Have to say the best thing about my stay has been the peace and quiet. Over the last 3 days I have read two books and spent too many hours just sat in the fresh air. Vientiane is a lovely little town without the noise and height of Bangkok, by that I mean I could see the sky as I walked around. It still has a very French influence, apparently the French government give Laos money to keep it like this.The street names are in French and there are baguette sandwich ...

My trip out of Thailand was a great mini adventure. I headed out of Bangkok from Don Meung, the old international airport. It was supposed to close, but the new airport, Suvarnabhumi couldn't cope so they reopened Don Meung for domestic flights.The airport is a great advert for globalisation, you arrive and there are several local vendors and a few Thai restaurants.No one really ever hangs around on this side; you pass through into departures thinking that there ...