Muang Pai Resort Hotel Mae Hong Son

Mae Hong Son, another tiny little town. This one is close to the Burmese border and used to be the 'Siberia of Thailand', back when there were no roads up to it. Walking around the town takes about 10 minutes, with views such as a drained man-made lake, and temples which look a tenth of the size the Lonely Planet photos suggest they are! There was an okay night market for food in the evening though.

The next morning we ...

Bite the bullet yesterday afternoon and hired myself a Scooter. I did a circuit of the lake, and found that terrifying enough! For someone as clumsy and accident prone as I am, riding a scooter is quite a challenge! I think the ladies at my guesthouse are finding the sight of me on my bike quite amusing - especially when I try to stop and park. I'm not too bad going in a striaght line, but junctions, hills and parking are a different story! I'm going to get a reputation around ...

... on a moped and for dogs to lie in front of buses and make the driver (or someone else) hoosh them out of the way. It was just normal sightings on an average day and I’m not sure how or when it happened, but they seemed 100% normal. Thailand has got totally under my skin and it’s hard to describe how every day occurrences so banal here would appear at home. How can you explain getting a foot massage for less than €2 outside the local police station with a ...

... Adventure Rafting. It was a good outfit but we were sold when Ang was shown the little 2 week old kitten, she's a sucker for baby animals.

19th June - 20th June:

Rafting trip. It was really good, the first time I had done it and although the water was not exactly high, it was still good fun and a good introduction to the sport. We started off with a safety briefing by Guy, the French dude who runs the business. Then a 1hr drive to the launch point and we were ...

... general. Luckily there's a bar or two which holds a cold beer (or two) in which to soak up all the positivity and experiences. Ticked off on my list of things to do are some language classes, a yoga class, visiting the local area and hilltribe villages, swimming in the waterfall and one of the local swimming pools, steaming in a hot springs, winning The Pub table quiz two weeks in a row, rafting, and a Mayan Summer Solstice ceremony (that one was a bit randomly chosen ...

Some people told me it was really boring here, but I really enjoyed how peaceful this small town is. I also visited a Karen Longneck village which Chiang Mai is actually known for. Just as people had told me, it was pretty bad. The epitome of the "human zoo."

What a day! Took a local bus from Chang Mai to Sappong - a small
village/town on the northern borders of thailand about 5 km from the
Burmese border. To say the conditions on the bus were a tight squeeze
would be an understatement! The distance between the back of my chair
and the back of the chair infront of mine was less than my shoulder
width and i am not exactly packing a broad pair here! This was the
result of the chair ...

... an easy but long walk along ridge tops, beautiful scenery, down a valley where we stopped for lunch next to a river. Caught little fish for lunch (with rice again- cant wait for a burger or something), then smoked them. Started to rain again, and the second guide tried to make a banana roof for the fire (while we sat in the mud) but it fell down, Mr Chart then had a temper tantrum- time to get home I think. Did another 2 hour walk to the car ...

Long Cou - Mae Hong Son - Long Neck Salut tout le monde, Nous allons bien. Nous avons louer des bicyclettes aujourd'hui. Nous sommes aller voir les femmes au long cou (pagaung). Nous avons fait 24 km aller retour. Il y avait quelques monter mais pas trop difficille en general. Sauf que ca fesait un bout de temps que j'avais fait du velo. Rejean a trouve la randonnee facile. Nous avons du rouler dans la pluie mais heureusement nous avons trouve un ...

... jungle walks with elephant riding and river rafting. The cool winter months of November to February are the best time to travel. Avoid the height of the rainy season in August and September. In the dry months between March and May, the temperature can soar uncomfortably high for strenuous mountain hikes. Afternoon Tham Lot Tham Lot is a huge cave system once a dwelling place of pre ...