It’s time for the 48th Chiang Mai Flower festival and I couldn’t be happier. The city is awash with people and traffic, we slowly make our way to our favourite place to watch the parade. It’s outside a hotel, they supply free drinks and snacks, there are bathrooms, a perfect spot. It’s our favourite CM event.

It takes 4 hours for everyone in the parade to get from the train station just outside the city to their final destination in the park, inside the moat. We can hear bands playing, drums throbbing in the distance…

The floats have thousands of flowers expertly placed, it’s extraordinary

We were sat close to the end of the parade just outside the park, it was a hot day and a long walk. Everyone was very tired, the look on these girls faces says it all.

The floats park up on the inside of the moat outside the park

Inside the park are where all the flower/plant competition entries are.

The city’s gardeners have been working flat out to deck the park out with spectacular displays.

and you’ll never go hungry at any event in Thailand, a long line of food stalls. Fabulous. We’re off to the beach soon, it’s getting hot.

We are driving to the summit of Doi Inthanon, Thailands highest mountain . It’s a 100km drive with very steep climbs to the summit so we’re hiring a bigger bike. No more dawdling 2 up on an underpowered scooter willing it to get to the top, we’re going big!

We rented the bike in the city for £30 for the day. It’s a Honda 500, perfect. It’s a 60km ride to where you turn off for the mountain. It’s then 40km up to the summit. You enter the National Park it costs £8 each and a few km in you come to the first waterfall. The last time we came it was more a trickle, this time it had plenty of water. The mist as you got closer just hung in the air causing rainbows and dropping gently on our hot skin, lovely.

We approached the summit and parked. The highest spot in Thailand the sign said. I’d seen that sign already in the multitudes of weed shops on every street…

We came on this trip to go back through the Hmong tribal villages which are all over the mountain, another all time favourite bike ride and to see an old friend.

The villages are surrounded by seas of plastic poly tunnels overflowing with flowers and vegetables and lots of places to hire a tent, the Thais love camping.

Some of the growers supply all the floats for the floral decorations for the upcoming flower festival. The floral scents attack your nostrils, woody herbals and wet earthy aromas, citrus all pervading as you journey along.

We are making our way to Mae Wang, elephant country. Winding rivers meandering in the wide valleys, small hills and lots of vegetation.

The unmissable elephant smell, strong and pungent lingers briefly around every corner. We are close to our friend. It seemed busy, lots of tourist buses. We looked at the coral where she would be, it was all covered over.

A man asked what we were doing so we explained we had come to see an old friend Vissa. We hadn’t been for 3 years. The elephant camp had been merged with another camp so instead of 6 elephants there were now 16. All the staff had ‘Pon Elephant Camp’ T shirts on and walkie talkies, very professional, a lot had changed.

During Covid the elephant tourist business came to a sudden halt, no tourists no money. Some of the mahouts went back to their villages with the elephants as they couldn’t afford to feed them. They really suffered. An elephant can eat 150kg of food a day and drinks 30-50 gallons of water.

The guy in charge listened to our story, the elephant we called Vissa was actually Fa Sai, born in 2008. Her name means clear sky. He said if we took a walk to the camp base the mahouts would bring her so we could see her. We were taken to a clearing over a very wobbly bridge. There were modern little huts where you could stay overnight, the whole place had been transformed.

We chatted to a young female guide who spoke English and she told us Fa Sai was 7 months pregnant. Elephants have an 18-22 months gestation. Excited now.

Two elephants approached coming down a little hill. One was Fa Sai, bigger than I remembered and much wider around her girth. They said due to the pregnancy she was a little unpredictable and we shouldn’t get too close. They had a fun time having a mud bath. The camp are trying to turn the space into 2 rice paddy’s but the elephants keep trashing the area. We just watched them having fun throwing mud over themselves.

We will go back to see her next time we are in CM.

We did miss the bristly, snotty snorkel face kisses and the joyous times we had before but it was lovely to see her knowing she was being well looked after.

