Kanchanaburi is the closest town to the Bridge over the river Kwai, made famous in the film of the same name. The sole purpose for visiting this small town just a few hours from Bangkok, is to learn about how and why the Death Railway was built and to visit the Allied war cemetry in the town. In WWII, Japan was allied with Germany and Italy, but its main aim was to invade China and "release other Asian countries from western colonisation" - by colonising the...

Believe it or not we have actually entered the 26th century (Buck Rogers is dead and buried by now). Thailand actually works on a calendar system that relates to time after Buddha not Christ and so here we are in the year 2548! We expected chaos but this is something else. Clearly there is a future market for hearing aids in this City, as the noise level is immense, if not from the noise of the traffic then the music blaring from every building you walk past...

Singapore is an island at the tip of Malaysia, measuring only 1000 square km with a population of 4m. A Sumatran prince, reputedly the Grandson of Alexander the Great was on an exploration trip when he saw the island of Temasek (Sea Town). He decided that he would build a great city and set sail for the island. On landing, he saw a great lion and so named the island Singapura meaning 'Lion City'. Later, Singapores connection with with sea meant that the nati...

Langkawi Island is one of the key holiday destinations for Malaysians and we can see why, with beautiful golden beaches and wonderful green sea that is like swimming in a warm bath. The reason for heading up here was to take a few days rest and relaxation, top up the repaidly disappearing tans and have a few nights out in the beach bars. Pam and Iain, a couple we met in the Cameron Highlands, joined us in our hair-raising bus trip through the winding, trech...

The Cameron Highlands are in the middle of the peninsula of Malaysia and are renowned for their beautiful rainforests and their tea plantations. We stopped by to give our livers a break from the local beer and try the elixir of life in these parts - a nice cup of tea. The tea plantations cover tens of thousands of acres and look like an intricate jigsaw puzzle spread across the rolling lush green hills. In the distance we could see some people meandering bet...