Day 346: Wednesday 10th June - Starting mahout training I have to be at Chiang Mai’s bus station for 7am to get a bus to the Elephant Conservation Centre, an hour’s drive south on the highway between Lampang and Chiang Mai. The next bus isn’t until 7:20am, which will be cutting it fine to arrive at the centre for 8:30am. I explain to them where I want to be dropped off by imitating an elephant, and making a right fool of myself. What’s worse I think the Thai lady spoke English!!! The bus drops me at the front gate an hour later and then I get shuttled the final 2km, arriving at registration just in time. I am handed a blue mahout suit to change into which is a fetching blue navy blue linen affair. I ... read more

Day 339: Wednesday 3rd June - Sukhothai: Thailand’s first capital Why do I do this to myself? Taking 6 hour bus journeys at 10:30pm at night isn’t sensible - you arrive at your destination at 4:30am, a time you would much prefer to be sleeping. At least the journey on the first class government bus in more comfortable than that on the second class one. Decent suspension so you don’t feel the bumps in the road, seats that recline more than a couple of degrees and blankets are provided to combat the air-conditioning. When I arrive in Sukhothai bus station a guy holds up a sign for one of the guesthouses in town offering a lift on a vehicle not too dissimilar to a tuk-tuk. I decide to take a punt on someone being awake at ... read more

Day 332: Wednesday 27th May - Grand Palace & the Temple of the Emerald Buddha I decided after all to head to Bangkok this morning. I pay a bit extra for a minibus to drop my near Khao San Road (backpackerville), as by the time I pay for taxi’s either end of my journey it will be more expensive. Rather than stay on Khao San Road, which I’ve heard is incredibly noisy at night, I decide to stay a few streets away. That way I can have the best of Khao San Road - the nightlife - without it disturbing me when I’m trying to sleep. The place I find is on the expensive side at 340 Baht a night (£7) but is nice and clean and the guesthouse has a nice atmosphere as well as ... read more

Day 320: Friday 15th May - A change of plans Which of Thailand’s islands do you go to? There are so many to choose from. On the west coast there is: Phuket, Ko Phi Phi, Ko Lanta, Ko Tarutao, Ko Mook, Khao Lak, the Surin Islands and the Similan Islands. On the east coast there are just as many; Ko Samui, Ko Pha Ngan, Ko Tao, Ko Samet, Ko Chang and Ko Kut. And, I haven’t even mentioned the 1500km of coastline that mainland Thailand enjoys! Where do you start, when there’s so much to choose from? I pick one coast - the west - and not being the type of person to lounge around on beaches for days on end without some kind of stimulus, I choose places which have plenty of activities to keep ... read more

Day 312: Wednesday 6th May - A change in temperature The journey from Taman Negara to the Cameron Highlands takes 8 hours, even though they are next to each other on the map. There is no direct road between the two places therefore a long journey. At least the scenery is good on the way as you pass tropical jungle, rolling hills and then vegetable and flower farms as you get into the highlands. The dominant feature of the journey though are the palm tree plantations, which seem to occupy a good proportion of the land in peninsula Malaysia. The minibus terminates at Father’s Guesthouse, which is good as I’ve had a tip off that this is a good place to stay. The hostel is at the top of a hill and surrounded by vegetable gardens. ... read more