We were very grateful to everyone at the camp for accommodating us so generously. We made our way home very happy to have seen her.

It’s getting quieter in the city again after Christmas and the Chinese New Year celebrations, we can now brave the markets. There are more markets in Thailand than you can shake a stick at, in every village and town a real mainstay for every community. Not just for tourists but the locals as well, a daily coming together for everyone, love them.

Jing Jai the makers market is our favourite.

It’s only 5 minutes out of the city and is a genuine makers market with lots of independent clothing stalls, handicrafts and food stalls.

Jing Jai is held every Sunday and is a great morning out.

The city has its own Saturday and Sunday walking markets in 2 different locations within the city. It starts at 4pm and gets very crowded.

There are also local food markets liberally spread every mile or so throughout the city with fruit, vegetables and everything you could imagine to eat.

It’s fun visiting the markets, we regularly go. Next week we’re off to visit our favourite elephant Vissa near Doi Inthanon. I’m really excited, can’t wait. Hope she’s there.

More good news is that the original CM flower festival is on next weekend (8th Feb) with a big parade, floats, bands, flower and bonsai competitions and it’s back in the city in the park. My prayers have been answered I’m very happy.

The MHS motorbike loop is one of the best motorcycle routes in the world. It’s 400 miles with 1847 twists, turns, switchbacks and curls through the mountainous paradise of northern Thailand. Driving through deeply forested overhanging roads on good tarmac, glimpsing mountain tops before more twists and dark dappled roads pan out before you. It’s amazing. Steep climbs and deeper twisty drops add to the drama. You pass National parks, waterfalls, caves and lakes it’s immense. I have absolute faith in Chris and his driving skills and can’t wait for this next adventure. The road from Pai to MHS is the most scenic and exciting stretch.

The road out of Pai is cold, I have all the clothes I possess on. I’m excited. It’s a 3-4 hour drive.

Mae Hong Son is a remote mountainous area which borders Burma in the far north and is the westernmost Provence. It is 925km from Bangkok and lies next to the Shan hills. It is a culturally diverse region with Shan and Hmong tribes and the Kayan people who escaped from Burma across the mountains and over the River Pai. There is plenty to see and experience.

You pass the Caves of Lod, Tham Lod which was recently on David Attenboroughs ‘Asia’ series. You go in by small boat and it’s an enormous cave system on 3 levels. It was really busy as we passed, with tourist buses lining the roads. This is a picture from inside the cave looking out. We visited 7 years ago but not this time.

We booked in a small upmarket hotel very near the lake in MHS.

We met up with friends from Abersoch, father and son, John and Tom. They were on much bigger bikes so we didn’t ride together but met up in the evenings

The lake is the centre of town with a street food market every evening and a couple of bars with live music.

It’s a sleepy easy going town with little traffic. there is of course the ubiquitous night market for souvenirs and other tourist must haves.

Sitting above the town on the hill is a famous wat. We drove up and had our pictures taken with an enthusiastic bunch of ladies who were on a day out.

They always want you in their pictures. There were monks on tour taking pictures of themselves having fun.

On a more sombre note there is a memorial to all the bike riders who have died riding the MHS loop.

The only problem I have with the town is that the food choices are limited compared to Chiang Mai otherwise we would definitely stay longer.

There is a famous Burmese Wat opposite the lake with some of the strangest carved wooden figures and statues brought from Burma in 1857, they all tell a story.

We went on a trip out of town. The long neck Karen people fled Burma from persecution and have a village close to the Burmese border, by the Pai river.

The Kayan people who first escaped could never get papers or a Thai ID so were forced to stay in their village relying on tourist money to survive. Fortunately their children who were born in Thailand can get a Thai ID and get a Thai education. They cannot get a passport so cannot leave Thailand. It’s still much better than it was. It’s an interesting village with interesting people.

You pay 200 baht each (£4.50) to enter the village and 50 baht for the river crossing.

It’s a small village with a school and playing fields and all of the women sit weaving and making jewellery and handicrafts.

