After an 8hr overnight bus, 2hr minibus and 2hr ferry ride, we arrived at the island paradise of Ko Phi Phi. We had to wait a bit to check into our hotel but once that was done we headed to the beach for some relaxation. The sand is white and the water is turquoise blue but you can see the affects of all the tourism (garbage and pollution). That night we went out for a wonderful Thai meal at a tiny "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant called Papaya. The restaurant h...

Sadly enough it was time to leave Lao for northern Thailand. Transport in Lao is a bit of a challenge so we ended up taking a unique way to get to the border. We took a 4 seater speed boat up the Mekong river. These speed boats were not your fancy Kidder or any other brand of ski boat. The boats were homemade wood boats that only stick and a foot out of the water and have a big turbo diesel Toyota engine on the back. Due to the closeness of the water and the...

It was a sad day we had to leave Cambodia for Thailand! After a nice scenic bus ride to the border we crossed immigration and thought we would have a nice drive to Bangkok. The 12 of us, crammed into a 12 passenger van argued with 2 drivers if there was room for an extra and finally started a harrowing drive to Bangkok. We truly think our driver was crazy!! Yes we know we survived India driving but they all drive crazy and it is a strange system that works. ...