On Monday we took a very early bus from Chiang Mai, southwards to the town of "new" Sukhothai (the nearest town to the most ancient capital of Thailand). After a six-hour trip we emerged from the bus, took a Sangthaew (pick-up trucks with wooden benches in the back that act as buses throughout Thailand) into town, found a nice questhouse ("Garden House") and rented a bungalow in the very green and well kept gardens. After a 10 minute tour of town our suspicions that there is nothing to do in "new" Sukhothai were confirmed so we found shade, food and drink and settled down to peruse maps and guidebooks for the rest of the day. The next morning we arose at dawn and caught the first Sangthaew (full of schoolchildren) to the old city (a bumpy ... read more

On Monday we spent our extra unplanned day in Bangkok seeing some more of the sights: Jim Thompson's House - a collection of the last few remaining traditional teak houses in Bangkok, moved from the Ayutthaya region by an american who revived the Thai silk industry before mysteriously disappearing in the Cameron Highlands of Malaysia in 1967. Wat Tramitir - with its 3m, 5+ tonne Golden Bhudda which spent several centuries covered in plaster to disguise its true worth from invading Burmese. In fact, it was only rediscovered in 1955 after being dropped by a crane and some of the gold revealed. We then spent the afternoon in Lumphini Park (named after the birthplace of Bhudda) and saw two big (3ft+) lizards - this time alive and swimming!... read more

We arrived on Ko Samet on wednesday (26th Jan 2005) after a hair-rasing taxi ride across Bangkok in the rush hour and a four hour bus ride to ferry at Ban Phe. Once on the island we set off walking along the coast, looking for a Bungalow to rent. We initially negotiated for five nights at the "Sea Breeze Beach Bungalows" at Ao Phai ("Ao" is Thai for 'bay') but have just extended for a further 10 nights. Ko Samet is national parkland and as such doesn't really have any buildings except wooden (and sometimes concrete) bungalows and shacks. The beaches are in small coves and wonderfully quiet with pure white sands and electric blue water. We eat every night on mats on the beach, lit by flaming torchlight (very "Survivor"). Occasionally we catch a weather ... read more

We knew Thailand was going to be hot, but we didn't realise how difficult it is to do anything vaguely strenuous (e.g. walk more than 300m) between 10.30am and 3pm, until we decided to try a walking tour of the old Bangkok on our first day (33 degrees). It was a great way to experience some of the 'real' Bangkok and its people. We walked along the Chao Praya river, past 'Phra Sumen' fort, through a uni campus and along many crowded streets full of shops and vendors selling an amazing array of product - from crunchy fried scorpions to what looked like used sets of false teeth, as well as facinating but largely unidentifiable foods. We eventually arrived at the 'Grand Palace' compound and were suddenly surrounded by a multitude of tourists (fresh and cool ... read more

Well, we're finally on the road and five days into our week in Hong Kong. We've been all over the place using the fantastic public transport (buses, trams, trains and the famous 'Star Ferry'). On Monday we visited Kowloon Park. The highlight was the ten or so minutes spent looking at a giant frog sunning itself in a fountain. We eventually decided that the unfortunate amphibian was not sunbathing but had in fact expired earlier that day...otherwise the park was very nice and a welcome refuge from the city bustle. Later on that day we visited the waterfront promenade and the 'Avenue of Stars' (the Hong Kong film industry's equivalent of Hollywood's 'Walk of Fame') and were surprised at the number of names we knew. Finally, we went up The Peak for sunset and amazing views ... read more