Chiang Mai to Laos

So we finally dragged ourselves away from our Pai induced lethargy and found ourselves a great little hotel in Chiang Mai while we waited to arrange our Laos visas and airline tickets. Ate well, slept well, swimming pool and cable TV - sorted!

We flew into Luang Prabang in Northern Laos on a bouncy and slightly scary propeller plane - but it was worth it. LP is just lovely, with its slightly spooky misty mountains and the mighty Mekong cutting through the hillsides. We have been pootling about the town and local villages on bikes, visiting the stunning temples and colourful markets. Lao people are amazingly friendly and unassuming, and make great food too. Sabadee is like saying 'what's uup/how are you?/I'm fine/how's it going?/see you - it's a great word. Like Julay in Ladakh or Tashi Delai in Tibet. We are all making a concerted effort to learn Laos and can already count to ten. Although Kip, the Lao currency starts in the thousands so its all a bit confusing.

The other day we visited the most amazing waterfall any of us have ever seen or jumped in! Kuang Xi was spectacular and tremendous fun - and wonderfully cooling in this immensely dry heat. We leapt off rocks and crashed into torquoise whitewater pools. Top trip highlight for sure.

Tomorrow we head north, hoping to do a river trip and some trekking. We had an amazing storm here the other night and the rains are starting to rumble - but this is a good thing as its just too damn hot!

Life of Pai

Pai (pronouced 'bye') is a small town nestled in the hills, a somewhat hippy enclave, close to local hill tribes and about 120km north-west of Chiang Mai. There are numerous long-stay farangs here, many have married locals and set up businesses. It's pretty inexpensive and offers a variety of food and entertainment for the passing masses. Fortunately, the masses have mostly gone as it is hot, hot hot!

The time had to come when we would succumb to the alluring freedom of motorbikes. And Pai is it. With empty well laid roads winding about the villages, waterfalls, canyons and hot springs, we happily explore the area - the children singing their hearts out on the back. They have wanted to do this for so long, after getting lifts on Enfields in India, the seed was sewn. We found out the other day that 1/4 million people die on India's roads annually so we're kinda glad we waited until now.

One of the highlights of our whole trip and to celebrate our six months of travelling anniversary, we went swimming with elephants. Now old hands with sharks, we thought we might try something bigger ;-) We rode 'mahout' style down to the river where the elephants proceeded to try and drown us (all in good humour of course). The elephants submerged their bodies and heads and sway about trying to dislodge their charges into the river - everyone laughed so hard we're not sure which muscle pain is worse, the thighs from hanging on for dear life or the sides from laughing so much. On our return to camp, we fed them copious amounts of bananas, bamboo and pumpkins. Pineapples are their favourite but tend to give them tummy jip.

The next day, we took our sore bodies up to the roman baths at Tai Pai Spa Camping for some much needed rest - however the water, fed by the local hot springs, was so excruciatingly hot, we found it quite difficult to relax whilst being boiled alive. On our way out, we met a very strange little bird who puffs himself up, fluffs up his mohawk and squarks 'sawadee ka - sawadee ka'.

There's a bit of a music scene in Pai. Obviously we don't get out that much since we are completely devoid of any childcare options but we try not to let that stop us completely. Lee enjoyed a reggae mini-festival, the headline band doing superb covers from Look Back in Anger to Buffalo Soldier. Last night we all went to a techno-tastic party at Misty View - Lee and I tried out the 'bucket' - containing a bottle of Sang Som, Red Bull concentrate and a bottle of Coke. Holy macaroni - it certainly enabled our dancing skills for whirling the children round between bonfires and fire jugglers. Exhausted and dusty we were home before pumpkin time and now have the joy of sweating off our hangovers in a good 38 degrees!

Happy St Patrick's Day to y'all!

Oh Mae Mae Mae!

