Kayaking in Vietnam’s turquoise Ha Long Bay, boating among colourful stalls at the floating markets in Bangkok, relaxing on the paradisiacal beaches of Bali. A yoga retreat in Laos’ leafy Luang Prabang, perhaps, or swimming in the waters of Kuang Si. When we think about a trip to Southeast Asia,…
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Hue to Hoi An: Following in the footsteps of Jeremy Clarkson
It’s admittedly taken a while for me to get round to writing this blog, partly because my experience in Vietnam was so incredible and multi-faceted that I’ve been wondering how I’m going to be able to do it justice, and partly because I’ve had so much other writing to do…
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North of the Nam: “Where you from?”
Vietnam was the country I’d been most excited about travelling through. I was to spend six weeks travelling from north to south, starting in Hanoi and ending in Ho Chi Minh City. With hindsight I can tell you that the country provided a lot of the best experiences of my…
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Laos-Laos, BeerLao and how Laos is terrible at naming its national drinks
My journey from Bangkok to Laos was in the form of a long overnight bus ride that involved me getting scammed out of significant $$$ due to booking through a Khao San Road travel agent instead of just going to the bus station myself. The extra baht I gave them…
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The Thai-lands, a delicious slice of Pai and #KhaoSanProblems
It took me almost three days to get from Rio de Janeiro to Bangkok – I left my Copacobana Beachfront apartment at 10am on Saturday after a night of partying under the arches in Lapa, and VOILA after three flights (Rio>Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo>Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi>Bangkok) and an eight-hour…
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I <3 Brazil (and Argentina and - to some extent - Paraguay)
My travels so far – as interesting as they have been – have been packed with trials and tribulations, from the uphill battle of the Inca Trail and a bumpy 4×4 ride across Bolivia’s Uyuni Salt Flats to the bugs, bats and Piranhas of the Pantanal Wetlands. This led my…
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The Pantanal Wetlands: Becoming one with nature, or; “Guys, there’s a toad in the pasta”
“Scary” “Horrific” “Mortifying” “Gruesome” “Cool” These were just some of the words my fellow travellers came up with to describe our adventure into the Pantanal Wetlands. “But”, you may ask, “what sort of adventure could throw up such a variety of impassioned adjectives?” Surely not this beautiful place below! Let…
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Gringos in Bolivia: Salt, silver and selfies
La Paz is like no city I have ever seen before and I knew this from the moment our bus hit its outskirts. Chaotic, dangerous and incredibly scenic, its valleys brim with red-bricked houses which spill out over its hills and up its mountains and glaciers, while tiny tin slums…
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The Peruvian highlands: Guinea pigs are NOT pets!
As I struggled up the steep island hill, hindered by low oxygen, trying desperately to avoid any livestock that could be lurking in the night, I wondered exactly how my life had ended up here, and, more importantly, why I had paid for the pleasure. Oh, and did I mention…
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