Our 3rd time in Bangkok!! It was nice coming back, knowing where everything was, our way around etc. Felt almost like home! We used our last few days to do some last minute shopping, clearing our rucksacks of stinking clothes and filling them with shiny new things instead! On Sunday we visited Chatuchat Market which is absolutely massive!! Row after row after row of souveniers, pashminas, bags, buddhas, chopsticks...you name it , they've got it. 'You want a g...

For the last few days of our epic journey we wanted somewhere quiet and peaceful, a true Thai island. Koh Mak, a tiny hidden gem of an island 6 hours from Bangkok, did not disappoint. The speed boat ride there was perhaps a little hair-raising, especially as we had to literally jump off the pier wearing our rucksacks to even get onto the boat, but it was well worth it. We stayed in a little bungalow in the small resort of Ban ChaiLay, which is run by possibly...

We had booked a flight from Hanoi to Bangkok through Air Asia for about £40 which is not a bad price. The hotel staff told us to get into an unmarked car that was a 'taxi' to take us to the airport! By this stage, nothing in SE Asia was a surprise so we went along with it and enjoyed the ride.Arriving in Bangkok was a good feeling as we pretty much knew exactly where we were going to stay as well as the area around the hotel. Sheona went for a second fitting for...

After a bit of a disappointing trip to Halong Bay we were back in Hanoi hoping for a more enjoyable experience. It didn't start well, with our pre-booked hotel selling our room to someone else, instead transferring us to the related 'same, same... but different' hotel about 3 blocks away. The network of narrow, clustered streets are very confusing in Hanoi's Old City; you're almost guaranteed to get lost at some point! Therefore it took us a while to get our bear...

A little groggy after the night bus to Hanoi, we had just one night there before going on our Sinh Cafe tour to Halong Bay. With so many companies offering tours to the area, we knew it was going to be busy but nothing prepared us for the madness that followed on our 3 day/2 night tour. It started well on our bus to the boat pier. We were talking and joking to a really friendly Vietnamese family who spoke English very well. They were on their holiday from work ...