After Sukothai we took the overnight to Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is in the north of Thailand and is renowned for its 300 temples and jungle trekking.After visiting Ayuthya, Sukothai and Bangkok we were feeling a little templed out. We did however visit 3 of the most famous temples here which were very nice. We were able to see some young monks being ordaned in one of them which was great to see. When we arrived they had already had their heads shaven and were weari...

After picking up our Vietnam visas at 9.45am (luckily the lady gave them to us fifteen minutes early), we had 65 minutes to get across the city to the train station, buy tickets, get food and get on the train. Previous experience of getting taxis in Bangkok told us this wouldn't happen, as normally you have to argue with the taxi driver to get him to put the meter on, then explain to him how to get where you are going, as none of them seem to be able to read ...

After leaving Kanchanaburi, we drove 40km to a Temple called Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua, also known as Tiger Temple.It is basically a monastery but has now become a wildlife reserve caring for all kinds of animals including wild pigs, leopard, bears, goats, buffalo and finally its famous tigers.Story has it that in 1999, the temple received its first tiger cub that had been found by villagers after its mother had been killed by poachers. No-one wanted to care for the c...

On the 3rd of April we took a tour from Bangkok to Kanchanaburi to visit The Bridge over the River Kwai. On our way to the bridge we stopped in Kanchanaburi town to visit the cemetery where there were thousands of graves of the Allied soldiers who died building the River Kwai Bridge.They were brutally forced to do so, when they were taken as prisoners of wars by the Japanese during WWII.The main cemetery with its rows of gravestones was very touching. The ages o...

From Bangkok we took a tour to the ruins of Ayuthuya, the Thai capital from 1359 to 1767, before Thonburi (briefly) and then Bangkok (to this day) took over.The ruins are about two hours by car north of Bangkok, though it should probably take longer but Bangkok drivers are insane and like to use all available parts of the road to save time, including the pavement.Our first stop was Wat Yai Chai Mongkol. The wat dates back to the mid-14th century, when Thai king U...