Name: Anne Morrison Age: 21 From: Isle of Lewis Previous experience of foreign travel: I have visited Mexico and Turkey.  I was also at the island games in Rhodes during the summer of 2007 playing football.

As the Gaelic proverb says, 'the live foot travels far'. I recently got the chance to do a lot of travelling.  I received an invitation from an independent television company, MNE Media, to travel to faraway lands. I spent a fortnight travelling through north-east Vietnam, southern China, and concluding in Hong Kong. It was an interesting and challenging trip since we were tested both physically and mentally. While we were on the trip, we walked, climbed, cycled and kayaked. We also travelled by plane, train, bus, boat, car and taxi. Apart from that, the weather was constantly changing. Sometimes with cold showers, frost, or rain, and at other times we saw a little sunshine.

In the group there were four Scots, two from Sweden, six from Australia and the woman who was in charge and looking after us was American. There were people of different ages, different cultures and different languages, and we travelled, ate and lived together for a fortnight. It was important to be aware of other people's needs since we had to live as a family for two weeks.

The camera followed us all the time. I took a little time to get used to this and I feared that it would not be my own personality but some false persona which came across to the viewers. But after a little while I forgot that the camera was there. In the evenings we would do an interview in front of the camera telling about our feelings, what we'd been doing that day and how we were enjoying the trip. This was to give the viewers an insight into how we felt and we had the opportunity to be as honest as we wished with no-one listening.

We stayed in very different places, from guest-houses which didn't even have hot water to three-star hotels. At one point I wore every stitch of clothing I had with me - and that wasn't a little - to bed. My nose was still as cold as a dog's nose!

Our trip started in Vietnam with all the members of the group meeting in Hanoi. We spent four days in Vietnam.  During those four days we spent in Vietnam, we visited caves, a hospital in a cave, and a remote island - Cat Ba.  On this extraordinary little island the people looked poor and many approached you with things to sell - tobacco, water, food and so on. Many of them  watched us and it was obvious that they regarded us as unusual.

We had a little trouble crossing the border from Vietnam to China, as they were suspicious about the camera. Despite that, we got through. The first night we spent in China we were in a very remote spot. This was very different from Vietnam and we saw no-one other than the staff of the place we stayed in. This was cold, and there was no warmth at all to be had other than round a little wood fire out of doors.

In China, there are two places which I remember particularly, Chengyang and Yangshuo. We spent three nights in each of them. In Chengyang there was a lot of beautiful woodwork to be seen, without a single nail - just fitted together. They spoke the minority language Dong there. The people were poor but happy - at least as far as we could tell. Their way of life was so different, ploughing with water-buffalo and planting different fruit and vegetables in the mud.

There were markets selling fruit and vegetables of every kind on every street and I won't forget the lovely fresh taste that you don't get from fruit here. I was in another market in Yangshuo the likes of which I've never seen before, and don't want to see again. I wasn't warned about what I was going to see and it did distress me. Apart from the usual fruit and vegetables there were live animals of every sort all together in cages. Among them were hens, rabbits, cats, dogs and more. I wasn't at all bothered about the animals which we're used to eating, but I found it hard to contemplate what was going to happen to the cats and dogs.

One evening we had the chance to cook our own dinner. Fish, chicken and plenty of vegetables. I enjoyed the Chinese food and it wasn't a bit like the Chinese food you can buy in this country. From Yangshuo we flew to Hong Kong. We had planned to travel by train but the weather was uncertain and apparently this was the worst winter they'd had in China in fifty years. We had to cross the Chinese border to get into Hong Kong. Hong Kong is a former colony, and I thought it was a good place to end our trip. We had a lot of struggle and difficulty to get there and we really did feel that we'd made it to our destination.

Hong Kong was completely different from the other countries we had visited. It was bubbling with people, cars, beautiful tall buildings and smart shops. English could be heard spoken on the streets. You could tell it had been a British colony at one time - the influence is still there.

We finished the programme in Hong Kong before flying home that evening. I was really sorry that we didn't have more time to spend there. The shops looked very smart and attractive.

We boarded the plane in Hong Kong, landed in Bangkok but didn't disembark there. Off again to Dubai, where we caught another plane which took us to Glasgow. More than twenty hours travelling. Luckily I slept for most of this and I'm thankful that I don't suffer from fear of flying. After a night in Glasgow I flew home to Stornoway and I was very glad to step onto my own little island once again.

That was the trip, but how did it affect me? For a young girl from a fairly remote island, this was quite an opportunity. I ate, I saw and I did things that I'll never ever forget. But apart from that it made me think that happiness doesn't always come from the possessions people have. I saw plenty people who didn't have much but they were happy. That was their way of life and they didn't know any other way of life. This made me think that we put a tremendous amount of stress on the amount we own - things that aren't important, and that we forget others and the possibility of sharing what we have with those who have nothing. I observed that they didn't think in the same way as we do in the west. For example we don't have the same kind of manners as them. There isn't even a word in their language for " I'm sorry".

I saw an example of how their political system keeps them down. They know nothing except for what the state allows. For example they are not allowed to look at the BBC News website. It's more than likely that this is to ensure that they don't see democratic practices in other countries.

As a group, we got on very well, although we were so different in our ways. There was no breach in the friendship, and as the days went on, we became closer to one another. We looked out for each other and tried to help one another. There was a lot of fun and teasing among ourselves and I enjoyed that. I was very very sad when we said goodbye in Hong Kong after being together in a foreign country for many a long day throughout a fortnight. It was a sad situation, imagining that we'd not meet again.
Maybe you're wondering - "Wasn't there anything at all that wasn't good?"

Of course there was. I've already mentioned those poor animals in the cages waiting to be slaughtered. I'm still struggling to put that picture to the back of my mind. But the other thing that I didn't like was the toilets. They were appalling. I thought French toilets were bad but these were something else. A hole in the ground - no pan, nowhere to sit. Need I say more?

But I think these things aroused a feeling of gratitude. Gratitude for every convenience we have, that I took for granted before now. Every morning when I'm in the shower I'll remember China and how dirty, sticky and disgusting I felt in the guest-house after a day walking and travelling in a vehicle that wasn't particularly clean. My feet hurt and I was exhausted. But where to turn for comfort, a hot shower to wash away the tiredness and warm the sore muscles? There wasn't one drop of hot water to be had. Apart from that, it was so cold that I couldn't even contemplate taking my clothes off. In fact, what I generally did was put more clothes on and then leap into bed as I was.

I'll always be alert to China and Vietnam from now on when I hear them mentioned in the news. There are developments on all sides, especially in China. Mining, electrical power, all kinds of industry, national and international commerce and the grip they have on world markets.
Will China ever have democracy? That democracy which they're trying to hold back. Only time will tell. China is a great, amazing and fascinating country and I wish them success but I hope it goes hand in hand with freedom.

Since we were travelling every day we didn't see as much as I would have liked of the people's everyday life. I'd like to have had the opportunity, to mix more with local people, to learn more about their way of life.  But despite that, I found things to consider which will keep me thinking for many a day. My understanding was broadened, of the wider world out there with its thousands of people of every colour and language and way of life. It was certainly an exercise in self-knowledge.

And now, Sear gu Siar [East to West] - what will the programme be like? There will be beautiful sights, the colours of the east and places which travellers rarely visit. There will be fun and jokes, many modes of transport - and the sweet mother tongue we took with us everywhere we went.