Think Sri Lanka and most of you think white sandy beaches, 4 star hotels and cricket but with a 2000 year old culture, countless national parks and a seriously tropical climate it has so much more to offer.

We began our trip with the breath-taking train ride to Kandy; the cultural hub of Sri Lanka. This is the city in which many of the countrys leading figures choose to reside. It’s also home to the golden-roofed Temple of the Sacred Tooth and houses Sri Lanka’s most important Buddhist relic – a tooth of the Buddha. On a daily basis thousands of Buddhists and tourists alike visit the temple to pay their homage. At 500 m above sea level Kandy has its own micro climate, noticeably cooler and wetter than other urban areas the ever changing weather creates a rich green landscape.






Delving deeper inland we encountered the varied array of wildlife, home to elephants, water buffalo, a range of monkeys and even leopards, Sri Lankas national parks are simply worth a visit. But it’s the landscape that truly takes your breath away, from Stunning waterfalls to a multitude of ever green tea plantations the scenery really is spectacular. Houses and even farming plots have been carved into the dramatic steep sided mountains and mud slides are a continual problem . For the farming community it is a hard life and makes up the vast majority of Sri Lankas impoverished workforce. 70% of the country still live in third world conditions and a little inland away from the tourist hub it’s never too far away.

And if your not farming inland your living off the sea using traditional methods. Though these villages are very slowly beginning to be taken over by the tourist train – still in its infancy – with civil unrest now out of the way it’s only a matter of time before more of these sleepy villages are replaced by hotel fronts.










Of course the main reason people visit Sri Lanka is for its towering palm trees and white sand beaches… and there’s no shortage of these on this charming little island. Though the South now has a couple of established resorts it’s not too hard to find yourself lazing the days away on an empty desert of white sand and turquoise sea.

Caked in splendour, white sandy beaches, dense jungles and a history as depressing as it is inspiring Cambodia really does have it all for travellers wanting to experience something new and different. It is a nation still recovering from one of the worst genocides of our time, one that saw the murder of between 1.5 and 3 million Khemers, over 25% of the population, between 1975 and 1979. Intellectuals were the ones targeted the most with the vast majority of graduates executed in what came to be known as the killing fields, over 20 000 of these sites have been discovered with the largest just outside the capital Phnom Penh. . Now 30 years on the population remains young with very few elders, the capital may possess a few sky scrapers but it remains leap years away from Ho Chi Minh and Bangkok. The main roads are often nothing more than dirt tracks and it’s one place in the world where breaking your leg would really be unadvised. Yet despit all this there remains remarkable optimism and energy amongst it’s inhabitants, one that leaves you leaving Cambodia with nothing but admiration for it’s people and it’s amazing culture.

In 1860 Missionaries came across some substantial ruins in the dense Cambodian jungle. Now it has been unearthed as Angkor Wat the 7th Wonder of the World. Built nearly a thousand years ago, the ‘mother of all temples’ remains the largest religious building in the world. During the Angkorian period, the Khemer empire ruled much of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam and this was there prized possession, unrivalled in size or grandeur. Quite why these temples were allowed to be lost to the jungle is still unclear but a change in climate is thought to have led to years of droughts. For Angkor, built upon a complex hydrologic system built to take advantage of a monsoonal climate drought brought starvation and the mass evacuation of an entire civilization.

Now this was an exciting day for me… Slightly worried about lugging my gear around Asia I took only took half my kit with me. Without any form of telephoto lens I’d struggled to always capture natural pictures of some of the locals. But today was my lucky day as I’d become friends with a fellow photographer who just happened to be carrying my beloved 70-200 mm. We went to a minority village that lived among the floating villages…

So with the trip coming to an end and still a feeble tan in process it was time to head to the beaches. So with a brief stay in Sihanoukville we headed to the islands, Koh Rong and Koh Rong Solomon. These remain fairly untouched by the travelling masses, particularly Solomon, with many preferring to head to the party islands Thailand possesses. But there are signs that these islands will go down the same road. Koh Rong’s harbour and main tourist beach now has a number of bars and hostels with a steady flow of travellers coming and going on a daily basis. Plans for it’s largest beach to go down the same route begins this month with the erection of it’s first hotel. Times be changing for these paradise islands… Get there now before it’s too late!

Well what can I say about Vietnam, a country still visibly recovering from the most horrific of wars. Without help from much of the Western world the extraordinary extent of damage left by agent orange will haunt this country for the next couple of centuries. But amongst the poverty and the hard working agricultural lifestyle the country is blessed with a ravishing coastline, emerald-green mountains, breathtaking national parks, insane cities (unless u happen to like mopeds) and cultural interest in abundance.

Our trip began in Ho Chi Minh City, the financial hub of Vietnam, a city full of vibrance, fine cuisine and bikes… Crossing the road really is an experience in itself. We headed South down the Mekong Delta. Life on the Delta revolves around the river with fishing and local floating markets aplenty. Flat padi fields mark the landscape around the river, producing over 50% of Vietnamese rice. Unfortunately our trip did not stop to take these in.

From the Delta we headed to the hidden pearl of the South, ‘Phu Quoc island’. Lined with white sandy beaches and dense national parks there remains much political debate over who actually owns the land. Though officially the Vietnamese own it, the Cambodians lay claim to it and in turn it’s led to a large miltary base being established. During the later years of the war the islands prison cells became renowned for carrying out the most brutal forms of torture. Now it is fast becoming Vietnams number one growing tourist destination with plans to turn it into the Vietnam equivalent of Phuket, the introduction of an airport in late 2012 may well spell the end of a tranquil getaway.

After whizzing around ‘Phu Quoc’ on mopeds and exploring it’s many hidden beaches we headed inland to the Central Highlands where I took a cultural trip with a guide along it’s many winding roads and dramatic landscapes. Ethnic minority tribes inhabit much of the region with many still practicing their century old traditions and ways. During the war many battles were fought here as the Americans struggled to establish an air base. The steep sided mountains and single track roads meant they were often sitting ducks for the Vietcong guerrillas hiding above in the cover of dense jungle. In turn vast amounts of agent orange and Napalm were dropped, the after effects still remain.

Following a very brief stay in the now Russian populated Nha Trang we headed North to Hoi An, the ‘Venice of Asia’ and a cosmopolitan melting pot , a delightful blend of Asian and French influences. You could spend days losing yourself walking round the many windy roads but it’s all part of the experience. Arts and crafts are aplenty and suits are being tailored on every corner. The River that runs through the town centre comes alive at night with lights and floating candles. Restaurants line the banks serving up some of Vietnam’s best dining experiences.

Cold weather and poor packing meant travelling further North would become impractical, so South to the coast was the only option. There’s little I can really say about Mui Nai as it was New Year and cultural experiences seem to take a bit of a back seat. Still what else is there to do when your lounging on a beach than get your camera out. That brought the end to our Vietnam adventure. A quick stop over in Ho Chi and then onwards to Cambodia.