They are eager to chat and the younger girls have much better English than they ever used to have. The neck rings they wear weigh 2 kilos. I tried a half one on 1kg it felt heavy. They speak their own language, Kayan.

After leaving the village a couple of miles up the river, was a bridge. The closest point to Burma by road. A very wobbly bridge that Chris decided he wanted to cross.

We enjoyed our stay in MHS we had a few rides out and met friends a good time was had by all. We decided we would ride back in one go, it was going to be a very long day. We missed out on a bit of the loop back but felt we had ridden the most scenic parts.

It was a 9 hour ride back, stopping for lunch. As we approached Doi Inthanon in the distance, mist clad at 2,565m high we knew we were getting closer.

The end of the loop towards Chiang Mai goes almost to the summit of the mountain brrr it was chilly. It was only a couple of hours to home. Whoopee. It was fun.

Thailand is having an unusually cold snap 12 degrees morning temperature, the coldest it’s been for 15 years. Thais have been travelling to the top of Doi Inthanon (Thailands highest mountain) to take pictures of the frost! It is 2565 m high.

It was a two T shirts, jumper, jeans and jacket start to our long 5 hour bike ride to Pai.

We are going the back way, the scenic route, it takes twice as long to get there but the quiet roads and stunning scenery are well worth it. Once we left the main road and started climbing through the high forest roads it was teeth chatteringly cold. The air was crystal clear winding our way through the undulating high sided mountain roads with the sun just dappling the tarmac. Even in the middle of nowhere the roads are way better than the potholed, uneven roads of the U.K.

It wasn’t long before we saw these lovely beings on the side of the road waiting for the tourists to come, we snook in and said a quick hello.

We were making good time, the scooter was slightly underpowered for some of the incredibly steep roads especially the long steep ones. We drove through a fair sized Hmong town and after a very long hill the drive belt shredded and threw bits all over the road. Damn. We just made it to the top. We were not far from a Hmong farm where 2 young farmers were working, we managed to ask them where to go. Back to town they said so Chris borrowed Andy’s bike and went in search of help. He was soon back saying he had found a mechanics shop and 2 young Hmong guys said they would take us to Pai. Hallelujah.

They arrived smiling with a pick up truck, put the bike in and we were off. Andy left us to carry on to Pai.

Chat and Gon stopped at a few mechanic shops and we eventually found one with parts locally. The guys were lovely and stayed with us until the work was done and wouldn’t take money for their help. We had to force money on them, they were delighted and hugs and big smiles all round. You should never feel you can’t travel off the beaten track as some kind Thai person will always help whatever your problem.

We set off for Pai, we were half way there and again enjoying the immense scenery from high ridges, down to small valleys. The flora and fauna changing from big leafed trees, banana trees, grasses and big clumps of bamboo on the lower slopes, the floor a dappled green tangled tapestry. Higher up the taller trees, like sentinels clothed in creepers and vines like rows of headless giants with their leafy green Kaftans swaying above the roads.

Dense pine forests and evergreen trees are often over 1000m. It used to be rain forest but logging and farming have changed it. Opium was one of the main crops in the high mountains for the hill tribes but no longer.

Small communites in the valleys or stepped hillsides working the fields, life unfolding with children playing noisily, dogs and chickens, trucks laden with produce heading to markets. People cooking, chatting, village life. I love these trips out on the bike, this is the real Thailand.

The Thai highlands have been populated by hill tribe people mostly of Chinese or Tibetan/Burmese descent. Akha, Yao, Hmong, Lahu, Lisu, Shan all immigrated to these empty regions escaping persecution as well as seeking new land for their agricultural needs.

Getting closer to Pai you first see the river from high up, the river narrow at first bubbling over stones with sandy banks.

The winding roads coming down to the large flat valley passing natural geysers on the side of the road like steamy dragons puffing huge plumes into the air.

We passed a fully naked tourist and her two dreadlocked male companions just coming out of the river, warmed by the hot steamy geysers. We spotted their pimped up VW campervan, and knew we must be getting close to the new age hippy, party central kingdom of Pai.

