Thailand, Cambodia & Laos

(Much typing still to be done on this page, plus pics)  We went on a three week tour of these countries, courtesy of Gecko Travel in October.  It was absolutely fantastic and I would recommend it without hesitation to anyone who likes holidays that don't just involve sitting on your backside by the beach or hotel pool.  The easiest way to tell is to do it via the itinerary, so here goes.  First line for each day is the standard itinerary statement.  Directly after that is what happened.

Day 1 (9/10): Departure from London Heathrow airport for Bangkok.
Travelled down courtesy of our friend Darren, who kindly offered to drive my car there and back and also come and get us on our return.  Checked in with plenty of time to spare, as we always leave very early just in case; many people missed our flight to Egypt thanks to a horrendous crash on the motorway.  Made it to Frankfurt, despite Lufthansa's best efforts.  They cancelled the flight before ours, as the pilots managed to bang it's tail on the runway on landing and it had to be checked out, obviously.  This caused much consternation amongst our fellow travellers as Lufthansa tried to fit two plane loads of people into one plane.  We'd checked in so early we had our boarding passes already, so much smugness.  We'd have been ok anyway, we think, as priority was being given to those connecting to long haul onward flights.  As it was, departure was delayed over an hour.  We arrived at Frankfurt, walked three gates down and got on the plane to Bangkok.  Fortunately, so did our luggage.

Day 2 (10/10): Early afternoon arrival in Bangkok and then on to Chiang Mai City in Northern Thailand. Check in to the guesthouse and an evening visit to the town’s famous night bazaar. 
Arrived at Bangkok without trouble and sat around in the airport for a couple of hours between flights.  Passed the time playing Scrabble on the terminal floor; Gretty won as usual.
After disembarking at Chiang Mai, met up with Mark Ord.  He's the director of Gecko and was our tour leader for the whole trip.  Rapidly renamed Mr Mark.  Our first activity of the holiday was push starting the guesthouse van that Mark had arrived in.  Much thanking and apologising from the driver.  After a dropping our stuff off and a quick shower, it was time to pile into two tuk tuks with the other people going on the tour - Kat, Inez and Ramon.  Also along was Wi, Mark's Thai girlfriend, who is a qualified tour leader.  Off to a restaurant and our first "taste of Thailand".  Wow!  The food there is superb!  The whole food thing was one of the highlights of the tour - all local produce eaten in local restaurants.  My mouth is watering at the thought.  After that, an early night for us exhausted travellers.

Day 3 (11/10): Departure for Chaing Rai and then transfer by local bus to the small town of Chaing Khong on the banks of the Mekong. Accommodation in a quiet family run riverside guesthouse.
After not much sleep, it was up again at 7am for breakfast.  Into the back of a van-pickup truck type thing and off to the bus station.

Day 4 (12/10): Day tour of the Golden Triangle including visits to Chiang Saen and Mae Sai on the Burmese Border.


Day 5 (13/10): Cross the Mekong River to Huay-Xai town – our entry point for the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Afternoon exploring the town with accommodation in local-style bamboo chalets.


Day 6 (14/10): Charter a riverboat for a journey down the Mekong, one of the world’s last remaining untamed rivers, winding through mountains and pristine forests to the ancient Lao capital of Luang Prabang.


Days 7 & 8 (15&16/10): Nestled in the mountains, long isolated from the outside world – the first ‘sealed’ road to the city being completed only 5 years ago – we’ll discover Luang Prabang’s fabulous temples, taste Lao delicacies (and Lao beer) in riverside cafes and stay in a converted French colonial villa.


Day 9 (17/10): Excursion to the nearby Pak Ou cave temples and waterfall.


Day 10 (18/10): Travel by local bus over the spectacular central highlands to the present day capital of Vientiane on the Thai border.


Day 11 (19/10): Visit some of the sights and markets of this sleepy capital city.


Day 12 (20/10): Leisurely morning in Vientiane before crossing the Mekong again to Nongkhai town in Thailand for a night sleeper train to Bangkok.


Day 13 (21/10): Morning flight from Bangkok to Phnom Penh – afternoon visit to the stunning Royal Palace and the Silver Pagoda.


Day 14 (22/10): Tour of some of Phnom Penh’s sights, including the notorious ‘Killing Fields’ and an opportunity to visit the ‘Khmer Rouge Genocide Museum’ to see how Cambodians are attempting to come to terms with their recent history.


Day 15 (23/10): Travel up the Tonle Sap river to Siem Reap in Western Cambodia. Afternoon relaxing in this small provincial town with a visit to the local market, or boat trip on the lake.


Days 16 & 17 (24&25/10): Angkor Wat – an unforgettable two day tour of this fabulous site – it’s ruined palaces and vast jungle clad temples – words can not do it justice – see it for yourself!


Day 18 (26/10): Boat journey across the vast, scenic Tonle Sap lake to the town of Battambang, where we’ll take in some of the city’s markets and French colonial architecture.


Day 19 (27/10): Travel by train or road, depending on the weather conditions to the Thai border at Poipet and on to Bangkok.


Day 20 (28/10): Morning recovering from the Cambodian roads and an afternoon tour of some of the Thai capital’s most famous sight – the Grand Palace, Temple of the Dawn, Temple of the Emerald Buddha (an alternative itinerary will be available for those who have already visited these sights).


Day 21 (29/10): Bangkok. TBD. Evening departure for London.


Day 22 (30/10): Morning arrival at London Heathrow airport.
Err, no.  Not Lufthansa's fault this time.  Heathrow and all London airports were closed due to high crosswinds.  We lucked out and managed to get on a flight to Birmingham.  I sent Gretty on ahead while I waited for our luggage to be unloaded.  I then had a mad dash across Frankfurt airport, knocking some kid flying - after he looked straight at my rapidly approaching trolley and stepped out in front of me anyway; nabbing some old French woman's trolley at the top of the escalator - "that's mine", but she had no luggage; and a run in with a huge, stereotypical German customs woman - "I vant to see inside".  Despite all these classic and farcical encounters, I made it to the flight.