntled home counties readers: The name tuk tuk is onamatapeic, deriving from the sound of the two stroke engines originally used.

Koh Phayam, faith restored

If Koh Phi Phi left the sour taste of overdevelopment, Koh Phayam brought the sweet relief that not everwhere is the same. We took the slow boat option from Ranong, cheaper than the speedboat a leisurely 2.5 hour trip cruised through unspoilt islands before docking in Phayam.

We decided to head to long beach, offering a range of bungalow options and the promise of some lazy hammock swinging days. The first mini adventure was getting there. The island is car free so the only viable option is a motorbike taxi. With bags perched between the legs of the driver and us perched perilously behind, our bikes took off at a fair lick causing a suitable degree of buttock clenching terror. My bike whipping past Em's and into the distance, low hanging branches causing some scary moments as my helmetless head sat clear above the drivers, however we made it in one piece and sought out suitable accomodation.

For 500 baht per night we secured a nice bungalow at Coconut resort with a suitable balcony for hammock stringing and set about relaxing! A Thai dye, geddit, hammock was procured from a local shop for this purpose.

We had also made a new friend on the boat, Astrid from Germany, who was cycling from Bangkok to Singapore. It was especially nice for Em to have some female company to chat womenly things with. Her tales of the journey to date making cycling sound a good option for a future trip.

Long beach offered what we'd been after, nice accomodation with a beach front location, and a nice balance of small local run restaurants and bars, which melted into the palm fringed shore rather than jutting too obstrusively onto the beach.

Other than 1 day of diving the majority of the time was spent swimming, snorkelling and kicking back. On the dive day I set out at 6am for the dive shop and a 4 hour boat road to the Surin Islands. After some deliberation on our part Em opted to spend the day with Astrid, cycling around the island, the diving option being very expensive due to the long boat trip, around £140. In Em's relatively newbie diver status this was a lot for another intro dive.

A real untouched tropical paradise the Surin islands offer some of Thailand's best diving. Our dive sites, either side of a tiny rocky island, proved excellent. The first dive offered me the highlight of a banded krait, sea snake, gently gliding through the corals. The second amongst a jumble of huge coral boulders, a large octopus changing colour amongst the rocks.

Meanwhile Em and Astrid completed a cycle tour of the island. Em's rickety bike proved interesting with iffy brakes on narrow roads and the odd steep descent. They explored the island's buddhist temples and shrines learning a bit about buddhist life along the way.

With a rendezvous with friends in Bangkok drawing near we donned packs and began our journey saying good bye to Astrid and the delightful Koh Phayam.

Ranong Visa run

As anybody who has backpacked in Thailand will know the on arrival visas are limited to 30 days for flying arrivals and 15 days for overland arrivals. There are two options for extending this, either paying for a visa extension or crossing a border. With our 15 days expiring we opted for the latter.

As luck would have it charting a course from Phi Phi to a visa run to Bangkok via another island is quite a straigtforward route. We originally decided to go to Ranong for the visa, borders with Myanmar/Burma, then onwards to Chumphon and Koh Tao, a popular diving destination. This would allow us to double back to Chumphon and an overnight train to Bangkok to meet some friends, Jo and Jason, Paul and Plai, for stag/hen related shenanigans on the 16th.

The visa run is fairly straightforward, get to Ranong Pier, charter a boat to Myanmar, stamp out of Thailand, arrive and stamp into Myanmar and return to Thailand. You need  passport photocopy and $10 US in mint condition. A $20 was fine for the two of us. The will sell a $10 bill at the pier for a very poor exchange rate so aquire in advance. It should be possible to complete all this for less than 400tb, plus the dollers, however we payed a little more for an organised trip wanting the quickest option.

There's not much else to Ranong, we stayed at the Kiwi guesthouse which was very friendly and cheap, the owner being an arch sales women will help with organising anything, for a fee of course, although other than our visa run we organised our own onwards travel to make a saving. With a last minute change of plan we opted to travel from Ranong to Koh Phayam, reputedly one of the least developed Thai Islands and hopefully offering the quiet slice of island life seemingly harder to find nowadays.

