Weary after another hard day on the road we trudged along the riverside feeling the weight of our backpacks and checked in to the first place we looked at. No air con, the dimmest of lights and a broken shower but for $6 we were content and it was at that moment that I realised the standards set by the heady heights of Sheffield Premier Inn, are all but a distant memory!

It had been a long and eventful day, but at 4pm we had finally reached our destination of Kratie in North West Cambodia. It was only 220km South of where we had started at 7.45am that morning! A welcome to Cambodian/Lao inefficiency and the ability to drag out a journey so that it can take 8 hrs. So how is that possible? The story...

It was 8am on another now enjoyably tediously clear, bright and hot day and tourists had gathered on the sandbank on the north east tip of Don Det in Laos. Somehow 40 of us complete with luggage squeezed on to a small boat for the 10 minute journey through the river inlets back to the mainland. The boat driver obviously briefly forgot the route he had taken for the previous few decades and managed to ground the boat on a sandbank 50 yards short of the shore. The deckhand wasn't too fazed by this and after an unsuccessful attempt to dislodge us with a bamboo pole, scrounged a cigarette off one of the passengers and took the opportunity to relax. 5 minutes later, after none of the 20 or so moored boats looked like they were rushing to our aid, he had another attempt with the pole and with an accompanying cheer from the tourists, we were once again afloat.

A sheep like procession of clueless passengers proceeded up the port road and found what resembled a bus pick up point and began the wait. The mini bus we were expecting had turned into a coach and after 20 mins we boarded only to sit and wait for another 20 mins, going nowhere. So, in one and a half hours we had managed a 10 minute boat crossing...with a border crossing and a change of buses to come we knew it was going to be a long day!

Eventually after the driver had spent 10 mins fixing the DVD player, he blasted out with accompanying pictures what has to be the most unpleasant noise I have ever heard. Aside from the fact that the CD was jumping, it was also the Karaoke version so we had to endure watching a middle aged badly dressed Lao man stand in a field jigging and whining with words!

At 10am we arrived at a barrier in the road signifying the border. This is where the bus left us and we had to cross the border before picking up our onward travel on the Cambodian side. Unlike some of our completely mindless fellow tourists we had enough common sense to know there wouldn't be an ATM at this remote outpost and had ensured we had enough dollars (just!) to cover the visa and ridiculous administration fees. First a $2 fee to stamp your passport and Visa for leaving Laos. We asked what the $2 was for and the guard replied 'overtime pay'. As it turned out, the guards on the actual barrier didn't check we had done this anyway as they were too absorbed in a serious looking game of Petang!

After a 100m stretch of no mans land came quarantine- Whilst ensuring i didn't sniff too obviously due to the cold I had picked up a couple of days ago we stood in a roadside tent and filled out a form. The nurse lady pointed a device at us and informed us our temperature was ok so we could pay her a $1 admin fee and progress to the visa on arrival hut.

A simple form, passport photo, $25 and another stamp and we had entered country number 7- Cambodia.

The travel agency had promised seats on a VIP bus to take us to our destination of Kratie about 200km south. It seemed as good a place as any to stop for a night and break up the journey rather than 10 hrs straight through to Phnom Penh...a decision which later proved to be one of our best so far!

A Cambodian organiser man told us all to wait under the shade of the trees and conveniently placed street stalls for our buses whilst everyone else crossed the border. At first glance it had a semblance of organisation to it...how wrong we were! An hour later what looked like it may be our bus drove off with no pick up and we were still stood by the roadside with a group of increasingly frustrated tourists. It was now 11.45 so in virtually 4 hrs we had managed a 10 minute boat ride and 15 km by road.

A few minutes later the now slightly more stressed looking Cambodian man reappeared and informed us we would have to join the bus he had been promising us on arrival in Stung Treng, 30 minutes further down the road. After an unsuccessful attempt to cram 20 passengers on a 15 seater mini bus, we were asked to join the already full Phnom Penn/Siem Riep bus. With the luggage racks full, we would have to take our bags on with us. Sally had the pleasure of sitting on her backpack in the isle and as last person on, I made myself as comfortable as I could on the front step. It didn't help that the lady we had just bought a bunch of 50 cent bananas off and her young daughter were also sat next to the driver. The organiser man who joined us told me the travel agents had overbooked the bus. Ironically we joked about this when booking the tickets as no check had been made to see if the bus was full, we were just given a receipt slip!

In reality there were simply not enough buses for the various destinations, but we continued on expecting to change to a more comfortable bus at Stung Treng. A few miles down the road came a stop for some impromptu mechanics to the underside of the bus before each heavy bump was met with a winced expression and gulp by the driver and his mates who were sat around and on me.

We counted down the kilometres to Stung Treng and as the bus pulled up it became apparent the change of bus we had been promised hadn't materialised. 'One and a half hours to Kratie' the Organiser informed us. It was 135km so we knew it would be more like 2 hrs but we ploughed on. Although I had now moved to the guides fold out seat on the steps, we had dropped off only 1 passenger and picked up 2 more of the drivers friends, who were leaning up against me. Some of our fellow tourists comfortable in their seats, were probably unaware that there were now 4 of us sat or stood alongside the driver and a further 12 people sat on their bags in the isle. The organiser even had to stand up from his makeshift plastic seat if the driver needed to change gear.

To bang one final nail into a coffin like journey, just as we had seen a sign informing us Kratie was only 9km away the bus pulled in to a roadside cafe for a 30 minute lunch break!

As we suspected there wasn't much to see in the riverside town except for another stunning red Mekong sunset and a first glimpse at Cambodian life. Somewhat off the tourist trail it allowed for a hassle free walk down the streets where children were playing in the dirtiest of tatty rag like clothes and poverty was evident. An open garage like room amongst the shops providing the hospital facilities for the locals with a room full of people in pyjamas on a drip whilst they lay in their beds. A mother was driving a moped clutching the youngest with another 3 holding on behind beating our previously viewed record of 4, set in Delhi. Unlike anywhere else in Asia, the shops and market were closing down with sellers brushing a thick choking dust into the streets and air and throwing bags of rubbish into the streets. The same rubbish we later watched 2 dustman collect whilst enjoying our noodle dinner. These dustman were in fact 2 barefoot young children in rag like clothing pushing a wooden cart. Somehow I doubt they were official dustmen but more likely this is the life they know, scavenging for survival!

The following morning i awoke to texts from my brother informing me that AP had won Sports Personality (it should have been Lee Westwood!) and that a white Xmas is definitely on the cards, and with the prospect of another 7 hrs on the local bus ahead, for the briefest of moments I would have traded our new found lifestyle for a place in front of an English fireplace!

An hour later we checked out en route to the bus station and the first thing we saw were 5 monks in bright orange robes clutching wooden bowls walking in procession along the road. A women holding a large pot and spoon frantically ran out from our guest house with an offer of some rice which they gladly accepted. The momentary wish to return home instantly disappeared and I realise I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. Another 7 hrs on the road to Phnom Penh may lie ahead but now i wonder what today has in store for us....