India Blog: 10.07.09 - 31.07.09 Sonauli ~ Varanasi ~ Agra ~ Jaipur ~ Udaipur ~ Jodhpur ~ Jaisalmer ~ Delhi We crossed the Nepali-Indian border at Sonauli in the early morning light, our cycle-rickshaw driver weaving his way past the long line of trade trucks snaking for miles up the road to get us through as the border opened. Leaving Nepal was no problem; we suprised the customs officials enjoying their morning chai and discussion of the morning's papers, but ...

Nepal Blog: 26.06.09 - 10.07.09 Kathmandu ~ Chitwan National Park ~ Pokhara Nepal is like dipping a toe into Indian culture then deciding to chill on the grassy banks after all. Predominantly Hindu, bright saris pervade the streets and polka dot the hillside fields. Men-only groups sit on wooden platforms on streetsides, playing cards and sipping glasses of chai. Cows languidly roam the pot-holed dusty streets in the midday heat. And there's the widest range of...

Laos and Thailand Take Two: 05.06.09 - 26.06.09 Vientiane - Vang Vieng - Luang Prabang Chiang Mai - Thailand For a country so famously laid back and chilled as Laos, we partied it up a storm. Jess' ex-flatmate Jo had joined us for a two-week holiday encompassing a whistle-stop tour of Laos and northern Thailand, and we determined to show her a good time (aside from being in desperate need of a good boogie ourselves!). We eased ourselves in gently with a two ...

Vietnam Blog: 21.05.09 - 05.06.09 The border crossing out of Cambodia was as easy as the crossing IN was hard. We had decided to enter Vietnam by boat and to spend some time in the villages along the Mekong Delta, en route to Saigon. Speeding gently towards the riverside border control in the early Cambodian light gave us time to reflect on the last week and we did so in silence. We'd both admitted that we'd struggled with the emotional toll of immersing ourselv...

Cambodia: Tomb Raiding and Beyond.14.05.09 - 21.05.09 Thrusting the thermometer in my ear, the health official welcomed the swine-flu-free me to Cambodian soil. To be honest, I was internally gambolling at having passed - after lugging my 18kg bag around for 2 hours in the dusty midday heat, i'd have quite believed them if they'd said i was running a high fever. But, grabbing my yellow slip and flashing a confident (if slightly soggy) smile, i followed the rest ...