4am 22 December Hanoi very upset as computer crashed and lost previous entry whilst updating.16th December 2006Taken to Thai border check point to cross over to Laos in a long boat and the task of passport control and obtaining local currency. Then waiting around before picking up the slow boat that was not all it was made out to be as it is the public transport system and very overcrowded, great fun all the same as we drift off down the Mekong river through thic...

11 December 2006Arrived 8:30-am on overnight sleeper, a great way to travel though as mostly dark could not see any of the countryside. Leisurely day in Chaing Mai arranging onward journey to Vietnam and then exploring the busy market area and main shopping street. Visited a beautiful temple undergoing repairs where we were rather shocked at the local ploy of putting small birds in a bamboo cage and getting tourist to pay to release them. Received our first Buddh...

6th December 2006 Following a painless 11 hr flight on EVA we arrived in Bangkok at 4.40pm so the sun was dropping and the clouds rolling in. The Amari Watergate was a very smart hotel on Petchaburi with great views of the city from the 28 floor. As we set off for dinner the heavens opened and so our first baptism of "rip off Bangkok" began - jumped in a taxi to the restaurant of our choice but were told we would have to book!- wrong- take us to a fish ...