The sleeper train to Sapa was a fun experience. We were crammed into a tiny 4 bunk cabin with another couple from London. We were quite relieved that they were fun, nice people because it was an extremely cosy experience. Also no one snored which was a plus :-)!! We chatted for a couple of hours before trying to get some sleep around 11pm. The beds were comfy enough but the train was so bumpy at times that I was literally lifted off the mattress before bouncing ...

After the nightmare mini van journey we were both a little spaced out to say the least. We got up fairly late and managed to make it over to breakfast just in time. We had booked ourselves into the number one hotel in Vang Vieng because, since we had ruled it out as way too expensive, it had halved in price and was offering 2 nights get 1 free!! We couldn't believe our luck :-)! Even better we got upgraded to a better room when we arrived as they weren't full. It...

Next stop after the Bornean jungle was Hanoi in Vietnam. We arrived on Friday night and, after a slightly stressful time at the airport trying to work out which taxi we could trust to take us into town (there are loads of cons including taking you to their mates rubbish hotels which happen to have the same name as yours!) we made it to our hotel. After a couple of weeks of cheap hostels we had decided to book a slightly more expensive hotel in the city centre a...

After the 5.30am start at turtle island we were grateful for the lie the next day. Unfortunately their was power problems at our jungle hotel the night before so we spent most of the night without air-con but once we were asleep it was fine and more of a jungle experience :-). At 12.30 the owner of 'The Last Frontier' came to drive us two hours into the Sabah jungle for a river cruise and jungle walk adventure. This guy (never got a chance to ask his name) talke...

Unfortunately after we touched down in Sandakan and checked into our jungle lodge hostel I took a turn for the worst and spent the afternoon with another vomiting bug or food poisoning, not sure which. Anyway it wasn't pleasant so I spent the afternoon curled up in bed watching The Wire on the iPad and feeling sorry for myself. The next morning I was feeling a little better and the mini van arrived to transport us to the jetty for our voyage to turtle island. At...