The tourist seasons in Mexico are set not by the weather, but when the Americans and Canadians deign to head south. Christmas, Easter and Spring Break are therefore the high seasons and the rest of the time is the low season. Apart from the Christian holidays the Mexican holiday season starts in July, just as the weather starts to deteriorate. This year the weather on the Pacific coast was consistently fantastic in May and June and the low tourist numbers meant that there were bargains to be had. Puerto Vallarta is the premier spot on this stretch of Mexico’s Pacific. It even has its own Lonely Planet guide. The lively centrepiece of the town is a 2km malecon (promenade) along the sea front, bestowed with top notch statuary along its length. This faces directly westward out ... read more

Tuxtla Gutierrez, the state capital of Chiapas, is a lively town fairly unused to tourists. It is not historic, but they had the good sense to follow the Spanish design of a large plaza flanked by an impressive cathedral which gave the town a centre around which to develop all the other shops and amenities. Our main reason for stopping there was to terminate a 13 hour bus journey from the coast and to take in the nearby canyon while in the area. So on arrival we were none too impressed to be deposited at a new bus terminal 5km from town rather than the one in the guidebook which was around the corner from the hotels. The Sumidero Canyon is reached from the nearby town of Chiapas De Corzo, an easy ride from Tuxtla. The ... read more

From the Philippines we spent a few days in Bangkok before heading for the coast to make the most of the 30 days they give you. We were tempted to go back to Hua Hin, an established favourite, but quite a few people this year had recommended Pattaya so we thought we'd give it a try. This is one of the few touristy places in Thailand I had never visited, put off by it sleazy reputation as the sex tourist capital of SE Asia. We soon established that it is a very sleazy place, full of sex tourists. Equally bad for us - the beach is rubbish, not much more than a swampy strip crammed with umbrellas and beach beds. We didn't deign to walk on it for the whole month. On the upside, we had ... read more

The Loboc River runs through the bottom of a deep ravine. Excessively tall coconut trees bend from the banks; somehow the light through the palm fronds lends the river water an unusual pearlescent green quality. 'This is a bit different' I think to myself as we spot the first of the bungalows buried amongst the trees. Coming to Nuts Huts by boat is by far the most preferable option. The basic cottages are just steps from the river. To approach from the nearest road requires a hike along a 1km rough track followed by the descent down the side of the ravine of about two hundred and sixty steps. Not great fun with a rucksack, as a number of Peace Corps volunteers demonstrated. Our cottage hung off the hillside, raised about 3 metres above the ground ... read more

We flew Air Asia to get down to Hat Yai in the deep south of Thailand. The flight was delayed for two hours due to some problems with the generation of cabin pressure. Once underway, the pilot kept slowing the plane as much as he could and then putting on a rapid burst of speed as if trying to kick start a motor somewhere. This was a bit unnerving. Looking out of the window the ground speed seemed to grind towards zero, and I found myself wondering about stall speeds and gliding capabilities of this ageing jet. We landed at Hat Yai airport with only a temporary group psychosis to overcome and went directly to Songkhla on the eastern coast, where we booked into a plush hotel. Songkhla turned out to be a bit dreary despite ... read more