To go or not to go to Burma? This is the question that plays on most people’s minds about travelling to a country where the military government’s human rights record is abominable and by visiting you put money into their pockets through tourism revenue received in taxes and various charges. It is particularly a difficult decision to make when you have been working with refugees from Burma and are exposed to the kinds of atrocities they have fled from and survived under the junta. Aung San Su Kyi asks foreigners to boycott travel to Burma but in another interview suggests if travellers do visit to really talk to the locals and understand the conditions they live in and not just see Burma from a car window or package tour. That is what Matt and I wanted ... read more

We spent the week of my birthday in Chiang Mai and the actual day at Doi Inthanon, Thailand’s highest mountain/peak. Art our driver picked us up at our Guesthouse early in the morning to make the 1.5 hour trip. Referred to as “The Roof of Thailand,” Doi Inthanon stands at 2565 metres. The temperature is relatively cool with the summit frequently covered in cloud and mist, maintaining the luscious forest and National Park. Mum welcomed the drop in temperature as we made the ascent while I wondered how I would ever be able to settle back into Melbourne’s cold climate. Attractions we visited at the Park included the Angkha Trail (Buddha must be trying to tell me something as everywhere I go there are monks), their Majesties Twin Chedis (these were completed in honour of King ... read more

Located around 77 km, between Pai and Mae Hong Son and a 1.5 half hour bus ride around agonising curves my parents, Lou and I arrived in Soppong, Pang Mapha district. It was my pre-birthday celebration weekend with everyone including 3 Thai friends and Claire from Chiang Mai. We spent 2 nights amidst nature at the famous Cave Lodge, set on a secluded forested hillside, 700 metres above sea level overlooking the Lang River. Soppong itself is a small, traditional market village renown for its caves, scenery, trekking, kayaking, rafting, hill tribe villages and tranquility. Visited by very few tourists the residents are primarily Shan, Lisu, Lahu, Karen and Hmong. The most famous attraction is the Tham Lod river cave system. A brook runs from the cave mouth to the other side of the mountain and ... read more

A celebration/festivity where you can soak and wet as many people on the roads including passersby without any penalties or ramifications, who would have thought? Nothing prepared me for the amount of water that is thrown during Songkran: cold, warm, dirty, clean, icy or whatever as long as it is water! From garden hoses, water containers, buckets, pistols, the moat or wherever it can be found. There is also no exception or exclusion zones when you are anywhere near the Old Town of Chiang Mai, so think again when you are in an open songtaew, driving a motorbike, harmlessly walking down the street, carrying shopping or a backpack and out for the evenings even when water throwing is meant to cease - you will get wet! Songkran means to move or change place, as it is ... read more

After travelling 3-4 hours south of MHS in a bus with no air-conditioning that had the back door wide open and me thinking that I would fall out at anytime, we found ourselves in charming Mae Sariang and met up with our friend Claire, from Chiang Mai. While MHS is a quiet country town, this goes a step further. Home to only a small number of guesthouses and trekking companies, it is a place visited by very few tourists and is in a tranquil, country setting overlooking Yuam River. Even with the noise and celebration of the Poi Sang Long ceremony underway in Mae Sariang it was peaceful. As you can see from the photos the Shan are doing a similar procession as in MHS, just on a smaller scale. The Shan in MHS would also ... read more