Days 17 to 21 New Years Day we were booked on a tour to learn about sticky rice at The Living Land, working farm. When we arrived and we were all given a traditional bamboo hat to wear and I thought oh no this is going to be a really awful tacky experience. How wrong I was. It was really interesting and fascinating to see how sticky rice is made and see all the man made tools for the entire process. If there is ever a Y2K then I want to be in Laos they can prett...

Day 14 - 17 Leaving Chiang Mai we stopped on route at a natural hot springs where people were boiling their own eggs (yes didn't smell great) and Chiang Rai to see the White Temple. This was not really like any other temple (featuring Star Wars and Spider-Man) so it was a bit Disneyland. However the detail was impressive. It was a bit of a joke that the toilet was the 'gold temple'. Immigration was a bit of an experience and I was glad that our guide was with u...

Day 8 to Day 13 So I had survived the 12 hour overnight train and arrived in Chiang Mai, North of Bangkok and according to the guide books the 'gateway to the great outdoors of the northern mountains'. I had therefore expected it to be quieter, but it was a mini Bangkok and in addition to cars and tuks tuks throw in red taxis. These you flag down and if they are going in your direction or want to give you a lift you hop in the back with everyone else they have p...

Day 7 Ayutthaya Kat, our Stray leader Coco, local guide Sun and I set off in our mini bus bound for Ayutthaya one of the old capitals (there has been several over time). It was a busy town where we first visited the market. It was a bit early in the day for me to stomach live frogs and the smell of pig bits that we definitely export as a nation. I tried some fresh coconut rice pancakes filled with sweet corn - very tasty. I was really interested to see the fres...

Bangkok 17th December 2015 When you arrive in a country at 3am UK time, you just want to curl up and sleep in your airport transfer but Bangkok does not allow for this. Traffic laws are not really identifiable here. It made the M25 on a Friday at 5pm seem like a doddle. It wasn't just one car cutting the taxi off, but several as cars/taxis/tuk tuks change lane for no reason as we weren't going anywhere fast. I was excited to be here I wanted to make sure I to...