Even though Phi Phi is still a tropical paradise island, the place had certainly changed since I was here a few years back. The first thing I noticed was they'd replaced the shabby wooden pier with a brand new concrete one, which in fairness with the amount of foot flow that goes through here I'd be surprised if the wooden one didn't snap under the weight of all the people. Plus more bars, shop & Guest houses had gone up everywhere, very different from Railay...

Finally we have arrived in Thailand's South Islands and met up with Simon & Becky. We were really looking forwarded to catching up with them and spending the next few weeks chilling in the sunshine! We'd arranged to spend a night in Ao Nang before catching the longtail boat over to Railay the following morning. We hadn't heard of Ao Nang before we arrived but it was a nice chilled holiday town right on the beach. After checking into some reasonably priced acc...

Chiang Mai After traveling overnight from Bangkok, the whole bus was dropped off just outside the city & everyone was picked up by a "free tuk-tuk" which was organized by the owner of a guest house with an onsite tour company. So after free coffee he started running through the Hill Tribe Trek tours he had to offer "best in town - non tourist area" & of course they are more money than other local agencies! To be fair he wasn't pressur...

Even though we paid slightly cheaper for our tour we got the same itinerary - 3 days & 2 nights in the Thai Jungle with elephant trekking, bamboo & white water rafting! The group we had were really cool - Zoe & Paula from the Midlands, Casey, Eyal & Martin from the US, Aussie Jason & 2 Dutch girls! Our guide Mr T looked like he'd just stepped out of the 60's - a stoned male version of John Lennon's Yoko Ono. His motto was "If you're hap...

Bangkok We're now officially half way through our adventure… Goodbye Latin America & Hello Asia! The lights, sounds & smells combined with the high level of energy couldn't be mistaken for anywhere else other than Bangkok. The Lonely Plants quote is right "you'll be confused & challenged on your first visit, excited & eager when you return & sentimental when you depart for the last time". Luckily for me it's my second time so I wa...