At last I reached a beach in Thailand! Stayed in a place called Ao Nang in the Krabi province. There's lots of islands surrounding Krabi, made up of limestone outcrops and caves. There's so much to do from here it's difficult to choose, but I decided to spend my first day on the beach, relaxing and unwinding after a pretty hectic first month or so on the road. I did make some effort to explore before I found my place on the beach and I took the coast...

The other attraction of northern Thailand is the opportunity to visit the Golden Triangle. Basically this is a particular spot where you can stand in Thailand and see Burma on your left and Laos on your right - hence the triangle! We took a songtheow to the Burma border (Mae Sai) where you can cross for a few hours have a wander around, get a stamp in your passport of course and then come back - easy right?! Well it would have been except a couple of us suddenly...

So a short bus ride from Chiang Mai is Chiang Rai (don't get them confused now!). And as buses go this was one of the nicer ones, they even came around and served us with a drink and a snack. I won't comment on how they tasted but it's the thought that counts - right?!?!?! Went for lunch in a famous restaurant in Thailand called 'Cabages and Condoms' and yes it does give them out for free! It's part of a charity type inititave to educate ...

Chiang Mai is a good base to explore northern Thailand. Took the overnight train from Ayuthaya and didn't sleep a wink. Instead of small cabins like on the Vietnamese trains, in Thailand a sleeper carriage just means that you have 40 bunks all in one long carriage. The only thing you have separating you from everybody else is a small curtain...however, what they don't tell you is that the air conditioning, rather than being an added bonus is actually a to...

Travelled to Ayuthaya (the old capital of Thailand) to pick up a rice barge cruising the Chao Phraya river for a few days. Our barge was great, plenty of room to relax and enjoy the view, with all meals cooked for us on board, although the 12 of us did all have to sleep in the same room - cosy huh?! As we journeyed down the river we stopped off for a couple of cycle rides through the local countryside. We peddled through many villages, visited a small brick maki...