Blogs from Thailand, Asia - page 17

If Dogs make you all warm and fuzzy inside, Bangkok is the closest to heaven you’ll ever get. Add free Cheesecake, Coffee and all the puppies you can carry, and chances are you’ve transcended beyond heaven right into the pearly gates of Thailand’s Dog Cafes. Canine Cafes are the best kept secret around these parts. Bangkok alone has 4 of the biggest in Thailand, all a short Tuktuk ride away from the next (great for a Pup-Crawl). Dog cafes around Thailand are popular and quickly expanding; it’s hard to keep up with the trend and with every year comes a new café and a new theme…so to save you the hassle of scouring every café, I’ve gone and visited all of them (tough job I know). This Husky themed café is by far the most popular ... read more

Lower limbs are currently the bane of our lives. The last entry detailed how a new (third party) knee and Ali’s dodgy Achilles had resulted in a month’s stasis and forced the jettisoning of Nepali trekking plans. But, not content, the gods of fate conspired to make it a trio of woes. Wandering one steamy Bangkok night we discovered a street-side water ATM. It appeared that a litre was only 8 baht, a decent reduction from 7 Eleven’s own brand for 13B (sadly water re-fills have been slow to catch on in Bangkok even though they provide way more profit for the vendor, a vastly cheaper price to the consumer and a massive reduction in plastic waste). With the instructions solely in Thai Ali announced that she’d confirm the price with the adjacent store. Of course ... read more

We know we love this island for its beautiful beaches, especially the quiet sunset cove reef we are lucky enough to actually live on during our time here. And we love this island for its spiritual and laid back 60’s vibe. At least, that is the story on the west side of the island where we reside, where yoga studios and vegan restaurants are plentiful, and kirtan chanting and djembe drumming every night at sunset is the norm. By contrast, the southeast side of the island features party energy, focused around the phases of the moon: from the major event full moon parties, to all facsimiles thereof: quarter moon parties, half moon parties, waterfall parties, etc. It is estimated that twenty to thirty thousand people attend the famous full moon party each month, coming from all ... read more

Sunday 23rd February 2020 Today was a “highlight” day. We boarded our long-tail boat on Koh Muk pier, just close to Coco Lodge, to sail around the island, snorkelling in key spots as we went along. We expected to be part of a group, but it was just the two of us and our cheery boatman, Tan. Great for us to have the boat and snorkelling all to ourselves, but the lack of tourists is not good for business for the Thai people here. When we set off it was a bit cloudy and windy, so when we got to our first snorkelling spot on a coral reef on the rugged North West point of the island, with sheer limestone cliffs undercut with caves, I didn’t fancy it at all; dark deep water, a wildly swaying ... read more

Start Saturday with a challenge.The plan is to walk up the mountain trail of Doi Suthep to the temple , Wat Phra That Soi Suthep, high above the city of Chiangmai. When I first came to visit Dorothy with Kath and Bob five years ago, Dorothy was in training for her own personal challenge: to climb to the summit of Kilimanjaro to celebrate her 70th birthday. She would trek up and down the mountain about 3 or 4 times a week, at dawn when it was still cool. Kath, Bob and I joined her on one of these hikes up the trail, and I found it really difficult, although I was wearing silly little canvas slip-on shoes with no grip, which kept falling off my feet. Dorothy stepped lightly on ahead ... seemingly no effort. And ... read more