Koh Phi Phi, paradise pretty much lost

We picked our way through throngs of reddening europeans, packing Koh Lipe's main beach, then took a dip in clear waters, clear enough to reveal some rather unsavoury items bobbing gently across the sand. It was clear Phi Phi was not the island for us. Whilst we kind of knew this already we decided it was still worth a view, as the development won't rewind and a day trip to 'The Beach' is kind of a tourist trail must do.

Accomodation on the island was clearly much pricier than other places we'd stayed. However we managed to bag a clean and fairly modern room for 700tb which featured poolside bar and free wifi, about the cheapest available.

Signing up for half day tour by longtail boat of the main tourist spots the next day we packed on said boat and our whistlestop tour began. First monkey beach for 5 minutes, litter strewn, and featuring a small clutch of monkeys who would run off with tourists water bottles, drain the contents and leave them in the sand, the same tourists not worrying about retrieving the empty bottle.

Next up a fly past Viking Cave. Featuring cave paintings, landing is not allowed I think due to it's importance to nesting swiftlets, and therefore birds nest collectors. The cave appeared well decked out with the bamboo trellises and ladders of bird nesters.

Birds nests are big business. One of the only things more lucrative than tourism and therefore taking priority. With the saliva based nests commanding thousands per kilo armed guards patrol important nesting sites and you don't mess with these guys. Reputedly political and police connections mean things also come down very much on the nesters side if there is troble.

With the long tail loaded down with twenty punters we couldn't enter any of the shallow snorkeling spots, so headed to Maya beach, setting for the film adaptation of Alex Garlands late 90s best seller, The Beach.                                 Undoubtedly beautiful at least 20 boats of differing sizes filled the bay. The snorkelling was also pretty good. As we have found in Thailand generally damaged corals being some what made up for by quantity and variation in fish life.

So with our brief visit over we headed to Ranong and the practicalities of a visa run. Our 15 day Thai visa's nearing their end. It's a long days travel from Phi Phi, a 2 hour ferry to Phuket followed by a 5 hour bus but not expensive, self organised the journey costing around 400TB each.

p.s. man from surrey - still no tuk tuks, but more gin.

Snakes on the pan, Krabi

We arrived in Krabi late in the afternoon, Ao Nang to be precise. A developed tourist town with not a lot going for it beyond offering the gateway to the beautiful Ton Sai and Railay areas, both famous climbing areas.

We decided to stay at the less developed Ton Sai, which still offers a nice range of accommodation and restaurants but a suitably rustic feel. Our first night was a bit too rustic, a bamboo hut with a caved in wall and a mosquito net more holy than the vatican. We subsequently moved the next morning to a slightly less rustic hut albeit one with a panapoly of wildlife thrown in. Highlights included a small toad, mouse, numerous geckos, the ubiquitous mossies and a snake, all in the 'bathroom'. This constituted  toilet + hose although we fashioned a showerhead from a travel size shampoo bottle.

The snake was the most entertaining visitor. Em screeched something about a snake on my toothbrush and low and behold a small black snake was gliding along the base of the bamboo wall. My attempts to shoo it away sadly ended with it lodging itself in the wall behind the toilet whilst we (me and snake) both eyed each other suspiciously. Needless to say this made Em a bit nervous whilst on the bog. I reassured her it was more interested in our other visitors than her bum.

The main draw of the Krabi area for me was the climbing. World famous, steep limestone cliffs, festooned with tufa systems and stalagites thrust up either side of Ton Sai and Railay and will necessitate a proper climbing trip at some point however I contented myself with some bouldering, and a deep water soloing trip.

The deep water soloing was a fun day trip organised by the Base Camp climbing shop in Tonsai. The format was  a trip to the first crag, lunch and a snorkel on the beach and a few more hours at another. The first crag offered a range of routes, french grades, from 5 on up. The second crag offered a stiffer proposition with the easiest route finishing at about 40ft. Opting out of this jump, i took the wussy downclimb option limiting falls/jumps to 25ft or so. The only person in the group opting to take the big jump putting her back out. However a range of routes/traverses up to 6b gave my arms plenty enough workout and only a minor salt water enema when forgot to clench buttocks on landing.