Only one night in Pai. We have a really early start for the ride to Mae Hong Son. This next part of the famous motorbike loop is the most breathtakingly beautiful section, can’t wait.

Food, food glorious food. This song couldn’t be more apt for Thailand. There are no regular times to eat in Thailand, you eat when you’re hungry and for Thais that is very often. I was dreaming of Thai food since we booked our flights, what I’d have and which restaurant.

There are hundreds of street stalls with sushi at around 10p a piece and lots of stalls selling barbecued pork, prawns, chicken and meats I have no idea what they are! There’s fried chicken and lots of veggie options on sticks, duck soup all cheap and plentiful. We’ve never had any problems eating off the street food stalls.

We have tried this Korean dish called Jeyuk Kimbab, similar in style to Japanese sushi but the rice is slightly different and filled with spicy pork and veggies. A hearty bargain for 2 for £4.

The classic Thai dishes of Pad Thai, pad krepow, fried rice are on every eateries menu and cost as little as £1 it’s all good. Noodle soups are a lunchtime must have, spicy noodle loveliness.

The classic green, red and Penang curries you can get but are more a southern Thai dish. If you get really fed up with rice and noodles there are plenty of upmarket western restaurants to choose from, which is not very often for us.

Are you hungry yet, I am just writing this.

You can also feast on these, all the rage for sustainable eating. No, no no maybe not so hungry now..big bag 50p yummy

We are leaving for a long bike trip to Mae Hong Son near the border with Myanmar. It’s about 200 miles so we will stop in the party central hippy paradise of Pai for one night only. We plan to stay in MHS for 3 nights. The last time we went we flew but the flights are no longer, so on the bike it is. It’s part of the Mae Hong Son loop the classic motorbike trail which has more twists and turns than a skip full of corkscrews. Scary but fun, aargh.

We hope to see our favourite elephant Vissa on the way back, hope she’s there.

Change is inevitable, sometimes for the good but not always. The Chiang Mai flower festival was always held at the beginning of February, the end of the winter season and was a real highlight for our trip. It had been a regular event in CM for 48 years. Since Covid it has changed and no longer a weekend event but a 3 week event over Christmas and the New Year and no longer where it used to be held. It was just about to end so we went along to have a look.

It’s now just out of town in a huge field next to a lake near government buildings. It’s more a food market with hundreds of stalls, yes some nice plants and lots of fairy lights and a few fireworks over the lake.

The original flower festival parade started by the train station with hundreds of participants and floats and slowly made its way to the moat road which surrounds the city. It took about 4 hours to get to its final destination, Suan Buak Hard public park on the inside of the moat.

I absolutely loved this festival, a huge parade with hundreds of decorated floats and all the mountain hill tribes bedecked in their amazing outfits. Hmong, Akha, Lisu, Mien, Lahu all looking fabulous and proud of their heritage.

Marching bands which you could hear approaching, drums and brass getting louder a frisson of excitement, the joy was palpable everyone felt it. It wasn’t just floats and bands it encompassed everything I love about the Thais. It was a fantastic spectacle, inclusive, colourful, funny, cultural a real joy.

There were flower displays, bonsai competitions and awards for best floats. There was a stage with bands playing and local dignitaries.

The park had fantastic displays, they closed the park for 2 weeks while they set it up and planted all the flowers. At night it was a true fairy grotto. it lasted only for the weekend. All the pictures above were pre-covid.

The new flower festival has a fine display of flowers and fairy lights but no heart, I came away disappointed.

It seemed more like an Instagram backdrop and food market than the amazing cultural spectacle it had always been. I like to embrace change but please CM can we have the old festival back.

We’re having Christmas in Chiang Mai with warm weather, huge smiles and way less stress. We came away feeling under the weather so this is the perfect spot for not doing very much. None of that rushing around like a headless chicken the day before looking for last minute sprouts, roses chocolates and sellotape! It’s chilled and calm with the odd Christmas tree and decorations. The bars and restaurant owners are all wearing red velvet reindeer antlers and being very jolly. Thais love a celebration.

