We flew into Bangkok from Penang; this time we weren't staying. We were taking a train to northern Thailand. The sleepers were all booked up and so a reclining seat in a fan carriage on the 22:50 train was all that was left. The train would get into Chiang Mai at 13:30 the next day. We still had 5 hours to kill before the train so we headed into the Bridge restaurant at the Amari hotel opposite the railway station and airport. We sat in the air con ordering a str...

Well after our adventures in Korea and the Philippines we had 2 days R&R in KL. We caught up with mundanities such as washing and filling up on quality Indian cuisine, courtesy of our chums in Brickfields! A cheap stay at Prescott Hotel (shoebox room, but cheap) and we set off to get a bus to Penang, Georgetown for a week. A bargain £11 per night Tune hotel (inc a/c and some towels) based in Jalan Burma, close to the (food) action. The bus (RM38/£7.50) was...

We stayed at Cliffside resort in Panglao island, a lovely poolside room and dreamy sunset views. The room came with free use of a manual motorbike. Cliffside was a 45 minute drive from Tagbilaran on Bohol across the Panglao bridge. The nearby resort was little Germany with the Biergarten and Helmut's restaurant. We loaded up on currywurst, freshly cooked pie and chips and sauerkraut. Breakfast was taken at a local family restaurant called Ging Ging's. They made u...

I had read and seen tales of the Eskaya tribe of Taytay, Duero, Bohol in the Visayaas Islands of the Philippines. An original Bohol hill tribe that has a unique 'dialect' based on sounds modeled on parts of the human body. Even though there were photos there were no actual locations specified for this tribe. We knew from tales that they were up towards Duero, so we decided to head to Jagna, around 15km from Duero and a 2hr bus-ride from Tagbiliran where we were s...

When the Seven Eleven store has a security guard and he's 'packin' you know you're in a rough town. Manila is perhaps not the best first impression of the Philippines. As soon as we got off the airport bus, some barefoot children were begging us for money. Manila was hot, humid, dirty, dusty and very polluted. This neglect does not appear to be by the people; they are clean, proud of their homes, gardens, stores and stalls and have a real sense of responsibility ...