Em opted for a day spent relaxing including her first Thai massage of the trip. Whilst appropriately painful, highlights included the thai lady sitting on her whilst flicking out muscle knots with her knuckles , she did seem more upright and to enjoy the experience. We've also been recommended a world leading blind masseure in Chiang Mai to go to work on Em's various back issues.

We also took a stroll to Railay beach, however decided to stay on the Ton Sai side as Railay was much more developed, even featuring an ATM, the beaches festooned with large and sunburnt Europeans. Still a spectacular and beautiful place however.

Lowlight was our second beach bungalows proximity to the beach. This may seem counterintuituve however with one of the beach bars booming out tunes at nightclub level until 2am, despite being empty, a good nights sleep, even with ear plugs, was impossible. Grumpy old man hat firmly on!

So we moved to the excellent Pasook Bungalows up the hill 5 minutes. As well as being clean, comfortable and spacious for the same price, they were situated beneath a nice looking crag and Em even spotted a gibbon whilst I was on my climbing trip.

After 5 nights then onwards to Phi Phi. Although we were planning to skip Phi Phi it offers an outwardly preferable stop gap on our Visa run to Ranong than Phuket. The boat from Krabi to Phi Phi was organised in Ton Sai for 400tb (£8) each including longtail to the ferry.

Koh Lipe

Home to the Chao ley, sea gypsies rehomed from Phuket, this small crescenct shaped island hunkers down in clear turquoise waters beneath its bigger sister Koh Adang.

As part of a marine national park, development is limited on all other islands but Koh Lipe has suffered slightly from over development. Not that it isn't still a home to beautiful beaches, teems with marine life, and proffers a relaxed go easy vibe. A wander inland, not that there is much inland, hides a little too much rubbish, a few too many tourist bungalow construction sites and even motorbikes zipping around. However you spin it though still a beautiful and relaxing place to spend a few days.

We stayed 4 nights in airy and pleasant bamboo huts for around 800baht (£16), Lipe Beach resort and Varin Village for 2 nights each. Our preference being the first although we moved to save some money by taking a 3 bed bungalow in the latter with Jamie, Erlend having said his goodbyes and headed to Krabi.

As to be expected more relaxing on the beach followed. The Pattaya beach side where the long tail boats abound and biggest bars sit, whilst naturally beautiful, is too busy to be ideal for daytime relaxation so we located on the sunrise beach side. With clearer waters and better snorkelling much nicer and just a 5 minute walk over the island.

Koh Lipe also afforded us the opportunity to enjoy some diving. For me to pick up a few more dives being already certified and Em to give it a go for the first time. Em opted for a Padi intro to Scuba and me 3 dives with Koh Lipe Divers. Situated half way down 'Walk Street' they were keen to reassure Em and proved happy to work through any concerns with her.

As it happened Em completed her dives, time spent practising core exercises in shallow water helping build confidence and was happy to see her calmly swimming past on the first dive alongside her instructor. Lipe is not an ideal destination for those seeking the big stuff, sharks, barracuda etc. however offers some great macro life. Highlights for me included sea horses, pipe fish, a large stone fish and some moray types had not see before. Em's were lionfish, porcupine fish, lots of anemome fish (nemos), christmas tree worms and barrel sponges.

We decided to head off to Krabi on the ferry although the slightly misleading trip sold as a ferry all the way to Krabi with Tigerline ferries turned out to be a 2.5 hour ferry ride to trang, confusing wait where people didn't really know what was going on and finally another 2.5 hours on a minibus to Krabi. Given buying the combo speed boat and minibus journey is cheaper to start with more recommended than our trip.

From Krabi, it's 15kms to Ao Nang and a 100 baht for a long tail boat to Ton Sai our next stop.

Langkawi, Malaysia

Our first taste of the beach and warm waters of the Andaman sea came in Langkawi. Duty free since the eighties, Langkawi is a favourite holiday destination for tourists and Malaysians alike. With fine white sandy beaches, heaps of restaurants and even an airport this is not quite a secluded tropical paradise although pleasant and relaxed. Whilst certainly a worthwhile destination in its own right, not up there with the best of Thai beach destinations.

We stayed at the Rainbow Lodge, 5 minutes from the beach and offering air-con, en-suite  doubles for 80MR (£16). A minor bit of a treat. Activities on the island primarily evolve around the beach and watersports of which we partook although the snorkelling direct off the main beach was poor, both cloudy and lacking features. However not a bad place for Em to practice.

