Hello again, Am now in the last two days of my three weeks here in Thailand. Since I last wrote I flew 720 miles south to Phuket (pronounced Poo-get). Called a province this is really an island with a trunk road connecting it with the mainland. On arrival, compared to rural Thailand in the north, it is a mature and well developed tourist region with similar standards to countries in the Med. Patong, the resort where I have been based has a lovely white sandy be...

Hello, Since I last wrote I have left China and have now been in Thailand since last Friday and will be here for a total of three weeks. Final destination in China was Shanghai where I spent a day prior to leaving for Bangkok. Shanghai is a massive city of 13 million people which is regaining its position of premier business centre in Asia following years of relative decline when Beijing was more favoured by the previous regime. The amount of building going on ...

Hello again, Am planning to leave the north ofThailand tomorrow for the beach resort of Patong, where I get a boat out for three days scuba diving wednesday to Friday. Since I last wrote I have been taking in the Thai new year in Chaig Mai where it is more enthusiastically celebrated than any other part of the country. This meant that when we headed out on our three day jungle trek on new years day, we were subjected to 'participation' in the celebrations. New ...

Hi, My time in China is just coming to an end. Thanks again to all who have written. I've just caught up with the replies today as I've been on a boat with no internet access over the past 4 days. I can vouch for the fact that my chopsticks skills have been finely honed over the past two weeks. I may have to relearn the old fork and knife routine... Last time I wrote I had arrived in Beijing( formely Peking). Major problem for the tourist in the city is that s...

Hi all, Bit of a step change this week. Flew to Hong Kong(HK) last Wednesday and then onto mainland China (Beijing) on Friday. HK was a massive change of scene. It was overcast. No sun on my head all day and no rickshaw drivers/merchants in your face every 10 seconds. HK is a mainstream western type city. The best way I could sum it up is that it seems to be a massive version of Chinatown you would see in any western city. All the main stores/banks are there. ...