Vientiane, Laos

In Laos' sleepy capital we ate. After that nasty bug Phil needed to restore himself and Sam just loved the flavours. Lao food is deliciously fresh with coriander, lemongrass, banana flower and lime as its staple ingredients.

Add to this mix a liberal dose of French influence and Vientiane was the first place on our travels where we could truly relax into filling ourselves up with great food.

Vang Vieng, Laos

Vang Vieng is a silly place where the thing to do is very silly indeed. We joined the teenage gap-year kids to indulge in... floating down the river, from bar to bar, in a tractor inner tube. As we said: very silly.

Luang Prabang, Laos

The history and beauty of Luang Prabang is unsurpassed. A place where orange-robed monks stroll alongside well-to-do tourists between the dozens of monasteries and French colonial buildings.

A shame then, for Phil, that it was his turn to be laid low by a tummy bug. Sam was left on her own to explore the UNESCO city and its sights.

Up early to enjoy the dawn spectacle of lines of monks snaking around the streets to collect alms from humble local believers.

Life On The Nam Ou River, Northern Laos.

On the bank of the Nam Ou river is where it all happens; boatmen jostle for business, children splash about and women natter whilst washing clothes, hair and lettuce.

In Meung Ngoi we simply kicked back in our bamboo bungalow and absorbed the rhythm of village life.

Until, that is, we found ourselves drilling "I see mountains and trees" to a classroom of teenagers. For a few lessons we were the guest English teachers in a school tucked in the jungle and overlooked by limestone karst mountains. In break-times we walked and kayaked to explore this sleepy backwater, alarmed to discover boats, benches, flowerpots and gateposts fashioned from old American bomb shells dropped in Nixon's 'Secret War'.

Once school broke up we joined the dog's dinner of holiday celebrations before floating further downstream to again join the mighty Mekong.

How English Teachers Relax (video clip)

Two fraught lessons and us novices hit the gin.

Nam Ha Protected Area, Laos

As we crossed the China-Laos border on another epic bus journey, it struck us that we had now travelled over 10,000 miles.

Almost on arrival, we chanced to meet Thong Wam who persuaded us to be guinea pigs on his untested new trail. We were soon off on our 2 day jungle recce in a party of 14 - including two village chiefs, various tourism/forestry officials and expert local guides.

Lunch, sitting on giant banana leaves and munching freshly-picked roots and bulbs dipped in hot chilli paste, made an exotic picnic. Whilst our companions artfully machete-hacked their way up through the thick jungle, we crashed and stumbled in their wake. Our overnight destination was a large Akha village in the hills.

We were clearly out of place in this traditional ethnic minority village where the women, topless but wearing elaborate headdresses, chewed on bright red betel nut, and the children stared with guarded curiosity at our big noses and blue eyes.