Our most interesting day was centred around hiring scooters for a trip around the island. Although we would certainly baulk at scooter hire in anywhere busy, Langkawi's smooth tarmac roads, almost traffic free off the main drag, made this the cheapest and best way to see the island. Jumping on three bikes, newly made friends Jamie and Erlend on the other two, we headed off. With the cable car, to the islands high point closed, due to wind, the journey itself was the highlight, especially enjoying the smooth winding road to Langkawi's other high point, a cool and relaxing climb through monkey and bird rich rainforest.

As well as plenty of beach bumming, the food on Langkawi provided some hidden delights. An evening spent wandering a small local night market which shifts around the island offering a feast for two for 16RM (£3 ish). Crunchy spring rolls, tasty stuffed murtabak bread, barbequed whole squid and smoky satay all featuring. With a desert of coconut coated rice balls hiding a sweet cane sugar syrup centre providing the dessert. After dinner drinks in the Babylon bar, with its beach front real estate, mats nestled around coffee tables in the sand, cheap beer and house band reggae was a popular way to end our Malaysia leg.

Em and I, as well as Jamie and Erlend boarded a speed boat for our first taste of Thailand courtesy of Koh Lipe.

Georgetown, Penang. Malaysia's foodie heaven

Heading over the bridge from the mainland Georgetown loomed unexpectedly large. Expecting a town akin to Melaka in size in appearance, populations are similar at around 750,000, Georgetown had a much more highrise and sprawling aspect. Maybe as previously mentioned the fact that the Brits allowed Melaka's importance to wane

Consulting a map though most of the old city and major sites of interest sit within a protected old quarter, which you can walk across in 15 minutes.

One of Georgetown's key attractions is of course the food. Promoted by many as the best in Malaysia my personal highlight was the Mee Goreng, fried noodles, in a spicy tomatoey sauce with crispy squid bits. Another favourite being a breakfast which we enjoyed in a local food market. This consisted of rice cubes and egg fried with some vegetables and and was delicious.

Also worth a few trips was the local hawker center, the Red Market. This offered a huge range of dishes accompanied by local singing talent belting out western hits with a Malay twang. The crispy duck and pork was pretty good here although we failed to try the frog porridge.

In terms of sights probably the highlight for us was the Blue Mansion. Featuring in the Oscar winning french film Indochine. The mansion is an impressively styled house built by the Asian Rockefeller 'Cheong Fatt Tse' and completed in 1888. Arriving as a penniless 16 year old he rose to become one of the last Mandarins and one of Asias most important businessmen. The house is built to precise Feng Shui (sic)  calculations from the airwell helping energy to flow to the drainage and floor tile configuration.

We also saw some impressive colonial architecture and the interesting Clan jetties where a fishing and trading community live poised over the harbour on stilted houses.

However with a hankering for the beach strong we boarded the 8.30am ferry for our next destination and last in Malaysia, Langkawi.

Strawberries, tea and trekking

Arriving in the Cameron Highlands brought some relief from the oppressive humidity of the jungle. The Cameron Highlands are perhaps Malaysias coolest areas with the temperature hovering around low 20s. As a result they offer the ideal climate for vegetable and tea growing. The activities on offer largely revolve around these activities.

Our first day saw us take on a butterfly and strawberry farm. Whilst the butterfly farm did allow us to see a range of small life up close some of the enclosures for the animals/insects/arachnids etc. left a bit to be desired. For example the scorpian area featured a selection of dead scorpians alongside the living. The rabbits also seemed to have nasty case of mange!

The strawberry farm didn't seem worth much time as strawberry picking, and eating, is not exactly unfamiliar to brits. However a quick pit stop for a strawberry juice and slice of strawberry cake proved entertainingly kitsch. The slightly shabby cafe with an electronic version of jingle bells on repeat and roadside stalls offering everything strawberry from doormats to dried strawbs, baby gros to ear muffs.

Not sounding too inspiring so far, although actually being in the cooler climate and schlepping around tourist attractions was quite relaxing. A wander round the Sun Poh Buddhist temple next. An impressive temple, with some giant golden buddhas and plenty of devotees making offerings was worthwhile.

