After having a lovely fresh breakfast at our guesthouse we returned to the slow boat, made an offering to the gods for a safe journey and continued our leisurely cruise down the Mekong River. Started off in the mist but as the sun rose we were once again all delighted by the scenery and having the opportunity to gain insights into the local rural life of the Lao people. We were rapt when we got to visit a local village and meet the local people. Peregrine Tours ...

After a relaxing night in Chaing Rai and heading off t bed feeling totoally relaxed after a massage I got a rude awakening about an hour later.....food poisoning had hit me with a vengence and I've had a night of complete disaster. spend most of the night over the tiolet and hand basin relieving myself of the wonderful chicken curry I had for dinner....wanted to simply die. Awoke this morning rather frightenend of the thought of a 2 hour bus trip to the Thai/Lao...

After a filling breakfast I decided to forgo the planned city tour of Bangkok (how many times can I really visit the Grand Palace, Wat po etc??) and see a bit more of the day to day life around the area of our hotel so off I wandered and came across Wat after Wat.....do they have one on every street corner of Bangkok??? Wandered along one of the major klongs and stopped for a refreshing drink before heading off for a thai massage. Got back to the hotel in time t...

YEAH...........holiday underway. Ghastly 4am start in Nanjing to get out of the coiuntry amidst the chaos of Spring Festival. Flew to Bangkok via Guanzhou and the flights were only delayed by about 45 minutes which really by China standards is running on time!! Arrived in Bangkok around 3 pm only to find that no-one was there to pick me up......did not see this as a good omen for the beginning of my trip....eventually found someone to help me who then tried to s...

Well we are officially on holidays and it is getting exceeding quiet around the campus grounds as everyone heads home for the Chinese New Year. However in the city it is another matter.....complete bedlam would be an understatement.......people and cars everywhere, much pushing and shoving, temper tantrums a 2 year old would be proud of and don't even think about going shopping!! My fellow Aussie teacher and I decided we would avoid the chaos of the city centre ...