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.

Kampot is a city on the Preaek Tuek Chhu River in Southern Cambodia. It’s known for its pepper plantations and salt fields. When we first came many years ago it was very quiet, almost deserted, so much so we turned around and left. In the last few years it has become a very hip and trendy spot. It now has hundreds of restaurants and hotels and a mix of nationalities. It’s buzzing.

We booked into a guest house called ‘Magic Sponge’ a lovely house just 5 minutes from the centre. It’s owner William, from Alaska, welcomed us with a beer and a very friendly disposition.

We hired a motorbike and our first trip out was to Kep on the coast an hours drive away.

Again as all over Cambodia, major building work is happening and we couldn’t believe how the once sleepy hamlet has blossomed. There were only 4 tiny guesthouses in the square 15 years ago and now there are hundreds and some very upmarket places to stay and eat.

Even the beach has grown…it has fabulous seafood and a small fleet of fishing boats.

Bokor National Park borders Kampot and has a mountain in the middle of it. We left early.

Monkeys sitting on the steel barriers on the road up like sentry’s equally spaced, eyebrows lifting hopeful for a snack. It got cooler the higher we got, it’s 1000 m (like Snowdon) and the Cambodians had jackets , woolly hats, gloves. We relished the coolness and the goosebumps, it’s been very hot in the mid 30’s.

There is an abandoned palace which was built in the 1930’s for King Sihanouk overlooking his lands below. We met a guide who told us he often had 100 women, and just the King at his party’s which were legendary. It was now full of graffiti and rubbish.

Right at the top there is an enormous new Chinese built Hotel and casino and a car park for thousands of cars, one car was there.

A Catholic Church built in the 1920’s, a hill station and a reservoir were used by the French community perhaps to escape the searing heat of a Cambodian summer. Most of the buildings are derelict, it’s a strange place. There is always a big statue.

There is no infrastructure but again we passed maybe a thousand new houses being built. It’s miles from anywhere.

There are 2 markets in Kampot, a day and a night market.

Kampot has a long boulevard alongside the river just like Phnom Penh. If you head towards the sea along the river there is a small clean river beach with a few beach bars.

It has been fun coming back. We’ve met some interesting folk, you always do when there’s cheap beer, cheap accomodation and long hot nights. It’s a mix of older single men, lots of French tourists, backpackers and young couples opening businesses. There are lots of ‘full on’ travellers. One guy on his bike had just cycled from Saigon and last year rode from Paris to Oman, he was 75 from Colorado. Not everyone here is crazy but it does seem to help!

It’s different to Thailand because, as a foreigner, you can actually buy land and property here. Can’t imagine what it will be like in another 15 years.

We’re off next to Phu Quoc a Vietnamese island just off the coast of Cambodia.

Arriving in PP on the bus from Siem Reap, even a few miles out of the city, the building work is immense. Thousands of newly built condo’s, acres of them all the way into the city, cranes towering over the skyline, skyscrapers everywhere, it’s now huge. It’s 8 years since we were last here.

We are staying near Sisowath Quay which is the part of the city on the riverside at the confluence of the Tonle Sap and the mighty Mekong River. It’s where most tourists stay. It has a 3k long boulevard, great for people watching and lined with bars and restaurants.

Interestingly the Tonle Sap river is the only river that once a year flows backwards turning the Tonle Sap lake into the largest freshwater lake in SE Asia. It’s no surprise they built Angkor Wat next to it as it’s one of the most productive fishing lakes in the world and it supplies 3 million Cambodians with 75% of their annual fish catch.

There is a lot of things to do in PP. There are river cruises, the National Museum, a Royal Palace and of course all the history of Pol Pot.

The ‘killing fields’ and the school, S21 where Pol Pot leader of the Khymer Rouge and his henchmen tortured and killed thousands of people needs to be seen. We have been twice and if I close my eyes I can still see the faces of the people in the school, it’s too painful to go again.

Everyone had their picture taken. A look of palpable terror in their eyes. Haunted and despondent, fear etched into pale faces totally crushed with no hope. 20,000 people were imprisoned, tortured and killed only 12 lived. It was only 1976…….there are very few older adults in Cambodia, it has a very young population due mainly to Pol Pot killing approximately 2 million Cambodians. We asked our guide how he felt about the now ex Prime Minister as he was one of Pol Pots right hand men. His answer was; ‘’The person that sets fire to your house eventually brings water to put it out’’ That’s one way of looking at it. The economy is booming and the young people just want to look forwards leaving Pol Pots dark legacy behind them.

The road parallel to the quay has a bustling daily market.

There is also a night market selling the normal t shirts and souvenirs but our favourite market is an Art Deco covered market.

It’s an amazing building, built to be cool with all the air vents.

Wat Phnom is set on top of a 27m high hill and built in 1372. It’s a very pretty Wat used daily by the people of PP.

It must have been a special day. Everyone brought fruit or lotus flowers to make merit, hundreds of them and in return got beaten around the head and shoulders by monks with rolled up paper. It was funny to watch.

Now on to Kampot in the very south of Cambodia.

Ta Prohm was rediscovered in the 1860’s by a French archaeologist who wrote a book about his findings. It was built in the late 12th century as a Buddhist monastery and is only 1k from Angkor Wat. When the whole city was abandoned in the 16th century it fully returned to nature and became totally overgrown.

When it was used as a film set for Tomb Raider it suddenly found fame.

All the temples have ongoing restoration works in progress with many countries participating. Looking at all the stone laid out, numbered, it’s an enormous jigsaw puzzle.

Abandonment, time, nature and Pol Pot didn’t help. He systematically tried to obliterate Buddhism and the temples, looting, destroying and laying land mines.

Banteay Srei is 40k out of town. It was built in 967 and has the most exquisite, deep carvings of all the temples. Its known as the ‘Citadel of the ladies’ and is one of the most beautiful ancient temples to be found in Asia, set amongst the charming village and farmlands just below the Kulen Mountain range. It features stunning and well-preserved narrated bas-reliefs with ornate decoration from when craftmanship in the ancient empire was reaching its peak.

This is how it looked in the 1930’s when the restoration works started.

We are definitely ‘templed out’. We were only going to do one day but did 3 days in all 😊. We’re now travelling to Phnom Penh ‘The pearl of Asia’ the vibrant, bustling capital.