Food in Tanah Rata, the main backpacker stop was pretty good. Southern Indian food popular, with banana leaf meals around 8Mr (£1.50). These consisted of rice, some dhal, coconut veg, a samosa, popadu
ms, yoghurt, herbal soup and lime pickle plus a dish of choice. Breakfasts again revolving around Roti and accompanying Dhal.

The following day we had planned a longer walk, to climb the highest local peak however Em was a bit under the weather with a cold so we opted for a shorter walk up the closest peak to Tanah Rata. This turned out a bit longer then expected, and the paths steep and muddy however we made it via the odd altercation with thorn bushes and just the 1 leech. Of note the trails are fairly narrow and overgrown.

The next day and with onwards travel to Penang booked in the afternoon we took in  perhaps the most popular tourist attraction. A visit to a tea plantation, visiting the Boh Sungais Palas estate. A standard trip revolves around a tour of the factory and tea overlooking some stunning views of the plantation. Tea making in nut shell seems to constitute: picking, semi drying (withering), crushing, fermenting, grading then drinking.

Onwards then to Penang!

The ancient Taman Negara

Malaysia's Taman Negara is said to be the worlds oldest at 150million years old. Kuala Tahan is the usual base for tourists and home to the Park office.

We based ourselves at the Durian chalets, a 5 minute walk from the village centre. A basic but clean and comfortable chalet with an en suite shower and loo, albeit a squat one, which set us back only 40mr per night. (£8)

The village itself is in two halfs, split by a wide and fast river. The far bank to us offering the posher tourist resort and entrance point to most of the hiking trails. A boat across on demand costs 1mr per person. It's essential to bring all currency as no atms are available and small notes are useful. In order to get our bearings we also signed up to a package of intro tours including the canopy walk, a river trip and visit to a local Orang Asli, Original people, tribe.

In pouring rain and with the canopy walk closed we opted to go for a walk ourselves, Em wisely donning her leech socks and me tucking socks into my trousers. In or after heavy rains the little blighters emerge like hyperactive slinkies, homing in on anything with comical intensity. As Em will testify my first demonstration of their homing abilities saw one latch onto my finger with vigourous intent. So much for waving a finger just out of reach.

The park maps are tad basic however we managed to walk a suitable loop and were fortunate to see some creatures including: a few wild boar which crashed out of the undergrowth 10 yards away, looked as shocked as us and disappeared before I could reach for my camera, a big but dead scorpian, a sambar deer and most impressively a small snake of about 1m which turned out to be a Blue Malaysian Coral Snake (photo not mine as mine were rubbish). Beautifully blue striped down its sides with a distinctive red head and tail. The snake slowly and quietly moved off allowing us to watch it from a couple of metres. This one is deadly venemous so I restrained Emma from going all Steve Irwin on it.

Em was the eagle eyes who seemed to spot everything first. She also seemed to attract leeches like a pork pie in a weight loss camp although by virtue of the leech socks avoided any successful attacks. We both removed several trying to find clear skin although I missed one which presumably had its fill and dropped off leaving just a bloody smudge on my calf. Probably for the better as the bites heal better if the leech leaves of its own volition.

The afternoon was clearer so we completed the first half of our tour. Firstly a fast ride up river in a traditonal long Malay boat with a whopping great outboard on the back. The guide, who insisted on calling me Wayne Rooney which is not a great likeness obviously, took great delight in getting us soaked from head to toe with a paddle, as the driver weaved up rapids deliberately sending water over the sides.

Next up was a tour of an Orang Asli Village. This was very interesting and provides useful income for the tribe however felt a bit awkward and almost like going to a zoo. We couldn't really bring our selves to go poking cameras in huts and suchlike as the tribes people clearly did not seem to enjoy tourist presence from their expressions despite the income.

However there was an interesting demonstration in fire making using a rattan rope, grooved log and suitable timber. The fire was then used to assemble some darts for the blowpipe which we both had a crack at. The fire softens a plug of latex which is used to glue on a balsa flight. Another type of latex which is toxic is used to poison tip the dart. We both had a go at shooting the pipe although didn't quite hit the target. We also bought a small but working version made by the tribe as a way of earning some extra uncome. I was suprised how well it works.

