5 hours by bus north of Sukothai to Chiang Mai. Very laid back city famous for its food. Went out to nearest little restuarant and had amazing curry fror 25 Baht! City is full of temples, dont have to walk too far and find one. Nightlife pretty good too! Loy Krathong in full swing so fireworks everywhere, got very drunk and persuaded two Thai girls to send up beacon for me for 20 Baht! Always make a difference when you find great guesthouses and staying at CM Bluehouse was fantastic! [View Full Entry]

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Long day getting to Sukhothai from Ayuthaya, walked across Ayuthaya, river ferry to train station, 4 hour train to Phitsanulok, walk across town to get a bus, 1 hour bus ride to Sukhothai then local bus to guesthouse!! But great guesthouse TR and really like Sukhothai Historical Park, so big and so many Wats! Spent very hot day cycling around a few and not Watted out yet! [View Full Entry]

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Off to Ayuthaya by train, never been on a train in Thailand, but how tricky can that be? Found Hualampong Station in Bangkok easy, checked on my ticket and with the Station Kiosk, defintely platform 7 they both said. So there I am sitting on platform 7 and no sign of any train. Waited 15 minutes, still no train. I showed my ticket to some Thai guys and they called a Platform Attendant, he looked at my ticket, looked at me and shouted no good, come quick! We jumped off platform 7 onto the tracks, up into the train at platform [View Full Entry]

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Arrived in Bangkok from London and so good to be warm again! Got totally soaked in the rain trying to find a guesthouse amongst the never ending alleyways of Chinatown, but it was worth the effort! 7th floor restuarant overlooking the Chao Praya River was awesome! Went to see Royal Palace which was way too big but very colourful! Wat Pho was great and Chinatown noisy, but enjoyed it all! [View Full Entry]

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Made it back to Boracay for the Easter Week, but now it was so busy! Holy Week is the main holiday in the Philippines and the Island was packed with local visitors from Manila, Cebu, Illoilo in fact from everywhere! Had real problem finding anywhere to stay as everything was fully booked, but a nice local lady let us have her room in her guesthouse and she moved in to her basement! Stayed in Angol area which was still fairly relaxed but the rest of the beach was packed! Still weather was awesome, nightlife was amazing and just great to be [View Full Entry]

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Decided to travel from Manila back to Boracay for Easter Week, not a very clever idea as this is the busiest week of the year for Boracay!, managed to get a flight to Kalibo and stayed a few days. Famed for its Ati Atihan festival the town was very quiet. Went to visit the Mangrove Sanctuary just outside of the town which was nice but unbelievably hot! [View Full Entry]

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Was in Manila meeting my friend Pelle and needed an escape! Nearest "beach resort" is Puerto Galera in Mindoro, so hopped on a bus to Batangas and Banca over to Sabang. Sabang has a reputation for two main activities diving and nightlife, but it cant seem to decide which one has priority! So here you can have both! Had been before and dived here and the diving is very good but this time just needed rest! Before I had stayed at the quiet end of Sabang so this time I decided to stay in the middle of town and relax. Not [View Full Entry]

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I had heard so much about Boracay I just had to visit! Some people had said it was awful, some that it is paradise! So I was intrigued to say the least. Boracay is I guess the number one tourist destination in the Philippines, famed for its white sand beach. So I flew from Cebu to Caticlan in Panay, tricycle to the ferry port, ferry across to Boracay then tricycle to the beach! Easy! All the bad things I had heard were not true: no hawkers bothering you on the beach, they have thier own little zones to work from; no [View Full Entry]

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Spent a few days on Mactan Island, not my favourite place so far in the Philippines! Very expensive beach resorts which are isolated from any contact with local people. At least the weather was good! about the only thing which was! [View Full Entry]

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The weather in Cebu was getting so much better, I decided it was time to go diving. Travelled over to Ormoc in Leyte then south to Padre Burgos. The diving was fantastic, especially at Panoan, amazing soft corals and fish everywhere! Limasawa Island was also excellent. So good to be out of the City and wake up to the sound of lapping waves outside the window! Really liked Southern Leyte and so good to go diving again! Whilst I was there I tried to think of a better dive than Rios Wall at Panoan that I have seen elsewhere in the [View Full Entry]

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