In Chiang Rai On Thursday we travelled to Chiang Mai bus station and bought tickets for the 3 hour journey further north to Chiang Rai. We ate our cheapest meal yet (in fact our cheapest meal ever) at the bus station - pad thai for 10 baht each (approx. 15p!!). The stall may not have passed any strict (or even un-strict for that matter) health and hygiene regulations but the vendor did keep the flies at bay with a plastic bag tied to the end of a stick and 4 da...

Heading north Just a quick one - will add to this later. Been in Chiang Mai for a few days and get the bus further north to Chiang Rai today. P.S. It's damn hot. ADDED ENTRY On Thursday 20th we caught the overnight train from Bangkok's Hualamphong station to Chiang Mai. A different set up again; you sit in your allocated seats until around 9pm when the guard starts coming around to turn your seat into either a top or a bottom bunk. Matt and I had a top bun...

Back in the Land of Smiles A quick note to say we're now back in Thailand for the last bit of our trip . Left Brisbane on the 17th and flew to Bangkok via Singapore where we actually bumped into Matt's other sister Lorraine as she was en route to Brisbane!! Mad world. We're staying in Chinatown in Bangkok which is a WHOLE different experience to staying in Banglamphu (where the majority of westerners stay) as we did last time. Staying in a reasonably dingy p...

Last entry from Down Under The roads from Dubbo onwards changed a lot as we had long left the outback behind. From Dubbo we headed to Tamworth, from Tamworth we spent the night in a place called Bellingen which is near what's called the NSW Hinterland. Then we headed up to Byron Bay for a few days r+r. Byron Bay has some really lovely beaches and there are loads of young surfer types wandering around. It's a laid back place and definitely a welcomed break from a...

NSW Outback On Thursday we left Broken Hill and travelled the 340 km east on the Barrier Highway to a small mining town called Cobar. Then on the Friday we travelled 340 km on to Dubbo. On Saturday we travelled a further 300 km to the country (as in music) capital of Australia - Tamworth. These were all just interesting overnight stops on our way back towards the coast. Tomorrow we head for Bellingen then onto Byron Bay by Monday. As there's not too much to wri...