Our first contact with Hue wasn't a great success. Tired and sweaty from the train we stumbled out on to the busy streets. I got us lost, we got hassled by touts, Theo almost threw up and there wasn't an empty taxi in sight. Things picked up later after we had recovered and in the … Continue reading Hue – Royals, Riches and…Rengiss?
"You must see Ha Long Bay!" the Vietnamese woman screamed at us. She worked in the hotel next to ours, arranging Ha Long Bay tours, and resembled a small cyclone (see previous post). "Now there is storm but in two days should be fine but just in case don't book anything! You must, must see … Continue reading Ha Long Bay – A New World Wonder
Our first glimpse of Hanoi was as our plane circled over a flat and rural landscape. I thought we must have been in the wrong place when I looked out at the insular clusters of habitation spread out across the farmland. It took a while to get the visas sorted out, the guys in the … Continue reading Hanoi – Motorbikes, Mayhem and Moist Marionettes
Pai! July 20th. A big day. Our first excursion outside the beautiful city of Luang Prabang and time for Mr Riley to pull out the big guns. Why? Because it was my 23rd birthday. And boy was it the best birthday ever! We were picked up by the All Laos Elephant Camp at 9am and … Continue reading Luang Prabang Part 2 – Birthday Boun Boun
The journey to Luang Prabang was supposed to take four hours, it actually took two and a half. Now every journey we'd done to date on our trip had taken longer than we had expected it to. We were surprised and grateful to finally have a shorter one. However, we spent the whole journey clinging … Continue reading Luang Prabang Part 1 – Oh La La
It was strange going back to somewhere we'd been before, used as we had become to perpetually moving forwards. After the beauty of Muang Ngoi the majesty of Nong Khiaw's resident mountains seemed a little diminished but it was still a breathtaking sight. A vast mountain rises up straight from the river and the town struggles for … Continue reading Nong Khiaw – When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Wasted
And we thought the buses were rammed! The boat up the river from Nong Khiaw to Muang Ngoi was so packed that its edges were barely six inches above the water level. We all piled in long after we thought the boat was full, people half sat on top of one another like a massive, … Continue reading Muang Ngoi – Resting Lady
Through the misted rain smeared windows of the bus I saw an old woman and a little girl struggling up hill. Like many of the walkers we had seen (mainly young children) they were barefoot and carried vast loads from straps slung around their foreheads. The Road to Nowhere The bus crawled along, scarcely topping … Continue reading Udomxai – On the Road to Nowhere
The bus wound its way through grand hillsides before climbing through the most amazing scenery I have ever seen. The mountains were sheer and jagged and covered in dense foliage. Staring out the bus window it took my breath away. I couldn't believe that I was actually looking at that place where all adventures start, … Continue reading Luang Namtha – Raining Cats and Dogs and Giant Spiders
Border crossings. You never know how they're going to go. One day one official might decide to charge you a little but extra might decide that they actually don't want to let you into the country unless you pay a separate fee. You can queue for hours or for minutes, and so it was with … Continue reading Chiang Khong & Huay Xai – For Crying Out Lao-d
Emma Pocklington 