I really do miss the large family and friends Christmas dinner gatherings of yesteryear but for me, now, this is the place. Thais don’t do Christmas but they love to join in and make it fun.

The city and surrounds is boisterously busy with traffic, out of town cars, a squillion bikes it’s like whacky races, lots of people milling around.

We have visited a Thai style car boot which was fun and different just out of town. Some very interesting items and a ton of stuff which should have gone straight in a skip. It was fun to look around

Jing Jai, which is a makers’ market we really like, was heaving with people. Never seen it so busy, shoulder to shoulder people, vloggers , meanderers, space cadets not knowing where they are going so we plan to return in the New Year. Way too many people.

We needed to get out of the city so went for a long bike ride out. We have a friend with us, Andy, we headed off into the mountains.

Cool mountain air on deserted winding roads, the air like champagne for your lungs. I need it at the moment I’ve had an everlasting cough, I still sound like a honking goose.

We always like to go off the main mountain roads through the Hmong villages passing all the orange groves, well off the beaten track. It’s deserted on the roads apart from trucks carrying oranges, cabbages and other produce. The orange harvest is just in, lovely. 60p a kilo for juicy lush orangeness. It’s now their winter so they are now growing tomatoes and strawberries.

There is a tiny coffee shop which serves an excellent iced coffee and has a bathroom, bonus or it’s a pee in the woods!

Just after leaving the cafe pottering along, a really cute puppy comes loping along eyes wide, tail like a helicopter joyously approaching us then another 2 arrived, equally giddy. Hard not to say hello really. It was a good day out.

We now have an apartment. We loved the hotel we’d stayed in for years but needed more space and a COMFY SOFA woo hoo, which we now have and a small kitchen. This is the view from the roof terrace, a view of Doi Suthep.

The mountain has 2 temples a big highly regarded blingy one at the top and the ‘secret temple’, my favourite, half way down. It had a football sized crowd there a few days ago so it isn’t so secret anymore!

The mountain is 1,676 metres high and has an enormous zoo, a large university campus with a large reservoir and an arboretum. The King has one of his many palaces tucked away up there with a helicopter landing pad, you can go in the gardens it’s called Bhuping Palace. The mountain majestically overlooks the city.

It’s the Thai winter, high season for tourists in Chiang Mai. The Thais wear coats and hats and even the dogs join in.

The temperature is 28 degrees daytime and 16 at night, I’m English and that’s pretty damn good. Accommodation in January and February is very affordable, great food, lots to do. What are you waiting for, got to be worth a try 😎

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy New Year.

Hua Hin became firmly established as a beach resort when King Rama VI built a summer palace to escape the muggy heat of Bangkok in the 1920’s. It’s 200k southwest from Bangkok. It sits amongst the impressive Jurassic hills and the coast on the narrowest part of the Thailand/ Myanmar border. It’s a very trendy popular weekend getaway for Thai’s.

When we were leaving the airport in Bangkok and getting on a bus an older passenger said Hua Hin was like ‘Pattaya for old folks’. There are still lots of single men but more couples and families here. There are masses of massage parlours and girly bars it’s just not as seedy or corrupt as Pattaya (you couldn’t drag me there!) I overheard 2 older men talking in a bar in Hua Hin saying if you paid 12,000 baht you could have one of the girls stay with you for a month, £300. These 2 elderly guys wouldn’t have a hope in hell anywhere else without paying someone, trust me! Most of the girls who work in the massage parlours and bars are from Isaan which is one of the poorest rural communities in northeastern Thailand. Needs must..

It is a quieter resort. The great thing about it is you have all the benefits of a city with decent shopping, mountains, viewpoints and a spectacular beach, not to mention great Thai food..

The beach is white sand and you can rent a sunlounger for the day for £2. The guys that run it are very attentive, they even pour water over your feet after you have swum to remove the sand as well as drinks and food served all day.

