OK so I'm not technically in KL anymore, but it sounds a lot more exotic than Southport, my current location! I've found myself at a bit of a loose end since returning from my Asian adventure, so I thought I'd write one last installment before the whole experience is erased from my mind completely, it already feels like I never went away!

So welcome to the first ever Bollywood Backpack Awards, a tribute to all the amazing places we visited our on travels…

1. BEST HOTEL (since Vish liked to offset all the huts with 5* hotels, there were more than enough contenders for this accolade!)

Winner - Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Mumbai

This landmark hotel is the epitomy of Indian hospitality, a fusion of traditional grandeur & modern minimalism, everything you'd expect from a 5* hotel & more, simply decadent!I want to move in!

Best of the Rest -

Best for Vintage Chic - Galle Face Hotel, Colombo

Best Spa - Banyan Tree, Bangkok

Best Contemporary - The Quay, Pnom Penh, Cambodia

Best for one last night of luxury - Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur

2. BEST BUDGET LODGING (sadly for Vish we couldn't do top range every night, but we did find some amazing alternatives)

Winner - Namaste Beach Cottage, Patnem Beach, Goa

The most perfect bamboo hut you will ever find, with solid walls, attached bathroom, 4 poster bed & even single bed for our adopted daughter Jessie G. How we loved to drink Masala Chai every morning, sitting in the swing chair or the rocking chair on the porch! And all for less than £10 a night! Best Place Ever!

Best of the Rest

Best for Rooftop Dining - Seventh Heaven, Pushkar, Rajasthan

Best for Hospitality (in Vietnam!) - Huang Tring Hotel, Hoi An

Best for Uninterrupted Sea Views - Unawatuna Beach, Sri Lanka

Best Homestay - Mama Ji's Guesthouse, Bundi, Rajasthan

Best Room with a View - Sita's Homestay, Ella Gap, Sri Lanka

3. BEST BAR

Winner - Sky Bar @ Vertigo, Banyan Tree Hotel, Bangkok

Stylish open air bar on the 61st floor with views over Bangkok & Cocktails to die for, this is rooftop drinking at it's best. Of course I managed to keep Vish away from the edge, it's a long way down!

Best of the Rest

Best for Sunset - Dome, Intercontinental Hotel, Marine Drive, Mumbai

Best Nightclub - Blue Frog, Mumbai

Best for escaping Koh San Rd Carnage - Phranakorn Bar, Bangkok

Best Chill Out Bar - Vibe Bar, Luang Prabang, Laos

Best for International Drug Smuggling Deals - Leopold's Café, Mumbai

4. BEST RESTAURANT

Winner - Swati Snacks Mumbai

A modern minimalist vegatarian café selling South Indian street food - all my favourite things rolled into one! The Dahi Batata Pani Puri is quite possibly the best thing I have ever eaten! London needs a Swathi Snacks!

Best of the Rest

Best for Blowing the Budget - Wasabi by Morimoto, Taj Mahal Hotel, Mumbai

Best Seafood - Trishna's, Mumbai

Best Food Court - MBK International Food Court, Bangkok

Best for Brunch - Chinoz on the Park, Kuala Lumpar

5. BEST STREET FOOD

Winner - Masala Dosa, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

This was not just any Masala Dosa, this was a freshly cooked, crispy pancake, stuffed with spicy potato, fresh tomato, sprinkled with coriander & drizzled with spicy sambal, Masala Dosa. This was the Best Dosa Ever, or it could have been something to do with the Bhang Lassi we had enjoyed an hour before - even so this was damn good!

Best of the Rest

-Spicy Papaya Salad, Thailand

-Roti Cannai, Malaysia

-Noodle Soup, Vietnam

-Bhel Puri, Mumbai

-Tibetan Momos, Delhi

-Spicy Corn on the Cob, India

-Pakoras, somewhere on the road from Pushkar to Bundi, Rajasthan

-Thai Fishcakes, Thailand

6. BEST CAFÉ/BAKERY (surprisingly Asia does bloody good baked goods!)

Winner - Organic Mulberry Café, Vang Vieng Laos

Anywhere than can rustle up a Mojito this good deserves a prize! The starting point of the Tubing circuit is definitely worth at stopping for a Mulberry Mojito before hitting the waters & losing the next 6 hours of your life in a blur of Beerlao, Trapeze Artistry, & Inner Tubes Carnage! Oh & the Mulberry Pancakes aint bad either!

Best of the Rest

-Best for Breakfast - Art Café, Fort Cochin, Kerala

-Best for Bagels - Soza, HCMC, Vietnam

-Best for Cinnamon Rolls - Blue Pumpkin, Siem Riep, Cambodia

-Best for Chai - Teapot, Fort Cochin Kerala

-Best for High Tea - Galle Face Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka

7. BEST FOR 'HAPPY' TIMES

Winner - Milan Pizza, Vang Vieng, Laos

The danger here is that the Pizza is so good, its easy to forget the special ingredients & get greedy! For the stable minded, this is definitely the best place for dinner after a heavy tubing session, before hitting the weird & wonderful Smile Bar to gaze at the pretty colours & piss yourself laughing at all the other happy freaks for the next 12 hours.

