SEAsiaupdate While trekking in Nepal I met a wise South African who said to me: "Backpackers and package tourists are getting more and more alike - package tourists are becoming more adventurous, and backpackers are following standard trails." Nowhere is this more apparent than Thailand and Malaysia, which teem with sunburnt Europeans lugging backpacks from one clutch of beachfront guesthouses to another. But the intrepid traveller who goes off the backpacker trail can still find remote, exotic destinations away from banana shakes and beach parties. Or so I hear. But at present I'm not feeling the least bit intrepid. On the contrary I'm growing very fond of banana shakes, and the beaches remain gorgeous even if they are crowded, and...OK, so I've had a very lazy few weeks. Is that so wrong? I finally got around to getting my PADI open-water scuba certification, just finished a couple of days ago. You may be thinking "aha, you haven't been that lazy after