By David SmeeWith our warm up days gone, it was time to do some full-on biking: 70km, compared to yesterday's 40, and the day before's 30!The road today went up and down considerably more, as we headed up to even higher ground. The road just about stayed a road, though we had to stay very alert to miss the potholes that had a nasty habit of hiding round blind bends or at the bottom of hills. The reward for all this was miles of green and stunning view aft...

On our way out of Pai we managed to swing by a Mo Paeng waterfall, a cascade that had several pools ideal for swimming in. It was a real pity the weather wasn't suited to swimming!Today's ride took us over just one hill. It was just a very big one. Cruising along the highway we noticed the lack of coffee shops and road development. We were travelling on a narrow road twisting our way up a valley full of farms. As we got higher, the road started to sweep b...

By David SmeeWe had decided that we would spend the next day in and around Pia -- after all Caroline was very excited to see someone special! Yes today was the day we got to meet our first elephant... Oh, and Caroline's cousin unexpectedly joined us for the day as well.Having picked up Rachel from the circus school she was staying at*, our first stop was Thom's Elephant Home. While it felt slightly forced, we did enjoy meeting, feeding and being hugged by...

By David SmeeAfter our few days in Chiang Mai we were desperately ready to get out of the city. We'd found out about another motorbike loop we could do* and, having really enjoyed the loop in Lao, set about preparing. The Mae Hong Son Loop was both bigger and seen as a 'proper' motor-biker route**, famed for having lots and lots of bends (1864 curves in total). We managed to squeeze all we needed for the week-long trip into our two small day packs, hi...

People flooded the streets. Voices were raised. The crowd was at fever pitch... That's when the explosions stared. We took a deep breath and entered the fray. If this is how Chiang Mai celebrates its Lights festival*, I'd hate to see it riot! Seriously, closest to a war zone I have ever come!! Saying that, there were pockets of tranquility. What struck me the most was the juxtaposition between the calm elegance of vast numbers of paper lanterns being rele...