Backpackers are wonderful creatures, but there’s always one isn’t there… or two, or three, or a bus-load! If you recognise yourself or your pal in these characteristics – don’t worry! This article is intended to be a light-hearted look at all of us and is not meant to offend anyone. I personally have committed these backpacker crimes myself – including the first one….

Just a few hours from the border of Thailand, you’ll stumble across the scruffy little town of Hpa An, which is actually the capital of the Kayin Province of Myanmar. While the town itself is nothing to write home about, the surroundings are beautiful, with enormous caves, and the awesome monolith of Mount Zwegabin, rising up amidst forest and rice fields to meet the clouds… A must stop during your trip to Burma!

Watch our video filmed at a night market in Mae Sot to learn a few Thai phrases to use when ordering food. Earn smiles from the locals and maybe a bit of discount on your purchases too! From how to ask for your meal not spicy, without MSG, or tell the waiter you’re vegetarian, to how to order a beer, with or without ice, or your fruit shake without sugar – these useful Thai phrases will help you kin dee (eat well) in Thailand!

In the heart of Chiang Mai’s Old Quarter, I stumbled upon an intriguing hole in a wall which led me to the derelict shell of an Abandoned Women’s Prison… Cell blocks with paint peeling off the walls, an old dining hall where a solitary bowl sits reminding us of the hundreds of prisoners that used to eat here and a dusty visitors room are all that’s left of this penitentiary of the past.

The Mae Hong Son Loop is lauded as one of the best motorbiking routes in the world and boasts a whopping 1864 bends in a route of 650km! Two gung-ho backpackers (with pink helmets, little biking experience and no map) undertake the three-day journey from Chiang Mai to Mae Chaem, Mae Hong Son, Soppong, Pai and back to Chiang Mai… with lots of adventures along the way!

Tired of the same old books populating hostel shelves and circulating ‘best backpacker reads’ lists? Yeah, so are we! Therefore, we took a poll, asking you to tell us your favourite books to read while travelling, and you delivered! Here’s the fresh list we’ve compiled – with your generous help – that’ll easily satisfy all of your travel needs, for both now and in future.

Do you travel to eat and drink? For me, one of the most exciting things about travelling to a new country is to sample a brand new cuisine! Hanoi’s street food scene is famous worldwide, but did you know about the city’s craft beer scene? These two tours are a great way to explore the capital through your stomach!

Way off the usual tourist trail lies the biggest Cemetery in Vietnam, An Bang Cemetery (Nghĩa Trang An Bắng in Vietnamese), known locally as “City of Ghosts.” When traveller India-Jayne Trainor was asked if she wanted to explore it by her EasyRider driver whilst on a tour of the Hai Van Pass, she was intrigued and a little nervous…