Udon Hotel Udon Thani

... laid back Frenchness of the town - there's a Champs Elysee & Arc de Triumphe replica and loads of wide avenues lined by Frangipane (apparently) trees. To be honest a lot of the day has been spent in here, taking advantage of the good, cheap internet and swapping photos with the guys before we go our seperate ways. As I write this I'm waiting for a bus to take us south overnight, my only worry is that it's a VIP sleeper... I'll keep you posted!

... to place the odor of whiskey. all 3 of them were completely bombed and i had to turn im's sleeping face away because the fumes were just too much for me to handle. after about 5 days in isaan we were back on the bus and headed down to khao lak so i could get some diving in before i went back to america and also so i could pick up all my bags that i had left there when i headed to indonesia. we had a few nice days on the ...

... Our attendant was a cheerful fellow with a good line in Borat quotes that kept me amused. We did our best to sleep but the jerking and sudden halts of the train made it fairly difficult. Still, it was cosy in our little bunks. The following morning and when we thought we should be arriving in Nong Khai and the Laos border, we were still a fair way short. Turns out some wildlife had gone suicidal and jumped the track. We got to our destination about 3 hours late after ...

... Motorbike man no.2) and his wife who took us out for a ride about 100km round trip to Ban Chiang, which is one of the earliest prehistoric known in SE Asia. There the excavation pits had been reconstructed and around 52 human skeletons had been found there along with loads of pots and other artifacts. It was really good display, which I did not expect in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately all the human remains had been taken to Hawaii but the ...

... foxes and trapeezes that land you in the water. We were at this stage with a few guys who had tubed the day before, so on their advice we skipped the next couple of bars, yes there are many, and headed to one with the biggest swing. Matt and I both passed the initiation on the very high trapeeze, and once was definitely enough cause it was really scary to jump off and let go into the water. Can't quite remember just how long we stayed at that particular ...

... live music every night, so I've been there a few times and really enjoyed it. I'll be sorry to leave here, but I've heard a lot of good things about Chiang Mai. I'll be starting my course on Monday and its going to be pretty hard work there on in for a month! I haven't had time to upload the photos to this site yet, you can see them here: www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=24288&am p;l=639d2&id=559965371 Lots of Love Vicky xxx

... spent because the ride could equal anything Alton Towers has on offer. The breaks didn't really work very well and everytime he dodged some other traffic to take a corner the whole bike felt like it was going to tip over. I was being booted off my seat by the toddler behind me and my foot kept slipping off the bit it was resting on, but we did arrive without incident and the driver looked well chuffed with his efforts! Our destination, Mut Mee, was just ...

... the adventure. See what people on package tours are missing??? Our destination was only 30 km south of the city, which was conveniently located off my little map. The description said that it was located along the banks of the Mekong so our logic was to follow the river. Naturally, the road gave out and we bounced along growing increasingly suspicious that we were headed in the wrong direction. With Pete driving that left me to ask for directions, which involved me walking up ...

... where she had a nice lunch and we chatted with Dang, our eager waiter. Just as she was finishing her meal, Marianne called - phew. We met and the gals prepared for their flight, being nice enough to take home a bunch of our wintry clothes we no longer had a need for (thank you - our packs were suddenly so much lighter!). We said our goodbyes and off they went, in search of a taxi to the airport. Apparently the thunder and lightning that began just as they ...

... and smaller. So the scenario in which everything fell into place and I'd manage to get trains all the way from Ho Chi Minh City to Chengdu, China seemed pretty dubious. That's why I've resorted to another option. On my round-the-world flight deal, you're allowed four flights per continent, and I had only booked three in Asia. Cathay Pacific is part of the oneworld alliance, and they fly from HCMC to Hong Kong (their hub). I called up and found ...