We have spent the past five days in the city of Chiang Mai, famous for its proximity to the wilderness along the Burmese border, its many cooking schools, and the tribes that live nearby who are known locally as "long-necks" due to their custom of stretching their necks with wide collars.Todd and I did our best to take advantage of these attractions.We attended an all-day cooking class, explored a bit of the jungle from the backs of elephants, rafted do...

Our transition from traveling in relatively 'undiscovered' China to the tourist Mecca of Thailand hasn't necessarily been the smoothest. Several taxi-drivers and vendors seriously tried to 'take us for a ride'. I surprised myself with how quickly and firmly my guard went up. However, we are well aware that the Bangkok backpacker's ghetto (as our Lonely Planet described it) is NOT representative of the rest of Thailand or even the surrounding city. We fear the Wes...