I’ve known for years that it’s a jungle out there, but here, it really is! In Borneo we have encountered more wildlife than in Duquesa Port on a Friday night. Admittedly, far less dangerous! Our morning meeting with a group of Orangutans was the undoubted highlight. We had been advised by our guide to refrain…

I, inadvertently, made a reservation for two nights at a nudist guest house called ‘The Secret Sanctuary – perhaps that was the secret! After a well needed sleep and a morning tour around the grounds, we found ourselves enchanted and have decided to throw our caution and attire to the wind and extend here …..…

I thought I should end the shaggy dog story – it only seems fair. Loula is good, she is a strong girl with genuinely caring owners – though sadly, there  is a twist! When we first encountered Clarence, her master, and his gorgeous family – we explained all – one of his first questions was,…

Our lowest point in The Cameron Highlands came yesterday, when Andrew and I witnessed a terrible collision between a beautiful, gentle honey-coloured dog and a motorcyclist! As with all accidents with which I have had the misfortune to be connected, everything occurred in slow motion. We both watched as this gentle creature decided to cross…

Malaysia has revealed herself to be a country fecund with Oriental unexpectedness. The famous food in the scruffy ‘World Heritage City’ of Georgetown, for which we were longing, proved to be somewhat disappointing and sometimes inedible. We found this irritating, as stuffing ourselves is a subject both close to my own and Andrew’s stomach! The…

Let us not discuss the fourteen hour bus trip that brought us, bumpily, to these beautiful islands. Let us also not talk about the decor on the vehicle – suffice to say, the soft furnishings  made ‘Big Fat Gypsy Weddings’ look practically slimline. I thought, at our first stop, we were going to be asked…

We have been having a marvellous time in Vientiane, capital of Laos , a city full of diversity. A place where the now meets the then with no apparent friction whatsoever. Yesterday, I had a private cookery demonstration at the Lao international food fair. I was shown how to make ‘papaya salad’ from scratch, with…

Au revoir Luang Prabang! Goodbye Luang Prabang, or as Andrew insists on calling it, ‘Prang Labang’! I’m still clinging on to the possibility that he’s doing it for comic effect, but after a week here, the joke is starting to wear as thin as a stale ‘After Eight’ mint! We shall miss this little ‘town’.…

4.30 am – A Call To Alms! We’d both heard stories of the saffron- shrouded Buddhist monks who walk the streets of Luang Prabang at dawn. Or rather, Andrew had heard them from me. So when a chilly, dark 4.30am came ‘a calling, we both rose – before the Lark had even considered warming up…

What a day this has been – what a great mood we’re in – why, it’s almost like being in Laos’! What a country! Rarely, nowadays, do we find an authenticity and kindness that is beyond blogs! This place is charming. We had croissant this morning the French colonial hangover is ever present. Comme fantastique!…