In a shifting of traditional colour symbolism, the king now is represented by pink – on his birthday in December millions donned pink t-shirts to dance in the streets – and the anti-coup rebels, who support Taksin wear red. Sarah, Ed and I met a taxi driver who was a card-carrying red one day in Bangkok. Both he – and Mai – mentioned their worries that if the reds and the yellows can’t reconcile their differences the country may end up in civil war. I managed not to suggest that they all wear orange.

Joking aside, it seems that the corruption here is getting frightening and the mafia has its hand in everything. Watch this space…
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Maybe its because Prachuap Khiri Khan (‘Pra-juaap’ to those in the know) is a little off the beaten track – located bang centre in the tourist wilderness between Bangkok and Surat Thani (the jumping off point for Ko Pha Ngan) – and that I wasn’t expecting a rocking time but it’s not just Mai (above) who makes for good company. The westerners I meet are an unusually varied and interesting lot, and all lone wolves like myself.

Two of them are cyclists, an English bloke riding from Chang Mai to Phuket and an Aussie who’s on his way to China (davecyclesasia.blogspot.com). There are also a couple of German girls, both here nursing broken hearts, and an old American dude who has been to Prachuap Khiri Khan 25 times and this time is here for a full two months of drinking a bottle of Samsong a night and talking a fair amount of well-intended gibberish.

I end up in a fight with a drunk Irish carpenter about the book (and film) Into the Wild. For the uninitiated it’s the true story of a boy who finished Uni and then threw away all his worldly possessions and severed all links with his past to follow a dream of living wild in Alaska. This guy “Willie” thinks the boy was a god (‘Down with western imperialism’); I think he was selfish to leave his parents without a way to know he was ok. Willie thinks that he was building a brave new life for himself out in the bush; I’m more inclined to believe foolhardy and underprepared.

We eventually make up and compromise on Chris McCandless’ (the guy in the book) last thought in his diary: that “Happiness is not real unless it is shared.” In one of those moment of tipsy traveler togetherness we agree that that applies to us too: although we are all enjoying our own journey, travelling for our own reasons, it’s nights like this one in Thailand and the meeting of so many others also on their own quests – same, same but different, that makes it so exciting and give our own journeys meaning. Or at least that’s what we came up with after a few Singhas anyway.
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And that, ladies and gentleman, was my last night in Thailand, probably for a long, long time.

[photos to follow]

Worship here at the Temple of Bad Singing

Vietnam has several main religions: Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, Catholicism and, most importantly, Karaoke. You can find temples to the last of these on every street corner and adherants of the faith don’t just visit on Sundays but pretty much every day of the week.

Who would we be to snub the local culture? I decided it would be very rude indeed so for my birthday I ventured to a special private service in District 5, with a few of my most pious mates. It’s always strange to join in with someone else’s religion but luckily there were books full of hymns to help us.

The best thing about religion is that it brings out the, shall we say, fervour, in everyone. Or maybe that was the communion wine. Certainly there was a lot of praising going on…

Feel the rapture!!

Such piety!

Praise be!

Parasols on sale at the fabulous Hmong tribal craft market, Luang Prabang

A few days in Luang Prabang will doubtless be one of the highlights of any trip to Indo-china. A couple of weeks there allows you to sample most of what the city has to offer in terms of sights, excursions, food and drink, accommodation and activities. So Jamie and I – having been here for almost two weeks – have compiled a guide to the best, the best value and the best avoided of Luang Prabang tourist culture.

Accommodation

The good
Santi Resort
On the outskirts of the city, this opulent colonial-style mansion has tasteful rooms and a tasty restaurant but would get the award just for the stunning paddy-field view from the bar that floats on the lily pond.

The cheap
Muong Lao
If the free wifi starts working again, this would be the perfect place to stay for the budget traveler, who also gets a very comfortable bed, TV, air con, hot showers and free travel advice for their £5 a night. Also with on-site cafe.

The ugly
Merry Guesthouse 2
The ‘own bathroom’, which has a blocked drain, is the highlight of a grubby living experience that leaves you itching and not with the desire to return. Additional sideshow in the form of the moodiest landlady in all Asia, probably.

Eating

L'Elephant: a colonial cafe with wonderful grub

The good
L’Elephant
It’s worth breaking with the usual traveler adherence to local cuisine just for a sense of eating out in history at this colonial French cafe. Good cafe classics, like onion soup with thick cheese crust, mix well with more exciting options, such as buffalo steak or perch fresh from the Mekong.

