After settling into our hostel in Shanghai, the boys and I arranged to meet up with Michelle Allen, a Canadian whom we had met in Bangkok, and has been living in Shanghai for a few months now. She took us to the Ewe Gardens, a very picturesque and tudor-like setting in the Bund, an area of the city. After a few hours with her here, we sorted ourselves out and returned to our hostel. Meeting some new Americans at the hostel, they seemed keen for a night out, and...

On Saturday 7th June, Matt, Ian and I bode farewell to Southeast Asia, and flew to Beijing, China. We arrived in Beijing at around 9pm, and spent the best part of 4 hours tying to find the hostel we had booked. The Taxi drivers spoke no English whatsoever, and out Mandarin wasn't quite up to scratch either. After much walking around and several taxis, we eventually gave up and found another hostel. On 8th June we found our intended accomodation, the Red Lantern...

On Tuesday 27th May Matt, Ian and I took time to explore a bit of Phnom Penh. The city was busy and had a certain “eau de toilet” about it, but nonetheless had a good buzz. We relaxed in our lovely, cheap guesthouse, watching films whilst reclining in our hammocks. The following day we were up early and went to a shooting range. Matt and I shot AK-47s, which was an adrenalin feulled thrill. Our driver informed us that 2 weeks before hand, an American touris...

Our journey from Vientiane (Laos Capital) to Phnom Penh (Cambodian Capital) was an interesting and frustrating one! On 24th May we had our first experience of a "sleeper coach". These have mock double beds lined along each side of the coach, two stories tall. Unfortunately, there are three of us, and I drew the short straw. This meant 10 hours in a very small double bed with an elderly Lao man, with bizarre facial hair. Mid way through the night, I woke...

Vang Vieng is the world home of tubing (pronounced "tube-ing"). This is the act of floating down a river in the inner-tubing of a tractor tyre. Except in this town, they do it slightly differently; every 50metres or so down the river, a bar will chuck you a rope and pull you in for some drinks and free Lao Lao (rice-whiskey). Then, after a few drinks you can go on a rope swing and fling yourself out into the river. It is also the home of the "Frien...