hello all. hope everyone is well.ok last blog we were about to cross the border ,so here goes.we crossed the border by bus,foot,and then train at the east coast crossing.we stayed on the train till about midnight at a place called surat thani, we stayed for the night then traveled on to the island of ko pha ngan. we stayed for the week and attended the full moon party,not to bad. we then got a buss up to bangkok and from there to chang mai, this was a long way we were on a buss for about 26 hrs. we are [View Full Entry]

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Czesc i czolem! Poczatek naszej podrozy po Tajlandi rozpoczelismy byczeniem sie na plazy na wyspie Ko pha Ngan, ktora jest tez znana z imprez o pelni ksiezyca. Takze kazdego miesiaca zjezdzaja na nia tysiace mlodych i troche starszych ludzi zeby sie bawic przez cala noc. I wlasnie ta impreza zakonczylismy nasz pobyt na wyspie i udalismy sie w kierunku polnocnej Tajlandii. Po wyczerpujacej 30 godzinnej podrozy autobusami dotarlismy do Chiang Mai, pieknego strarego miasta. Samo Chiang Mai ma wiecej siatyn niz jakiekolwiek inne miasto w Tajlandii ponad 250. Odwiedzilismy ich pare, w tym najstarsza majaca 711 lat. Caly ten okrag Tajlandii [View Full Entry]

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Short one So we got back to Bangkok to go to Chang Mai, the biggest city in the North. After having purchased our tickets at the bus station in Bangkok we had some time to kill, and so decided to head in to the centre - I journey that cost us 100 baht (about 150p). We did our thing in the centre then tried to head back out to the bus terminal. The first taxi driver wanted 400 baht. We said no straight away, refusing to pay 4x the original fair. He turned away in disgust as did we (with what [View Full Entry]

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So welcome back!! It has been roughly 3-4 weeks since I wasn’t lazy to write a blog, but a lot has happened in the past month and many of you are itching to hear what I’ve (we’ve) been up to. We only have less than 3 weeks left of this awesome journey! As much as the first 2-3 weeks was getting acquainted with the land and culture, sightseeing, and for the most part kind of vacationing, these last three weeks will definitely make up for all of that. Congratulations to us for getting our IRB’s approved. (The IRB is the Institutional [View Full Entry]

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It was the morning after the night before...the night that we decided to take 'easy' and get a fwe beers and chill out because it was to be another long day ahead. There is something addictive about Thai beer. We got chatting to two girls in the computer room of the hostel and that was that! Good craic and we ended up going out for more beer after calling it a night at I don't know what time. Sonny woke us at 6.30am for a wake up call and said we had 40 minutes to get ready. It was one of [View Full Entry]

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Today our of all the days I've been here has to have been my favourite. It was just so fun filled and the fact that we woke up before midday was a bonus! At 8.30 this morning a mini-bus came to collect us from our hostel for a day of trekking! And what a day it was! After collecting a family and a couple from their separate hotels we enjoyed about an hour long travel just outside Chaing Mai to a district called Maewin. The day started with a walk around the local tribe where we could see their live stock, [View Full Entry]

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We woke up this morning, or should I say afternoon, (for some reason we are sleeping SO much and are still so tired during the day...it couldn't still be jet lag? Or maybe its just the heat...) But anyways, luckily this morning I did not wake up with a further 7 mosquito bites all over my legs! Once we got sorted there is a Thai massage place right outside our hostel. We decided to go in to have a relaxing start to the day. We weer brought into a tiny, dark room with music in the background and asked to put [View Full Entry]

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Day 7 Arrive at Chaingmai at 7am, transfer to the Serentiy Hotel. We take a walk around the city and a temple. Not feeling bothered to walk around the market we head back to hotel to chill out making the most of it before our trek starts tomorrow. We go to the trek shop to stock up on essentials such as rucksack, sleeping bag, roll mat, rehydration salts, natural soap...... At night some of us head to the Irish Bar (wayhey) for dinner. Day 8 Elephant camp on the way to the trek so much fun we feed it bananas along [View Full Entry]

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We arrived into Chiang Mai around mid day on Monday and caught our free transfer to Eagle Guest House 2. Not a bad place with private rooms, AC and ensuite bathroom for only 4 pounds 50 per night (about 9 dollars per night). Bit of a backpacker shock for mom but by the following day I think she felt a bit better about her very budget surroundings. The monsoon is following us now and we spent the first day sheltering from the brief downpours while enjoying the local cafes. Had lunch at The Wall owned by a Dutch/Thai couple whose club [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Chiang Mai around lunchtime on Thursday 10th July and for the first time on our trip I had not pre-booked any accommodation, but despite my reservations it all went smoothly. We selected Rendezvous guesthouse out of the Lonely Planet, turned up and checked into a fan room with TV and fridge (all the air-con rooms had been taken, but we managed and saved some pennies). Chiang Mai is more than 700km northwest of Bangkok and we were both hoping it might be a bit cooler, but no such luck it was still very hot. The old city lies [View Full Entry]

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