It's hard work wandering the planet and having other people cook, clean, and transport you around. Well maybe "hard work" is overstating the case just a little but we were somehow able to convince ourselves that we needed a vacation from our vacation- we had finished our loop through North Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Cambodia, and we were now back in Thailand looking for a couple weeks of serious beach tourism in the South before continuing on into Malaysia (get...

Today was our day to leave Chiang Rai and start heading toward Laos. Our first stop today presented one of those dilemmas we run into every now and again. We really wanted to see the much talked about 'long necks', a Karen tribe of northern Thailand more formally known as Mae Hong Son, but any experience with this group is often likened to visiting a human zoo. This labeling is usually done by overly pompous travelers who fail to recognize that just abou...

Due to a somewhat freakish accident whereby DH threw her shoulder out patting herself on the back after receiving oodles of compliments on her writing style, I've taken the pen back temporarily to document our Chiang Rai stay. We took our first Thai bus to make the journey from Chiang Mai and it outstripped our recent air travel- we even had the bus version of a stewardess feeding us crackers and drinks as we sped along (although after barking out instruction...

With a newfound fan club, DH now has Pulitzer Prize aspirations in the way-too-popular category of 'best travel blogs for family and friends'. Getting the pen back is no longer in question- getting stabbed by the pen if I get too close probably is. DH continues with War and Peace- backpacker style.Today required a quick pack for Chiang Mai leaving two bags (filled with beachy type stuff) behind in storage to be picked up by us end of January as we complet...

DH refuses to give up the pen.Today we had booked a very long day adventure and were picked up early in the morning at our hotel and transported along with many others in a packed van. We met our nameless driver and our " guide" Bert. First stop was the Floating Market, a very old and famous market. We jumped at the opportunity to take a boat ride (canoe style boat) to see the market and observe women actually cooking in their wooden dugouts, selling fruits, ...