Read about the Secret War and about the phenomenal number of bombs the US driopped on this country during the 9yrs, the country has only been able to detonate 0.25% of them despite trying. They are still killing on a regular basis and land cannot be farmed because of contamination. At the moment the programme is funded by the Japanese and that comes to an end next year. Their own gov cannot afford more, the US contribute a certain amount. The area we are in a...

Hi, after a long 8 hr coach journey through beautiful mountain scenery we arrived here, a one horse town that is thick in dust and building activity. The roads were narrow alpine ones with no protection at all on one side, and frequently the rains and landslides had washed away the surface so the going was rough and tough. Once or twice I was biting my finger nails when we met something but fortunately that did not happen too often. However, there were frequen...

Sat pm Sitting in a very peaceful cafe in the old quarter of Louang Prabang enjoying some spring rolls and a lemon frappe. We had a magical 7 hr boat journey along the Ou River through limestone mountains covered in a haze. Locals were busily growing veg in the rich soil on its banks and others were fishing. Water buffalo wandered about watched by their boy and on one island in the middle were a herd of black goats. Other people were bagging sand and pebbles, ...

Thursday - We are now at a beautiful guesthouse on the banks of Ou River, each guest stays in a stilted hut on the banks. We have travelled on Route 13 for 200km. but it took 8 hrs as most of the way was unsurfaced and extremely dusty. All the vegetation was thick with either white or red dust depending where we were. The sides were littered with boulders and earth from landslides during the wet season. We were on very close to the border crossing with China ...

Hi, have left Cambodia feeling very sad, it was a wonderful time soon to repeated. I will miss all the staff, families and children I have worked and associated with. A nine hour bus journey took me to Bangkok with 2 hrs at the border crossing, but it saved me a lotof money and I was able to see so much more countryside. The difference between Thailand and Cambodia is amazing, both in countryside, wealth, types of homes etc. Today we have flown to N. Thailand...