MEKONG RIVER Two minutes across the river from Thailand, we quickly found a hotel in Houay Sai and headed out straight away to try and get tickets for the two-day slowboat ride down the Mekong, armed with a little crib sheet of the latest kip/baht/dollar/pound exchange rates. For a refreshing drink, we bought some fresh pineapple juice served not in a cup but a plastic bag with a straw, and climbed up the nearby hill where young trainee monks were busy washing a...

CHIANG KHONG The journey to Chiang Khong, via a change of bus in Chiang Rai, took us further north and through the increasingly smoggy countryside. The hazy conditions and smoky air were the result of the slash and burn policy of the local farmers who burn old crops to get rid of insects and disease at this time of the year, and to help fertilise the soil. Doesn't do much for the environment or air pollution, though, or the scenery, although it's stunning even d...

CHIANG MAI Long train journeys are generally far preferable to long bus journeys (more room to move around, no stopping for traffic jams, buffet car often available), but when a sixteen hour journey becomes 20 hours, it's not so great. From the start, it was going to be a long day - the train left an hour late from Bangkok. But we've become relaxed about long distance travel, and were looking forward to sitting back and watching the beautiful Thai countryside pa...

WAT? DON'T BE STUPA! STOP NAGA-ING! WE'VE ALL SEEN THE RETURN OF THE CHEDI… We survived the Arctic Express and emerged bleary-eyed from the Dutch-designed Hualamphong railway station into the hustle and bustle of early morning Bangkok which was already gearing up for another day of frenetic activity. We had a mini tour of the city courtesy of the #53 bus and saw shopkeepers opening their shutters and market stalls being set up as we headed in the direction of ...

45 MINUTES IN BURMA Today was the day of our visa run to Burma, a trip somewhat into the unknown for us as it's not every day that you visit a military dictatorship and a pariah state which is one of the most cut-off in the world. We set off from Koh Tao with a certain amount of trepidation as we had read internet reports about various scams involving corrupt immigration officials and people on the Burmese side waiting to rip you off as soon as you enter the cou...