Sukothai was a chance to see more temple ruins which I preferred to Ayuthaya. The old city is about 12 km out of town and most of the temples are set in the Sukothai Historical Park which is beautiful, nicely set out and has been well preserved. I rented a bike again and really enjoyed venturing round the park and taking photos. I even went outside of the park to explore the temples surrounding the area and managed to get away from most of the tourists which was nice. It was there that I randomly bumped into Sophie and Laetitia again [View Full Entry]

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Despite the vast number of temples and Buddhas I've seen on this trip, I opted for a day in Ayuthaya to check out the temple ruins there. I got started early, rented a bike and seemed to beat the tourist rush and have some time on my own with these old temple sites. I've been pretty lax in Thailand about catching public transport. I knew I wanted to get to Sukothai later in the day but didn't think it would be a problem to jump on the next bus. When I arrived at the bus station however, the lady refused to [View Full Entry]

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I had been really looking forward to visiting the tiger temple. I recently saw the first season of 'The Amazing Race' where they came to Thailand and one of the challenges was to collect a clue by walking through the tigers at the Tiger Temple in Kachanaburi. I knew then that I had to go and see these amazing creatures for myself. I arranged to go on a tour of the Temple, essentially a 45min ride there and a chance to take photos for an hour, then a ride back into town. They were scheduled to leave at 3:30pm and we [View Full Entry]

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Several months ago I heard from a friend Camille to say that she was heading over to Thailand at the same time I would be there. She and her friend Suzan were spending some time in Pattaya and invited me to come along. I had never been there before and have always held this image of Pattaya being the prostitution capital of Thailand. Camille and Suzan were staying at the Dusit Resort, where Camille's uncle Mr. Shah stays on an annual basis. Bearing the same surname, they received the 'Shah treatment' and even I was ushered through and welcomed as part [View Full Entry]

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I had another day in Bangkok and decided to get out and see a few of the sights I'd missed back in July. I spent the morning in China Town where I explored the narrow market alleyways. It was very crowded and the sights and smells were overwhelming. I discovered a few new foods I never knew existed and had no desire to taste, which I'm sure the photos will explain. In the afternoon I did more temple sightseeing and spent hours walking around and taking in the city. By the end of the day I could not bear the thought [View Full Entry]

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In order to renew my Thai visa, I decided to cross over the border into Burma for the day. The most popular border crossing is far north in Mae Sai, however from where I was in Mae Hong Son, it would mean a lot of back tracking to places I had already visited. So I decided to head further south to Mae Sot, in the Tak Province. A 10B Songtaew got me from Phacharoen Market in Mae Sot to the border and from there I had to walk over the 'Friendship Bridge' and into Burma. It seemed so simple. There is [View Full Entry]

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It was a misty trail from Pai, over the mountains which led to yet another picturesque valley: Mae Hong Son. It was small and there appeared to be few tourists and I was met by a torrential downpour. Rain was not the only circumstance that kept me indoors for I was plagued with the most extreme gastro and was glued to the toilet for days. I couldn't eat nor sleep for the constant trips to the loo. I ran out of water but could barely move and was completely parched. It was a virus unaffected by immodium and maxolon and [View Full Entry]

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Daniel has a small tobacco tin that he carries around Auckland with him. It has a painted blue background with a little figure on it and the words that read 'Pai is Beautiful'. He's found it serves as a useful converstaion piece at the busy backpackers where he works, drawing comments such as 'oh, so you've been to Pai...' or 'so who is this Pai chick anyways?' A great way to meet people he tells me. Although I've been to Pai before, in fact, because I've been to Pai before, I wanted to return. I was there at Christmas time when [View Full Entry]

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Since completing my China tour, I have spent most of my time in Chiang Mai. On the bus ride from Bangkok, I was asked by a number of tourists what the highlights of Chiang Mai were and what my recommendations would be. I could think of a few little things but nothing that I have experienced recently. Since my family moved to Chiang Mai several years ago, it has become a place to relax and chill out for me and I have done little in recent years to seek out the tourist routes. Since I am now travelling on my own, [View Full Entry]

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When we got back to Thailand, Catherine went back up north and I spent a few days in Bangkok on my own to do some sightseeing. I've been through Bangkok dozens of times and yet never seen all of the main sights. So, after finding a place on Khao San Rd, I set out to do some exploring... [View Full Entry]

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