Runners up

-Magic Mountain, Hat Rin Beach, Koh Pang Nan, Thailand

-Government Approved Bhang Shop, Jaisalmer, Rajasthan

BEST BEACH

Winner - Patnem Beach / Palolem Beach, Goa, India

This place has it all- beautiful palm lined beaches, golden sunsets, chilled out vibe, just the right amount of night life, lovely people, great food & cheap beer! We looked but still didn't find anywhere that could compete with Goa - Thailand was too touristy, Sri Lanka too quiet, Cambodia too dirty, Vietnam too European & Malaysia too expensive! So Goa remains at the top of the chart for the 6th year running! When can we go back?!

Runners up

-Coral Beach/Long Beach, Perhentian Kecil,Malaysia

-Kudle Beach/Om Beach, Gokarna, India

-Railay Beach, Krabi, Thailand

-Phi Phi Island, Thailand

-Unawatuna Beach, Sri Lanka

BEST BOAT TRIP

Winner - Backwaters, Allepey, Kerala

What could be more romantic than spending the night on your own private houseboat, cruising through palm-lined backwaters? With your own chef to prepare you tasty meals, you can just kick back, relax & watchas the villagers bathe & wash their clothes, farmers toil in the paddy fields, kingfishers swoop down to feed& storks wade through the waterlillies. At night you crack open a beer, watch the sunset over the mangroves, see glowbugs light up the night & fall asleep listening to the sounds of frogs & crickets in the undergrowth. Pure Bliss.

Best of the Rest

Best Booze Cruise - Mekong Slowboat, Thailand - Laos

Best Ferry - Night Ferry from Koh Pang Nan

Best Speedboat - Perhentian Islands, Malaysia

BEST SUNRISE

Winner - Taj Mahal at Dawn

There is nothing quite like seeing this giant marble palace come into view through the morning mist, with the 5am morning call to prayer playing softly in the background. It is just one of those beautiful moments in life that you will never forget. A huge monument to love, the Taj is exquisite & so symmetrically perfect it almost doesn't seem real. The early morning light reflects off the marble, changing its colour as the sun grows stronger, I could have stayed there all day watching, but the crowds soon descended & the heat kicked in, shattering the illusion somewhat. Get there early!

Runners up

-Adam's Peak (Sri Pada), Sri Lanka

-Angkor Wat, Siem Riep, Cambodia

BEST SUNSET - Sunsets are all the same aren't they?

Winner - Pushkar Lake, Pushkar, Rajasthan

The drum beat provided at atmospheric rhythm, whilst pilgrims bathed in the lake before us & stoned hippies sat around waiting for the golden ball to drop behind the white wash buildings surrounding the water. The sky turned pink & then it was gone.

A perfectly simple sunset!

Runner Up - Sunset Scrabble, Goa - the sun dropped over Patnem Beach whilst I struggled to make a word out of E E I O U, Vish dazzled us with his knowledge of clothing material & blew us all out of the water with a 43 point, triple word score extravaganza & Gemma the cat stole an E.

BEST SCENIC VIEW

Winner - Adam's Peak, (Sri Pada) Sri Lanka

After waking up at 2am to climb a mountain, you expect a good view at the end of it! 3 hours & 5000 steps later, we were rewarded with a dazzling sunrise & endless views over the hill country & out to sea! Through fluffy white clouds we saw towering mountains & glistening lakes, rivers & waterfalls dotted across the landscape! Beautiful! It was definitely worth the pain that followed, as we couldn't walk properly for the next 5 days!

BEST MARKET

Winner - Chatuchauk Weekend Market, Bangkok

The Glastonbury of Markets, with over 5000 stalls! Young independent designers, amazing fashions, funky T-shirts, sunglasses, shoes, bags, sneakers & beautiful dresses at cheaper than Primark prices! This place is huge! We spent all day there & still didn't see half of it!

Best of the Rest

Best for Vintage Treasure - Chor Bazaar, Mumbai

Best for Arts & Crafts - Walking Streets, Chang Mai, Thailand

Best for Last Minute Gifts - Central Market, KL, Malaysia

Best for Fashion - Siam Sq Street Market, Bangkok

BEST CITY

This is a tricky one, but in the end it can only come down to 2 cities Mumbai or Bangkok.

How can I choose? Mumbai has some of the best architecture & food on offer, but with 21 million people living here, most of them below the poverty line, it's pretty crazy, dirty & hectic. Bangkok on the other hand is the total opposite - modern, orderly, with amazing shopping, fashion & cool bars! It would be easy to live in Bangkok as it has everything I need, all the home comforts such as Boots, Toni & Guy etc, but then again Mumbai does have Swati Snacks - the best restaurant ever!

I think it has to be a tie!

BEST COUNTRY

I think we already know the answer to this one, in fact I knew before we even started the trip that INDIA would be the winner! It simply has everything, history, hospitality, beaches, backwaters, amazing food, amazing people, amazing cities, fortresses, temples, palaces, princes, 5* hotels, havelis, houseboats, beach huts, ashrams, art, chai, cows, camels, carrab, hippies, sadhus, street urchins, monkeys, masala, bhang, bindis, bollywood. In 2 months, we really only just scratched the surface, there is so much more to see yet…

So that pretty much brings us to the end of our amazing adventure, we've had so much fun, it's hard to accept that its actually over. The only thing keeping me going is the fact that I now have a wardrobe of real clothes to wear, its goodbye backpacker rags & hello city chic.

Of course I am already planning the next trip, starting in India obviously, but for now I have to get back to the real world & find a job.

I really dont want to be home - want to go back to Bollywood Now!

Until then, Thankyou & Goodnight