Dinner in Taman Negara is served by a line of floating restaurants, our favourite was named Family Restaurant and offered a nice range of dishes including Em's favourite satay.

After a very warm and muggy night we were up early for a quick stroll before our tour began. Nothing too venemous was spotted this time although em spotted a long tailed macaque. Although we had walked much of the trail the previous day our next day tour took in the canopy walkway. 45m above the ground and suitably rickety feeling although actually safe as houses. Sadly I snagged and lost my watch somewhere along this.

The rest of the walk was very interesting, our guide providing great explanations of useful plants and how to use them. Amongst other things we learnt how to extract water from bamboo and lianas, which plants were good for heart conditions and staunching blood flows, the sandpaper leaves useful for, well, sanding, and which trees sap makes nice sweets. Whilst I quite like do it yourself walks this guided one although an easy walk was well worth it. The other key highlight was a venemous centipede dozing quietly on a tree next to the path. Another thing that can kill in the jungle. Around 7 inches long and red and black you definately wouldn't want one in your sleeping bag.

That night however we did take a short night walk, the jungle alive with noise after dark, although failed to spot anything new.

With most of our clothes all pretty soaked and the weather remaining iffy we decided to head for the Cameron Highlands in the morning. One tip is that without direct sun and with such high humidity clothes will just not dry in the jungle so it's worth keeping a dry set for the evenings and donning the damp skanky ones in the day!

(snake photo taken from oldstuff magazine for illustrative purposes)

Jelly fish crisps and eggs on sticks

One of the most raved about apects of Malaysia is the grub. With Melaka as our first port of call we would have ample opportunity to try a wide range first hand. Much like Singapore Melaka offers an MalIndChinese cocktail of gastronomic influences. Again distinct areas are defined however Malay influences featured heavily in many of China town's foodie street carts.

As luck would have it our first night coincided that not too insignificant event of Chinese New Years eve. Despite our midnight arrival at Melaka Central bus station causing us to miss the heat of the action, a swift taxi ride, we were probably diddled but wasn't feeling like haggling over a fiver, we screeched up to the hostel with firecrackers still blazing all over town. A quick check in to our antique, slightly ramshackle, but very friendly hostel and we were out on the town.

Heading towards Chinatown the goddam streets still hummed with life, an errant firework whistling skywards past our ears cau

sing us to nearly fall down the drain. Chinatown felt pretty magical, red lanterns strung gaily from every available hanging point and the air thick with gunpowder smoke. Miner Birds thick in every tree tootled a cacophony in response to the last crackles and bangs as local children exhausted their stash of bangers. However after a long journey and with things in wind down we headed back to the hostel where a cats cradle of ropework allowed me to lash up the mosquito net for the night and some well earned rest.

The next morning we rose fairly early and resumed our tour of the town with a hunt for an atm. Cashed up breakfast followed, I opted for dumpling soup which was excellent and Em a Tofu, Soy sauce noodle creation.

A day of wandering followed taking in a few things including what's left of of the original Portugese fort and incense laden buddhist shrines. In a nutshell Melakan history goes something like this: small trading village to Sultanate trading hub, to heavily contested and warred over Portugese trading hub, to Dutch takeover, to some temporary swapsies with the British during the Napoleonic era, to permanent swapsies when greater interests arose and the British wound the place down in favour of establishing Singapore and Penang.

Top snacks of the day included jelly fish crisps, which started so so but ended moreishly, and pineapple tarts which were strangely cheese tinged much to Em's dislike (dairy allergy). The highlight was yet to come in the form of quails eggs cooked on skewers and topped with sausage. A huge range of food stalls line Melaka's famous Jonker street, with a supporting cast of trinket shops. Jonker street is perhaps a little over touristy these days to rate as a must see but still lively and fun. We had a few beers and headed to bed.

The next day brought more sightseeing. A river boat tour, the maritime museum and dutch quarter. We also scoped the next journey to the Taman Negara rainforest finally opting to skip up to Kuala Lumpar, a cross town monorail and direct bus to Jerantut. Whilst the original plan was a trip to Gemas on the bus, and a journey on the Jungle railway the connecting times meant a 6 hour wait in Gemas and an early hours arrival in Jerantut.

