Monday 8 February Knowing we face a 170 odd Km journey back to Chiangmai we breakfast and leave early, sharing the driving between the four of us. We called in at the Bueng Farm in Pai on the way back to retrieve Paula's mobile phone (left there by mistake), then a break for lunch at a delightful restaurant set in a hillside where we all ate Thai. Finally reaching Changmai at 3 pm. Our hotel is just outside the old city walls by the Changmai gate, it is small but very well managed and all mod cons. Room and breakfast £40per night. Even has swimming pool! We arranged to meet up with Alf, Marilyn, Tony and Janet for dinner on the other side of the Old City at a restaurant on the river. Very traditional decor. ... read more

Saturday 6 February Breakfasted at 8.30am then collected at 9am by Toy as arranged. We were driven to a local village where we met our guide, Peeuk. He led us an exhilarating three and a half hour trek to his own Shan village of Ban MaeLanka. It was estimated to be 15 kilometres in length, however we agreed it was closer to 12, as our guide took a couple of shortcuts, requiring him to carve a route through virgin forest at times. We passed a few small villages in an area called Ban Jabo, inhabited by the Black Lao tribe. Along the way Peeuk cut and shaped bamboo walking poles which we certainly appreciated on some of the very steep trails he also picked an assortment of different nuts and leaves to eat, and toward the ... read more

Thursday 4 February Up at the crack of dawn Leo takes rod and gear and moves the 15 metres to his personal Lakeside fishing deck to take the fish to task. The Thais use Float/Ground bait, dispenser method of fishing, and bread flake bait. (Many of us readers may be clueless, but hey!) With the back drop of the Misty Mountains, which had a huge white painted statue of Buddha featured Leo, with Paula as (reluctant, it must be said) assistant, spent several (blissful and engrossed) hours, soaking up the atmosphere and catching five (large and splendid) fish which would all be specimens (?) in Cyprus or the UK.Reluctantly leaving the Lake early afternoon, we lazed in the warm sunshine on our rustic veranda with Paula dozing in a hammock, reading, whilst Leo sampled a few ... read more

Tuesday 2 February Today another travelling day, Bangkok to Chang Mai. An easy hour and ten minutes, for the princely sum of £22 for both tickets. The only nagging question was whether we would be travelling with one backpack, or two. Left hotel early, ready to do battle with the lost luggage team. Don Mueang Airport is not large by international standards, but we certainly walked miles, between domestic departures to international arrivals areas, covering four levels, making frequent enquiries at the many information desks. On the whole everyone we asked gave us polite and helpful information. Just an hour and a half before our departure, Paula's bag arrived from Kuala Lumpur. It was a happy and emotional reunion. Thanks mainly to two young employees of the Lion Air lost property team, who made it their ... read more

Sunday 31 January Up early and driving across the Island to visit the GeoForest at Kilim. The park is mainly Mangrove Forest covering part of the coastline, where several spectacular green cladded and limestone Islands rise sharply from the Sea. We decide to take a tour by fast motorboat, firstly to visit the large Bat nesting caves, these are literally full of hundreds and hundreds of Bats, two different species, one insect-eating, the other preferring a diet of fruit. We were given torches as the caves are not lit and we guess the bats get used to the torch beams as despite everyone shining them directly at the Creatures, very few seemed bothered and chose to ignore the intrusion. After this a very fast and hairy trip between the islands brought us to a lagoon full ... read more