We made the crossing from Thailand to Cambodia and immediately went from backpacking luxury to a journey into a former Heart of Darkness. It was an acute shock as the 12 of us, including the old Canadian farmer I'd met the night before, were still recovering from an evening of bonding which involved an excess of cockroach canapes and cocktails.

We'd joined up for a two-week trip by minibus and public buses through Cambodia with Intrepid Travel. The roughing it style of this particular trip suited me. I'd missed out a gap year when young, partly because I'd known I get more out of it when older and wiser.

Work gets in the way, but these types of trips are a way of squeezing a month's worth of a gap year into two weeks - no time wasted organising routes or milling about. Overlanding travel is far from a package tour. There's a real sense of adventure and freedom throughout. It was backpacking with someone telling you where to put your bag but without being in your face.

We were able to wander off and do our own thing, and we did more as time went on, but there is a thrill as well in meeting new people and wondering whether you will get on. You can make friends from afar to stay with on future travels or people to party with closer to home.

As a group we bonded quickly. Mike, the 23-year-old procurer of cockroaches, was soon playing up on our long bus journey, looking to while away the time with daft guessing games and telling an Australian that we Europeans were lucky to travel so freely thanks to our UN passports. Mike was my room mate after the first night: we had a huge amount of fun and he benefited greatly from a 32-year-old's supposed wisdom, of course.

Homestays, good guides, the best restaurants, cheaper excursions - all are advantages of being escorted. Getting close to the locals, truly experiencing the culture, sensing the suffering and finding out about the recent history from the horses mouths - these are the things that make you pity people who feel able to jet into a sheltered, luxury hotel for Angkor Wat and hop straight on a plane back out of there.

THE ITINERARY

Day 1 - Bangkok

Our accommodation in the Thai capital is basic but clean, comfortable and air-conditioned as are all the hotels on the tour. I meet my room mate for the first night - a 60-year-old Canadian farmer called Frankie. He's an affable enough chap, but I wonder whether the rest of the group will be younger.

A jaunt around the Royal Palace is a fine way to pass an afternoon, Disney-like in its colourful extravagance, harking back to the glory days of the Siam empire - golden temples, gargoyles and Buddhas abound. Those who haven't visited the city can choose to arrive a few days early, with participants arranging their own flights.

The group turns out to be on the young side - backpackers using a cheap organised tour for difficult parts of their longer travels, career breakers and the odd holidaymaker. Hailing from the UK, Australia, the US and Canada, there's often a larger number of Australasians in this region, with flights cheaper from Down Under. It's also common to end up with more middle-aged or older participants. Our guide is Eva from Spain - enthusiastic, well-travelled and well-organised.

We break the ice over very strong Mai Tai cocktails at the Minibar - a street-side trolley filled with spirits and liquors and offering cocktails at ludicrously low prices. The owner/mixologist shows off his framed magazine article that lists it in the world's top ten bars. We bond over insects when Mike returns from a wander armed with grubs, cockroaches and grasshoppers. They are pickled, fried to a crisp and almost tasty. We all wolf at least one down and I'm assured by super-fit Sarah from Boston that they are very good for you - high in protein and fibre, low in fat.

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