It took us 13 hours to get from Koh Phan Ngan to Bangkok, consisting of a very choppy boat journey (I was very nearly sick!) This was followed by an 8-hour bus journey, which saw our bus reversing down a motorway in Bangkok as he had missed his exit - only in Asia… When we got to Bangkok we instantly felt like we were at home in a weird way - we stayed in the same hotel we always do and it was reassuring to know our way around a place. We enjoyed coming back from our days out to the local street bars on Soi Rambuttri, including yummy Pad Thai, and also venturing down Khao San Road to watch the madness from one of the bars.

Having been to Bangkok so many times, between us we have done most things. So we decided to explore the sides of Bangkok we hadn't done for a while. The first day we took the boat down the Chaophraya river and explored a couple of the more unusual temples. The first one was Wat Pho, where the highlight is a 46m long by 15m high reclining Buddha. It is also the largest and oldest temple in Bangkok. The reclining Buddha was impressive, but the surrounding temples were equally as beautiful. The second temple was Wat Arun, which is an 82m high temple - the stairs were really steep but the views of Bangkok at the top were well worth it. The second day we went to the Siam Square area, which is an area we hadn't really explored before and has a few shopping centres. There is something strangely reassuring about entering an air-conditioned shopping centre, seeing brands you recognise and knowing you don't have to barter for everything! We enjoyed spending a few hours wandering around, sussing out what we wanted to buy just before we come home - we also got some cheap DVDs to keep us entertained for the last few weeks of travelling.

The next day we had a 15-hour sleeper train to Chiang Mai, a town in the North full of culture with more book shops than shopping centres, and loads of monks hanging around and temples to explore. As the train didn't leave until 6pm, we spent a few hours simply taking a public boat up and down the Chaophraya river. It is something neither of us had done before and was good to help us get our bearings and explore Bangkok from a new angle.

The sleeper train journey went surprisingly quickly with a couple of DVDs, a read of our books and an early night! It's a really neat set up with large chairs that are folded down into bunk beds at about 8pm and then put back into chairs whenever you wake up. We both got a good night's sleep and the train was surprisingly on time, arriving at 8.30am. Our guesthouse was well situated in the Old Town. One thing we really wanted to do in Chiang Mai was a Thai cookery course, as we both love Thai food. We really enjoyed our course, which included a trip to a local market with an explanation of the ingredients. We then made Thai curries, pad thai, tom yum soup and chicken satay. Fingers crossed we (or should I say Dave!) can remember how to make the dishes at home, using the recipe book they gave us, as it was all really yummy. The rest of the time, we spent wandering around the town, mostly visiting temples. There were so many temples but the highlight was one made out of aluminum - not something you say very often. We met two couples on the bus to our guesthouse (one from Slovenia and one from New Zealand) and we enjoyed sharing stories about our travels thus far over a beer. We also went for dinner with them on a roof-top bar with great views over the Old Town.

Many people had told us to check out a small town up in the mountains called Pai, whilst in the north of Thailand. We didn't know much about it apart from it was a hippy town and many Thais go there on holiday to escape from the heat. It took us about 3 hours on a minibus up some very steep and windy roads but when we arrive there, we found ourselves in a really quaint chilled-out little place that was perfect for relaxing and soaking up some more culture. It is based around a river and we had a lovely traditional village hut. We only had one night there but enjoyed taking in the atmosphere. In the evening, we found ourselves being persuaded by a Dutch couple (on their Honeymoon!) to take part in a quiz with them. Our team name was 'One Night Stand' as we were both in Pai for just one night. To all of our surprise, we won! We received a bottle of Scotch whiskey to celebrate and the honour of having our team name on the bar wall for a whole week… How sad we wont be there to defend our title next week!

We have really enjoyed our time in Thailand - from chilling out on the islands to experiencing more of the culture in Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Pai. Although it is definitely getting more developed and touristy, it still retains it charm especially in the North. Next stop is Laos where we are going to try and have some kind of detox!