Not much to write of a rest day except a great stroll around the deservingly famous Chang Mai Sunday night market. Set amidst beautiful colours and slow melodic music there is something for everyone from the tacky 'Walked the walk' night market t-shirt to a courtyard for locals to dine on a variety of local delights, or 'german sausage and mash' should it take your fancy. The 11th june, a blessed day. Not only did the China embassy representive remembered us, ...

3 years ago today I bade farewell to home. It is not necessarily a time for celebration but reflection tied up with a massive dose of appreciation. This is the time when I look at the people who are still in my life, ones who are deserving of endless gratitude as they are available without question - even after so long apart - as if we had met just yesterday. To my family who share joyful stories, worry my illnesses away and on occasion know what is just across t...

Sometimes things do just work out... not saying that I yet own a Chinese visa or have my Mekong cargo vessel booked. However waking up early and making a slow start to a bus station that does not appear where the maps tell us, and sitting atop of a double decker just as it pulls out of the station feels pretty smooth. The road to Chang Mai is flat and calm and I suffered no palpitations throughout the journey, which is unusual in Asia. The landscape becomes more...

Starting to believe more in the elusive bigfoot than the Chinese visa it is time to say goodbye to Bangkok where we have made visits the embassy twice and the closest we have reached to our intentions has been a mere 70 people away from the paying counters. Chang Mai might give us more positive results, might. I have a week left on my Thai visa, no proof of banking because my 'worlds local bank' wont recognise that travelling means I do not own a bloody secure ke...

So what do you do in Bangkok... find good coffee, great food, sweat yourself stupid while taking in the sights of a thousand temples, marvel at the air con on the sky train. Well, you could meet someone at the airport, miss them -even though your over an hour early- and end up getting rescued yourself in their taxi, smooth! This is why I havn't flown in 2 years, obviously. Bangkok aka Krung Thep or 'City of Angels' has it all. Skyscrapers, epic monuments of bel...