This evening we enjoyed more fine fare and some by the river drinks, chatting to an amiable Aussie. An early start should see us nearing the Jungles of Teman Negara for dusk. Em also bought some floaty light trousers and looks more back packery, me a cloth man bag, as a rucksack for schlepping about in the evenings is a pain, although do look like a doddamn psuedo hippy.

A rainy day in Singapore and off to Melaka

Day 2 and slight jet leg saw a long lie in. Our windowless room not helping body clocks adjust in perpetual darkness. However we finally rose and made for a late lunch via the bus station and our tickets to Melaka on Saturday. Due to the pending Chinese New Year availability was limited, with a 7.30pm departure and midnight arrival the only option. This would have the benefit though of affording us some extra time in Singapore.

Our first foray into a proper Singaporean food court, local food for local people, was our choice for lunch. After some minor ordering confusion Em discovered even small bits of chicken appears to come habitually on the bone. Fine for fingers but tricky with chop sticks. Tasty though and a meal for two for £5 is always going to seem a bargain.

Then the heavens opened, no light drizzle here, more a pummeling, sending us to buy a cheap umbrella and test the waterproofness of Em's poncho. Needless to say the poncho struggled, proving nylon polka dots no substitute for plastic. Although Erik's umbrella held up admirably!

A soggy pair arrived at the National Museum. We opted for an audio tour of Singapore's history. Starting with the Singapore Stone, featuring an unknown language by an unknown author it illustrates a black spot in early history. Discovering the source of Singapores name, a shaky sighting of a possible lion by early hunting party of colonisers, hence Lion Island. Eventually traversing British, Dutch and Portugese colonisation, a place at the centre of great trade with the east, and of course the bloody chapters of WW2 and Japanese occupation. Ending with a colourful plastic television!

The rain had since abated enough for a walk around Little India, although in daytime and surrounded by lots of building works this was uninspiring. We retreated to a moroccan place near our hostel for a lamb shish, a beer/g&t and bed. Our original plans for the night zoo scotched by the rains.

Day 3 dawned and a normal nights sleep meant we made breakfast and a walk towards the Marina bay and Grand Prix Circuit. We took a trip round the 'Singapore Flyer', Singapore's slightly bigger, half the price and equally impressive answer to the London Eye. A sweltering stroll around the floats preparing for later New Years eve celebrations and another spot of local eating was followed by a trip to the Marina Bay gardens. These new and stunning gardens offered an educational tour of culturally relevant plants and traditions against a backdrop of whatever the great big three pillared skyscraper with a boat deck thing on top is called.

Another drenching on return to collect our bags from the hostel. A wait in the food court for our bus to Melaka, aided by some delicious satay and onwards to Malaysia. Although we are currently stuck at the border while one of our bus load appears stuck at immigration.

Arrival in the Lion City

After a fairly non eventful BA flight, yay club seats were secured, we touched down in Singapore around 6pm local time. A quick trip on the metro later we were within striking distance of our hostel for the night. Of note the MRT sytem provided an easy and cheap route to the city for about £1.50 each.

A 5 minute stroll from the metro station and we were at the Feel at home backpackers. Perfectly servicable with friendly staff and a good location in the Islamic Malay quarter. Good for a cheap stuffed bread or middle eastern style feast. Less so for peace and quiet when the call to prayer will no doubt kick off at 5am. Can't complain though for £30 per night, a veritable bargain for Singapore.

Singapore was only ever meant as a jumping off point for us for Malaysia however promises enough distractions to fill at least a couple of days. Although tired and slightly jaded from a couple too many g&ts on the flight over, this evening saw us take a stroll through the Malay quarter, quite vibrant and upbeat with a compact but wide array of cheap eats and shisha bars.

A 45 min walk to China town saw us trying to consume minced pork, dumplings and bony chicken with chopsticks. Tasty but a bit above our as yet un honed chopstick skills. China town was buzzing with a wide array of very cheap souvenir stands and tightly packed and jostling throng. However with a good nights sleep and trips to little india, raffles and the night zoo beckoning tomorrow we hit the hay.

ready to go

the bags are packed and we're ready to go.