Two or three hours north of Bangkok, Lopburi is just like any other small town in Thailand. There are street vendors, purveyors of spicy food, and the scent of tropical flowers permeating the air. Oh, and yes, thousand of monkeys.

Have you ever heard of dancing shrimp? I have always had two hardfast rules about eating bizarre foods. #1:  I refuse to eat anything that is still alive because I think it is inhumane. #2:  I refuse to eat anything simply for the sake of grossing myself or others out–it has to be a culinary dish people of some culture enjoy. Okay–I’m doomed; I have broken rule #1.   Behold Thailand’s famous dancing shrimp.

It’s easy for a foreigner to forget that Thailand has its own film industry with a canon of great Thai films. The theaters show all the latest blockbuster hits from the West and American movies can easily be purchased from any shopping mall.

Many visitors to Thailand find that they simply don’t have enough time to travel around the country and see all the sights they want to see. The Ancient City, or Muang Boran, provides the perfect solution. Located just outside Bangkok this large outdoor museum has over 100 replicas of Thai palaces, rural villages, temples, and places of historical importance from around the country.

The pre-communist capital of Laos, Luang Prabang is a historically significant and visually stunning town in north Laos, accessible from the capital city or any number of northern provincial towns. The former seat of government, the city boasts an impressive array of French colonial buildings, riverfront views, and ancient Buddhist scenic spots and buildings.

Pakse is one of the largest towns in Laos, and the commercial center of southern Laos. The passage to the 4000 Islands, the town is an important travel hub in the region, leading many tours south towards Cambodia. While there’s not a lot to see in the town itself, it’s certainly a relaxing destination for a day of fun before heading onwards to Si Phan Don the lower Mekong region.

Vang Vieng is by far the largest backpacker town in Laos. More closely resembling Bangkok’s bustling Khao San Road than a standard Lao provincial town, Vang Vieng has virtually every adventure travel destination on offer, a massive variety of foreign and native restaurants and some of the busiest and most popular bars in the country.

Kampot is a small provincial town in Cambodia’s south-west corner, offering relatively little to anyone other than the most intrepid adventure traveler. However, for the adventure traveler it’s a paradise, offering access to Bokor National Park, a huge variety of hiking tracks and enduro biking areas, and the waterfall at Teuk Chrreu.

Laos’ relaxed and charming capital, Vientiane moves at a different pace to the standard South East Asian capital city. Roads are relatively unpopulated, people aren’t frantically trying to reach every destination and hotels and guesthouses are relaxed, accommodating and ready to help you out with whatever you need.

Phonsavan is a town in the far north of Laos, capital of Xieng Khouang Province. Home to over 50,000 people, the town itself isn’t a major tourism center, although it offers access to one of Laos’ most interesting and mysterious attractions: the Plain of Jars.