Well, we made it to Chiang Mai safe and sound on Saturday night and dined on some fine Thai cuisine. Enjoyed it so much that we decided to take another cooking class...only this time it was in Thailand!! The cooking class was held at The Organic Farm Cooking School. It was just outside of the city on a lovely small farm. We were told that t...

My last few days in Luang Prabang were simply outstanding in spite of the weather, which was dreary, overcast, and bone-chilling for this time of year.  Since I had done most of my trekking earlier in the week, I was able to dedicate myself fully to the pursuits of bargain shopping, eating French pastries, and drinking Lao coffee.  Pri...

Marchamos de Chiang Mai... aqui ya esta todo hecho y todo visto... cosas a comentar han quedado pendientes como: -la visita a los 2 unicos Pandas reconocidos en Tailandia, regalo de china que el rey alojo en este Zoo. A parte de ser Parque Zoologico es, tambien, Jardin Botanico... aunque para Sonia, ni una cosa ni otra: poco "bicho" y mucho reco...

Well they say the trains in the Uk are bad but they should compare them to the train we got to Northern Thailand.  The sleeper train was supposed to leave Bangkok at7:30pm and arrive in Chiang Mai at 9:45 the next morning.  UNfortunately due to some 'accident' the train was delayed by 6 hours so we finally got into Chaing Mai about 3 o...

Early start today at 8am. Left in 2 songthaews for the hill tribes. 1st stop was the tourist police to let them know where we were going, next a market for supplies and key ingredients of spring rolls. After that we went to Mork Fa waterfall, where some of us had a paddle. Lunch was at a small roadside cafe of fried rice and pineapple and tough ...

Well, after the sleeper train experience, we were happy to get to Chiang Mai, though our reception by the ladies at SK House (we later renamed Shi@%y Kra%^*y House) didn't bode well! Room was a come down from the Bangkok beautiful palace, but it served its purpose. Spent a day wandering and orientating, and the next day packed to head to the Chi...

    Another night, another rough sleep on a creaky bamboo floor, surrounded by big, ugly spiders. This time, I was accompanied by the local stray cat, who had taken a liking to me, and insisted on crawling INSIDE my sleeping bag with me! Made me feel like I was home.     Another breakfast of eggs and toast, this ti...

A lovely city. We often find that a country's second city is better than its capital, and though Bangkok's got a kicking party scene, nowadays we prefer something more sedate, such is Chiang Mai. So yet more wats and temples for us to explore then but we're going to take some time out soon and go to the sleepy town of Pai.

Before I'm even coherent, Jay comes in to say he invited one of the Australians in to the room to see how to sauter cables. I go down to check my mail. Big news. MY LITTLE BROTHER IS GETTING MARRIED!! I knew he would be the first, but now I'm not sure how, or if I can get back in time to be there. I'm still dazed when I come back to see Jay, Son...

Advice needed: Should I stay or should I go... da na na na na na na na... So, somehow (and I'm not exactly sure how this happened) three weeks have managed to flow by since I've been in Thailand... Unbelievable!!! The timeline of 3 weeks has no actual relevance,, however 4 weeks does... you see, my homestay agreement is actually only for 4 weeks...