Goodbye Tengchong! After 3 hours rumbling amidst the clouds on the mountains we encounter the mouth of the Nu Jiang valley and it is instantly breathtaking. With another 4 hours to go we expected the beauty of the area to succumm to ordinary but it never does. A valley that sometimes becomes a gorge with immense high ridges of green or bare limestone streaked with colour. There are quaint bridges (quaint can sometimes mean dangerous) and small villages/ towns ...

Our tired tension stretched with our taxi lady who all of a suden couldn't remember the exact location of one of the most loved hostels in China, in one of the most popular areas of her town. I am fed up of hearing us echo 'this is bigger than we expected' about each dot on the map. After two phone calls and loop de loops courtesy of our meter we arrived in what has to be one of the nicest hostels I have ever slept in (Sea Weed in Khao Lak and Inn Crowd in Singap...

Sometimes while travelling life hands you a relaxation day, this is ours since there are no buses to the big city until 6.30 pm. Wheres the worry when you can relax on your hotels balcony overlooking terraces, amongst the ducking and diving swallows and the clouds blowing over in vast clumps. Plus for breakfast there is ample egg and bread, oh and purple rice into which is forced 3 tablespoons ofsugar by the half toothed grinning old lady. The hike up to the mai...

5 hours until the first bus swap, 2 of those hours bouncing alongside some of the most epic landscape I have ever seen. Steep valleys where the wilderness is untouched -maybe due to its unobtainable positioning- are backed by grey mountains, add a few clumps and whisps of cloud and you've got a thousand pictures from Prue, who is a self confessed untaker of photos. Local town dwellers dress in an array of traditional wear, gorgeous colours and patterns. One such ...

This day, if any, has to be the one that I bring up my anecdotes of the Chinese public toilet. Wanting to relieve myself (number 1, don't get too excited) before the initial bus journey of the day I tried my brain with Chinese symbols before waiting for a female to exit before I made my decision which one was mine to enter. Strolling inside 4 heads turned to face me, these women all squatting separated by a 4 foot wall, the only space was at the front where I had...