The mini-van journey from Luang Prabang was long but quite scenic - lots of green fields and rice paddies. Every once in a while we passed through a little village with make-shift stalls along the road. We arrived at Nong Khiaw bus terminal on Tuesday 10 July and, since we didn't kow what time boat left, opted for the mini-van shuttle down to the pier to get there as soon as possible. Fortunately, we arrived with plenty of time to spare, bought tickets and gra...

We arrived in the UNESCO World Heritage Town of Luang Prabang a little after lunch time on Friday 6 July. After battling our way up the causeway through the horde of taxi drivers and people hawking hotels, we reached the town and began looking around for a place to stay. After about an hour we settled on a place on the edge of the hustle-and-bustle, just off the main strip. It was soooo hot and soooo humid that we were sweating buckets by the time we checked in...

We woke up early in the morning on Thursday 5 July after hardly any sleep the night before - there had been a storm and it had poured for most of the night onto our tin roof. We were given a small packed lunch and, after a quick breakfast, were dropped at the Thai/Loas border. We crossed the river of a small boat and then headed towards Loas's border control. After filling out a form and handing over some dollars we were granted a 30 day tourist visa. We then ...

Neither of us slept well that night. The beds on the train were plenty big enough and comfortable, but it was a bit noisier than Monique was expecting, and Kevin kept expecting the driver to slam on brakes (as he was prone to do randomly) and roll off the top bunk in the night. Finally morning came on Saturday 30 June and Kevin clambered downstairs and together we watched the countryside roll past as the sun rose - lots of lush, green jungle and rice paddy's do...

We arrived in Bangkok in the early evening on Sunday 24 June. Our flight had been pretty uncomfortable - no personal TV's or meals or snacks or headphones or pillows/blankets or anything really. We were glad that it was over. Comming from a chilly Melbourne, stepping out of the plane into the thick, muggy Bangkok air was like walking into a warm curtain. We got our bags, drew some money and began looking for a way to get to our hostel. We soon found out that mo...