| Thailand | | | | |
| | | | Laos |
| Travelling through Thailand is a great | | | | |
| experience public transport is great and | | | | Laos is an extremely beautiful although still |
| roads are in excellent condition. A great way | | | | primitive country to visit and local |
| to see some of the countryside is to rent a | | | | transport from villages is normally done on |
| motorbike. When renting a motorbike be sure | | | | converted trucks, with benches in the back |
| to check it out thoroughly this is easy | | | | for customers to sit on. Try to avoid |
| enough to say but important points like does | | | | travelling on this mode of transport when |
| the odometer or fuel gauge work these can | | | | coming or passing through fishing villages |
| come in handy later on in the trip, | | | | heading to the more centrally located towns, |
| especially if going long distances. The | | | | especially in the mornings. The reason is |
| motorbikes in Asia are built a little | | | | because the villagers tend to take their |
| differently with two brakes a hand brake | | | | produce which is mainly fish, including dried |
| (front wheel) and the other a foot brake | | | | fish to sell in the towns. This can make for |
| (back wheel). Try to use only the foot brake | | | | a very unpleasant experience as the truck is |
| when travelling fast as using the hand brake | | | | never really considered to be full and |
| will send you flying as it only applies | | | | sitting next to baskets of fresh and dried |
| pressure to the front wheel. Another common | | | | fish which stinks for hours is enough to test |
| mistake is when going uphill shifting down | | | | the stomach of any person. |
| gear while gassing the engine this tends to | | | | |
| result in a front wheelie and more often than | | | | Cambodia |
| not an accident. | | | | |
| | | | When travelling in Cambodia, locals like to |
| China | | | | take Taxis as they are quicker than the buses |
| | | | and manage to avoid the potholes better. The |
| China is extremely diverse and the Chinese | | | | only problem with this is that what the West |
| lead a completely different way of life to | | | | considers being a normal five door car with |
| the West making it a great experience to | | | | two seats in the front and three in the back |
| travel too. When travelling in China, the | | | | is considered in Cambodia to hold seven or |
| roads are excellent as are some of the trains | | | | sometimes eight people. The Cambodians will |
| and tracks. As large distances are involved | | | | fit four in the back and three or sometimes |
| there is a lot of overnight travel. Sleeper | | | | even four in the front. If a taxi holds eight |
| trains and buses are common as the local | | | | people then there would be four in the back |
| Chinese like to wake up at their destination. | | | | and two in the front passenger's seat a |
| | | | passenger in the driver's seat, the driver |
| One great tip I learnt while travelling in | | | | would then be squashed up to the passenger, |
| China on sleeper transport is never to take | | | | leaning against him to hold the wheel with |
| the bottom bunk. The reason for this is that | | | | his feet at an angle to reach the pedals. |
| on many overnight trains and buses the people | | | | This would be impossible in a manual car but |
| like to dispose of their rubbish on the floor | | | | some how it is managed in an automatic. |
| of the bus or train. This means that if you | | | | Travelling like this is extremely dangerous |
| are sleeping on the bottom bed you are likely | | | | and not recommended. |
| to have rubbish thrown down past you during | | | | |
| the trip. This is not that bad to deal with | | | | There is a general place where Taxis depart |
| but another past time is eating nuts and | | | | from and they don't depart till they are |
| spitting out the seed casings on the floor, | | | | full. A way to get around this is to buy two |
| this along with spitting makes the bottom | | | | or even three seats, effectively meaning you |
| bunk an interesting experience. Waking up to | | | | travel in more comfort and safety as this |
| find a pile of rubbish and spit on the floor | | | | means there would be less people in the Taxi. |
| by your bed doesn't exactly help either. | | | | |