Contrary to vicious rumours started by a friend I am actually a good driver, (side note: ironically said friend has lost all points and is on a probationary license for 12 months so go figure!) But tearing up and down the F3 between Sydney and the Central Coast every day is one thing - how would I go taking an elephant for a ride, getting him down to the river, bathed, fed and sent off to bed in the jungle.  We were about to find out. We were off to the Elephant Village for the day to learn to be a Mahout (elephant keeper or elephant driver) First on the agenda for the day was an overview of "Elephant Village" and it's purpose.    "Elephant Village", located 15 Km outside of Luang Prabang is a privately ... read more

The next morning saw us dragging those heavy bags back down the hill to the boat, ready for another day cursing down the Mekong.  It was still another 6 hours till we would reach Luang Prabang, so we settled back in with our books and Ipods for a relaxing day. The Mekong is one of the world's greatest rivers (it's the 12th longest river in the world) and winds it's way from the Tibetan Plateau to the South China Sea and is approximately 4350km long. The Mekong basin is one of the richest areas of biodiversity with only the Amazon being greater.  There are suspected to be as many as 1700 species of fish, the largest of these being the giant river carp (up to 1.5m in length) and the giant catfish (up to 3m in ... read more

Our next destination was the border town of Chiang Khong, located on the banks of the Mekong River, directly opposite the town of Huay Xai in Laos.  Armed with snacks, water and charged iPods we set off from Chiang Mai in our mini-vans, for the six hour drive to the border. We were headed first to the town of Chiang Rai, on the edge of The Golden Triangle - the area bordering Thailand, Myanmar (Burma) and Laos and infamous for Opium cultivation and traffiking.   The area is home to interesting and colourful ethnic minorities, known as the hill tribes.  We were stopping in Chiang Rai for lunch and a wander through the Hill Tribe Museum. There are six broad hill tribe groups: Karen, Lahu, Hmong, Lisu, Akha and Mien.  Each tribe has its own customs, ... read more

Monday the 11th of October is the first full day of our Intrepid Tour.  The previous night we had met up with the the other members of the tour for the first time and had an orientation session with our tour leader Molly, who was a local from Lampang in northern Thailand.  This was followed by a group dinner at a local cafe that served the best Thai food and the coldest Chang beer.  We settled in to get to know our traveling companions. The group is varied, a well travelled Welsh couple, Jacqui and Richard who had wonderful stores of their travels through India and South America.  Don, who hails from Canada, and is treating himself to a well earned holiday after successfully pulling off his daughters wedding.  Dave, a young Irish guy working in ... read more

Day two of our trip to Kanchanaburi finally saw us at Erawan Falls, a place we had wanted to visit since our previous trip five years ago. The falls are located in a national park in Kanchanaburi Province near the Thai/Burmese border.  Erawan falls are named after the three headed white elephant of Hindu mythology. The seven tiered series of cascades stretches about 2.5 km from top to bottom, and if you have a few hours to spare is well worth the trek to each tier.  Due to Scott's recovering broken foot we made it to the 5th tier and decided to stop here, while Yasuihiro, who had come with us, decided to take a look at the 6th and 7th tiers.  We decided to take the extra time to have a refreshing dip in the ... read more