READ the latest blog entry by Bourne End resident Sarah Rees, 22 is embarking on the journey of a lifetime with a three-month train trip from Russia to Thailand. (From Bucks Free Press)

READ the latest blog entry by Bourne End resident Sarah Rees, 22 is embarking on the journey of a lifetime with a three-month train trip from Russia to Thailand.

11:36am Friday 16th October 2009

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September has whizz-popped into October with barely a pause for breath - somehow my slow nomadic life has got miraculoulsly busy (if I can use the B-word without offending people who are actually busy!).

I must do a quick rewind to my final port of call in Laos; Luang Prabang. The four days I spent there were rather super for a number of reasons. Firstly, the place is just picture perfect: narrow alleys squeezing between wooden houses over-run with blooming flowers and monks trundling the streets in their vivid orange robes, while temples nestle in every nook and cranny. The sun shone and I walked and walked, chatting to the young monks who were busy making bamboo boats for their upcoming festival and chomped on baguettes (they stuff them full of salad and chicken and chilli sauce...yum).

Reason number two for the marvellousness was that I did a 2-day elephant camp; staying in a gorgeous chalet in a forest clearing on the banks of the river and spending the day with my feet dangling around down the huge neck of a elephant as we swayed through the forest to give it a bath! Surreal and so special, although my hungry elephant paid no attention to my commands and I spent a great deal of time lodged in a bush while nelly's great trunk yanked at leaves! Part of the trip also included a trek up to one of the hill tribes, which was so fascinating. The dirty boys ran screaming and fighting in the dusty yards while the girls sat quiet and sombre, combing through their long hair. They loved to pose for our pictures, and eagerly crowded around to laugh at their images on the screen. I strolled their small village totally intrigued by the life that they lead: the contrast of the huge TV dish hanging off the side of a wooden hut, the rice grains lying out to dry in the sun while the pickers buy a coke from the local shop and listen to their small radio in the shade of their home. They were quiet and seemed almost morose, and I was touched by their patience with us camera-wielding tourists marching into their hard lives. Reason number three for my joy in LP was that I got a camera! My two companions on the elephant camp were a middle-aged Aussie couple with a real taste for travel. Alice was the elephant enthusiast (although got terrified once on it and sat clinging onto its head like she was falling off some precipice) and Ken was the photographer. He came equipped with three cameras and was horrified when he heard my tale of woe. He promptly handed me a camera, told me to use it and sold it to me after the camp. I was so happy I could have danced!

So I spent my last day in LP snapping away and then boarded a bus up to the Thai border at Huay Xai. A smiley Laos tour guide and I were the only passengers on this huge bus and we rattled around as the 15-hour over-night epic took us up through the (unlit) mountain roads, sweeping past villages clustered between the pot-holed road and the steep green drop. When we finally got to Huay Xai I just jumped in a tuktuk and said 'Thailand' and off we went, the hunched little man dropping me by a dusty path and pointing, 'Thailand'. There was a small office where I paid more money for a "stamp", and then wobbled down a sandy beach and into a longboat which chugged me two minutes across the river. I struggled up the other sandy beach (inclines are not good with The Bag) to another little office and was stamped right in to Thailand!

I spent a day in Chiang Rai which was a quiet city but amused an afternoon with a stroll around the messy market and endless snapping of the temples and the glorious ornate gold clock tower that flashes and sings on the hour. Another bouncy bus then deposited me into Chiang Mai, which is simply divine.

I have spent three days here and am feeling highly chilled. Despite being billed as frantic, I've found CM peaceful, cycling the little roads within the ancient walls of the city, constantly agape at the majesty of the temples. Just when I think I've seen all the good ones, another whopper looms and I load my memory card with more pictures of curling dragons and endless red and gold ceilings.

It has also been a time for indulgence (I will be back at work in a month so I'm going all out!): yoga in the mornings with a tall gangly Brit man, Thai massages for 2 pound, delectable food stalls, strange jumbly markets and an evening cookery course with a efficient Thai lady. And I found a starbucks. What more could anyone need?

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