Hanoi
We stepped off the train in Hanoi at 5am in the morning and were greeted by the chill of a misty platform which was quickly filling up with taxi and tuk-tuk drivers. We had been advised to always go with one of the green and…
Tagged “South East Asia”
The Reunification Express
A thousand miles from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi in a four-berth sleeper, on the line the French built, the war split and Vietnam reunified in 1975.
Night Herons and Elephants of the Forgotten City in Huế
Huế is a town with a rich history and a turbulent past which has dragged it through everything from the feudal dynasty of the Nguyễn Lords in 17th-19th centuries through to the Tet offensive and massacre at Huế by Communist forces in 1968 and the…
The Fabric of Hoi An
Hoi An is a small town, almost half way between Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon and Hanoi on the East coast of Vietnam. Very accessible by train and then bus or taxi from nearby Danang, it provides a compelling antidote to the hectic city life of…
Crossing the Mekong Delta into Vietnam
Kep to Ho Chi Minh City through the new Hà Tiên border: a dirt track, a casino, then four hours of coach and chain ferry along the Mekong.
Kampot Pepper and Le Bout du Monde in Kep
The riverside idyll of Kampot lies just an hour and a half's drive west from Sihanoukville. There used to be a train which ran between the two every other day but the passenger line has been suspended due to bad tracks, so we opted for…
Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville to get a Vietnamese Visa
Siem Reap to Sihanoukville by bus — four hours on half-made road to Phnom Penh, two more to the coast, to collect a Vietnamese visa in minutes.
Angkor Wat
I have heard Angkor Wat spoken of as many things - 'pineapple towers', rubble mountain, overgrown jungle, the Tomb Raider set, magical this, spiritual that, enchanting, devastating and even 'Disneylandish'. But none of these really prepare you for the experience itself. It's one of those…
A Window to the Wetlands: Thailand to Cambodia by Train and Tuk-Tuk
Bangkok to Siem Reap overland: a £1.50 third-class train to Aranyaprathet, the Poipet border on foot, then three hours by shared taxi.
Moths, Monks and Prickly Heat in Bangkok
Our first impressions of Bangkok were of a strange, hedonistic city combining old-world markets, beautiful temples, seedy strip clubs and slum-like houses with manic motorbikes, gigantic shopping centres, banks and LCD screens. The heat was intense on the first day we arrived and a dust-like…
Trang to Bangkok by Bus
828 km and thirteen hours overnight by double-decker bus from Trang to Bangkok, after Chinese New Year sold out every sleeper train for weeks.
An Island Border Crossing: Koh Lipe, Thailand
Koh Lipe has no airport and no jetty — you arrive by ferry from Langkawi, transfer to a longtail boat, and are stamped in at a hut on the sand.
The Great Hornbills of Langkawi
Watching great hornbills on Pulau Langkawi, a few kilometres south of the Malaysia–Thailand border, after the dawn ferry across.
Street Food and Art in Penang
After we had spent a few days in the highlands, we had to brave another hairy trip through the winding mountain roads (it turned out that the driving was just as crazy on the descent). The journey to Penang took only a few hours and…
Amok Curries, Mango Salads and Morning Glory: Cambodian Cuisine
Amok curry, green mango salad and morning glory — the dishes the Khmer call distinctly Cambodian, and the influences they were drawn from.
Thailand
There is perhaps nothing more satisfying than enjoying a good Thai curry in Thailand, where the taste is different enough from the varieties you've tried back home to make you wonder... This je ne sais quoi is partly thanks to the fantastic range of fresh,…
The Cameron Highlands: the Land of Tea and Strawberries
I was quite looking forward to the bus ride up to the Cameron Highlands, envisaging a slow drive along winding jungle paths into the green, misty hills. This was before I had experienced driving in South East Asia however, having only had a little taste…
Kuala Lumpur: a Tale of Two Cities
Our guesthouse in Kuala Lumpur (referred to as 'KL' by just about everyone in it) was a very laid back place and a good introduction to the beginning of our journey across South East Asia. It was here that we were introduced to the quirks…
Wind Powered Cargo Ships and Arriving in Malaysia
Off the AS Carelia at Port Klang in the early hours of 6 January, a US$300 port-agent bill, then the one-hour Komuter train into Kuala Lumpur.
Tropical Storms and Piracy Warnings
A piracy warning faxed to the bridge off East Timor, a tropical storm in the Timor Sea, and the run down the Malacca Strait towards Port Klang.