We arrived in Bangkok yesterday morning, taking a train from Ayuthayya. At only 15 Baht or 30p I was quite wistful that my normal commute into a city didn't cost the same! We have ended up staying in Khao San Road, the backpacker centre of Bangkok, probably more for nostalgic reasons from me having stayed here over 20 years ago than for anything else. It certainly has changed! There are still bargain deals on accommodation to be had but the whole place has become...

We arrived in Ayutthaya yesterday afternoon having taken the bus from Sukkothai. I have been suffering from a rather bad stomach so a long bus journey was a bit of a challenge but I got here ok. Our guest house is an old Thai style teak house and has lots of charm and atmosphere. We arrived in time to book onto a small group tour by Tuk Tuk that afternoon of some of the temples including sunset from one of them and then two of them light up after dark. We hadn't...

Have just spent the day going round Sukkothai's historical park. It is really quite impressive and very atmospheric. Enough of it had been renovated to give you the understanding of how it might of looked in the 12h and 13th centuries but with enough left unfinished so that your imagination could do the rest. It was also a lot quieter than we could of hoped for which added to the atmosphere. My favourite site was Wat Mahathat as it had some particularly beautifu...

We returned to Chiang Mai yesterday after a peaceful couple of days in Pai. I have just spent today doing a Thai foot massage course which I have really enjoyed. It was quite hard work as you had to repeat everything so many times to help remember it but I hope it will be worth it. Heading South to Sukhothai tomorrow to see some ancient Khmer sites.

We took the bus to Pai on Monday morning which was another windy road through beautiful mountains but only for 3 hours this time. Pai is quite a sleepy and very laid back place although it does threaten to liven up later in the evening. There is a good music scene here, great food, lots of choices of where to eat it and the inevitable walking street or night market. Vegetarian options have been a treat for me and I've had my first taste of hummus for over two mon...