The cheap
Ancient House
There may only be three things on the menu (noodle soup, noodle soup or noodle soup) but they’re all great and quite as nice for breakfast (the Lao way) as for dinner. Order the ‘fur’ noodle soup and get a bewildering accompaniment of fresh greenery, chili pastes, condiments and herbs to go with (and all for 6,000kip – about 45p).

The ugly
Sisavangvong bar
It’s not just that the service here is slow and occasionally rude and the food is boring, it’s also that the music, which blazes loudly at all hours, encompasses the worst selection of western pop from the last four decades – Peter, Paul and Mary anyone?

Sights

The gold stupa on the top of Phu Si can be seen from miles around

Royal Palace Museum
Former home of the Luang Prabang royal family (who were exiled in 1975), this early 20th century mansion is now home to many pretty things relating to the reign of Lao kings. The highlight is a room full of gifts from foreign heads of state, including some moon rock from Richard Nixon.

The cheap
Phu si (or Phousy)
This hill dominates LP and the big gold stupa on its summit can be seen from all over the city. Worth the sweaty climb for stupendous views and many beautiful golden Buddhas.

The ugly
Night markets
All along Th Sisavangvong from the Royal Palace to tourist information is closed for a night market selling same-samey overpriced tat, for the most part. More exciting are the offal-wielding food stall owners round the corner who attempt to force feed you the local sausage, oozing with fat, or deep fried chicken feet.

Activities

A cooking class puts the icing on the cake (metaphorically speaking)

The cheap
Big Brother Mouse
This is the single most rewarding thing to do in LP – forget giving alms to the monks in the morning (also a great thing to do), donating time at this literacy centre to help local kids learn English is immensely rewarding. Just turn up any morning at nine (the building’s just behind the Three Nagas restaurant) and spend a couple of hours reading with these friendly interested kids – you’ll be sure to learn more than you teach.

The ugly
Luang Prabang Bowling
Not technically ugly as it’s lots of fun, but messy in the extreme – after all the bars close at a 10.30 curfew this is the place to go to drink (and bowl) until 3pm. There’s no need for bowling shoes but you may need your hard-drinking hat.

Drinking

The good
Utopia
There should be a prize just for finding this place. Despite the frequent flyering done by bored locals down on the Nam Khan it’s hidden down several winding backstreets. The prize is getting there: it’s breathtakingly gorgeous setting over the river provides the perfect end to any LP day.

The cheap
Hive
Hive may not be the smartest bar in town but it’s definitely the coolest. DJs roll out plenty of favourites from the early naughties as well as the latest thing to a mixed crowd. Other bars on the same strip are also cool but this place gets extra kudos for its Laos-shaped bee-hive logo.

The ugly
Khob Chai and Ban Aphay
Obnoxious people beerily peering at football on the largest screen in history is not what foreign travel is all about. Avoid.

Go to Luang Prabang for the sights, stay for the atmosphere, food, and people. A southeast Asia must-visit.

It was then that she realised that she was a total lightweight

Just before Lent my mum, sister, boyfriend and I made a pact – no booze before Easter. In Ireland this is called taking the Pledge and it keeps beer-soaked hoary old Irish men off the sauce for a bit. We hoped it would do the same for us.

I had an ulterior motive. Not being religious, I was determined to try the sober life for the sake of my health and bank balance, as well as sanity, in the stressful preparation stage before going away.

It was hard at first. Jamie fell off the (band)wagon just 6 days in, leaving me to carry the candle for our household. My sister decided that Lent only applied to Monday to Saturday so would get obliterated in the hours after Midnight on Sunday morning and raise a glass on boozy family Sunday lunches, while I looked on like a wolf at the door of an orphanage.

I was amazed by my own willpower though. After 3 days at a family history fair the first weekend I was desperate for a glass of wine. I resisted. During the long, warm, unfeasibly-summery evenings in early March I could have cheerfully assassignated a cold beer or two, but I resisted. By the end of two weeks I felt smug, by four positively saintly.

However, despite the obviously plusses, my mood was little short of demonic. I was cranky, irritable, stressed out. With no glass of wine as little stress reliever, acting like a circuit breaker, my thoughts went round and round and my emotions bubbled over like a neglected saucepan on a hot stove.

On evenings out with laughing mates I often felt out-of-sorts, irritated beyond measure with the slurred giggling speech of some of my closest friends. Like Fun Bobby, in Friends before me, I realised what put the spark in my firecracker, the bounce in my step after a long day at the office.

So although I was spending next to nothing, my health improved, my skin was soft and clear, I was so angry, so puritanical, so BORED. Now it’s Easter Sunday I will be proposing a toast – to a more fun Sarah, sharing the unhealthy life with friends and family and to a life lived with a full glass.

Here’s my latest bar review: The Castlebar in Ealing.