There are all sorts of restaurants from real high end places to food courts and street food. Every Friday/Saturday night the pier has music, tables to eat at and a vast array of food on offer. It’s mostly Thai people and good fun, great for people watching.

We have rented a bike. Monkey mountain is a 20 minute drive south and gives spectacular views over the full length of the beach. There is a small temple at the top and hundreds of monkeys.

Looking the other way, south is a very pretty little beach, quiet and secluded. We went with friends it was perfect.

There are daytime markets and a couple of night markets. The one closest to us in the old city has mega fresh seafood on offer. Cooked to order.

There is plenty to do here. Fishing trips, kite surfing anything water based. Music concerts, cinemas it’s all here. Busy or quiet.

I would definitely return to Hua Hin, it’s got a quiet relaxed vibe and lots to see and do. I think we are just about ready for our return to the UK, it’s been fun.

Just before we left Kampot we called at ‘La Plantation’ pepper and spice farm, which is world famous. It’s run by a Belgian/French couple who grow the best quality organic pepper. It’s 40 minutes on a bike out of town on a dirt track just past a huge reservoir. It was impressive. Kampot pepper has a protected area of origin status, it’s known as the ‘champagne of all pepper’.

There is a free tour around the estate about all the different coloured peppers, they all start as green when picked and are only picked by women as they have softer hands. The process starts by being immersed in boiling water for different set times to make red, black and white pepper, then put in dehydration units. After the tour we had a tasting session.

Our guide Lip was a very chatty young Cambodian, she was very professional, knowledgeable and funny. She had real style and charisma. She said her mum had come to work at the farm and asked if her daughter could come and stay with her. The company put her through school, she was taught English and then went to Uni which the company paid for in full, accommodation, everything. They have built a small primary school in the local village and the kids are taught English every weekend, it’s admirable. You can get a much better job if you can speak another language. Lip is leaving next year to be a nurse.

The bus trip to the Vietnamese border was 2 hours and then a 2 hour ferry crossing to Phu Quoc island. Our Cambodian visa was just about to expire. Our new homestay bungalow accommodation, newly built is very modern and swish but in the middle of nowhere so have rented a bike.

The accommodation is £12 a night with breakfast. The island reminds me of Cambodia many years ago, poor with basic amenities. Roadside verges and the public beaches are rubbish strewn, filthy and not very inviting. There are enormous upmarket resorts and their beaches are pristine so we used theirs, much easier. Just buy a drink…..food is also a problem but have now found a couple of great places to eat. Lots of really fresh seafood.

The biggest theme park, aquarium and water park on the island and possibly in Vietnam is not far away. It cost £54 for us both.

It’s full on Disney style surrounded by Sheraton, Hilton and a host of ginormous hotels along with thousands of empty, smart holiday bungalows and acres of empty retail. I think it was Chinese built before Covid and sadly the numbers haven’t returned.

I’m not a big theme park fan but Chris is. He encouraged me onto a rollercoaster ride. What happened to waltzers and dodgems!

I knew it was the wrong thing to do as they strapped me in like I was about to go on an Apollo space mission. It moved away from the dock, paused briefly before setting off at warp factor 9, whoosh. Even Chris said oh f… as we climbed, spun upside down, sideways all at supersonic speed. I could see my whole life flashing before me. It was 5 minutes of sheer terror, I really wanted to throttle him when I got off but my legs were shaking that much I couldn’t catch him and could barely speak. He said it was the most intense ride he’d ever been on…and he’s been on plenty! Aargh

The aquarium was spectacular. Lots of different fish, underwater walkways aplenty it was enormous. Lots to look at, some of the displays were magical.

I don’t think we’ll be returning to Phu Quoc, the people were kind and lovely, the beaches and water are amazing. The island could be a paradise, idyllic just needs a bit of work to get more tourists back.

We’re travelling now to Hua Hin, 200k from Bangkok the original Thai beach resort, can’t wait.