Moscow, Russia

May 21, 2010

The Final Chapter I'm in Moscow International Airport, awaiting a flight back to where my trip began: a journey that's taken me from Malaysia to Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos ends 183 days after it started in Balham, London. Along the way, i've slept in around sixty hostels and hotels, at friends' houses, on overnight buses and trains, at numerous campsites, on boats and in a camper van. I've shared accommodati...

Koh Phagnan, Thailand

May 14, 2010

Having survived Bangkok (we saw no evidence of trouble at all), we're currently sunning ourselves on the beach, topping up our tans and spending as little money as humanly possible. I've been really ill for the last week or so, which certainly helped in terms of economising - food was pointless and i've hardly ventured further than our hotel. This has given me plenty of time for reading, thinking and taking stock of the last few months... Th...

Vang Vieng, Laos

Apr 26, 2010

The aftermath is appalling. Dishevelled youths limp and shuffle through the streets, their bodies daubed in blue permanent marker, their eyes bloodshot and their bodies aching. It's early morning in Vang Vieng, Laos and the backpacker community is recovering from yesterday's tubing shenanigans. Tubing involves hiring an inflated tractor inner-tube, plonking yourself in it and floating down the Nam Song river. This sounds like good, wholesom...

Siem Reap, Cambodia

Apr 15, 2010

I spent an hour tonight hanging around on a Cambodian street corner. Contrary to what you might think, i was not soliciting. I was waiting for Rachel and Christina to arrive in Siem Reap ahead of tackling the temples of Angkor Wat. In normal circumstances my patience would've worn thin after sixty minutes of idling around, but it's the middle of Cambodia's new year celebrations and there was plenty to keep me amused... A hog roast was in fu...

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Apr 8, 2010

Is it okay to take photographs of a mass grave? Is it morally acceptable for a tourist to record images of human remains? Does it demonstrate a lack of respect? These are questions we needed to ask ourselves today as we visited two of the most significant sites in the history of Cambodia: Tuol Seng Prison and the Killing Fields of Choueng Ek.Less than thirty-five years ago, the tyrannical Pol Pot presided over a period of torture, oppression a...