So we took the long way round - from Mae Sot, a fantastically friendly and colourful border town near Burma, onto Mae Sariang and then Mae Hong Son - following the border around the hot and arid pre-monsoon north - on the plus side there are virtually no mossies so given the malaria warnings usual for this area (including mefloquine resistance) we are happy to sweat our way around. Another major plus is it's the end of the high season and there's less 'farangs' about. In fact, there's very few on this less travelled route. When the signs and information are all absent of Roman script, we realise we are following our noses now and there's a real sense of freedom as we find our trust well-placed with local transport and friendly people.

Mae Sot was fab and we stayed for a couple of nights at a little Japanese guesthouse by the bus station, called Kame. We continued our culinary adventures checking out the rather tasty Burmese curries (almost a Thai red meets a Bengali style indian - very tasty) and Greg, a local volunteer teacher and our new found guide took us to this amazing vegetarian muslim cafe where we feasted on veggie sausages, mock chicken and mock pork, with an assortment of dahl, curry and spicy red stuff. I'm not allowed to say where it is as we have all agreed the Lonely Planet must not find out about it ;-) We had a great time in the market which had some of the cheapest goods I've seen in Asia and some great quality gear, including beautiful local embroidered handicrafts by the local Karan tribes.

There are high numbers of Burmese refugees here in Mae Sot, and there are some big camps en route to Mae Sariang. I spotted the police holding area near our guesthouse - like a giant cage with a few fans and list of visiting times posted on the fence. Greg told us that the people are held for a day after being caught trying to cross and then returned the next day. The whole process then plays out again, and again. If you have the money and the connections, many Burmese get to stay here, but they are not allowed to travel and have to stay in the area. Many of the Burmese (men and women) wear a kind of beige cream on their faces - it beautifies the skin apparently. People are so friendly to us in the market, and the numerous women smile at the children and then us, and we return the gesture. They may be Burmese muslim refugees and we may be strange farangs - but still families are universal. Lee enjoys taking pictures (with their permission) of the market traders and their somewhat exotic produce. We saw little skinned birds and fried bugs, live turtles and squirming eels. We also ate some of the best street food - a local favourite like vegetable tempura but not with any vegetable you might have heard of. Delicious!

Next stop, Mae Sariang. This is north of Mae Sot, 8 hours in a sawng-thaew. These pick up trucks have a plastic roof over two facing benches. Following the mountainous border, the sun is kept off you but the hot air blowing in is so hot it almost burns. It's also slash and burn season - that is when the farmers burn the land ready for the rains. At first appearances the transport looks potentially very uncomfortable, even with (at one point) 22 people and a motorbike in the back (he had broken down) - but this is more comfortable way to travel than some of the buses. We stop over in Mae Sariang at a rather plush little place to enjoy big comfy beds with pressed white sheets and lots of teak - unfortunately the food is not up to much but Tevo and Jackie enjoy a game of pool with a dutch man listening to a thai girl singing wonderful covers of Dido (Lee actually thought they were playing the album).

Next leg, we take two local buses, 4 hours to Mae Hong Son - with a quick stop for noodles and rice, and then another bus to Pai - 3 more hours climbing smoky mountainous roads. The border police (with big guns) are everywhere but have absolutely no interest in us whatsoever, despite being the only farangs we've seen since Mae Sariang.

15 hours travelling (not including the 2 or 3 hours sitting and waiting to leave) and two days later and we finally reach our destination. As we extricate our rucksacks from the boot of the bus (they have actually faired worse than we have) we are exhausted, hot, sweaty and dusty - always a winning combination for arriving somewhere new!

Onwards and upwards.....Phi-lok & Sukhothai

And so we arrive in Bangkok - the lovely Bella Bella is full so we nip next door and take a cosy but slightly crammed room next door at The Mango Lagoon (still on Rambutri Soi). It's a tad more expensive (about ten pounds) so we all squeeze into one room, but there's a sofa, cable TV and air-conditioning (which makes us all feel too cold such have we adjusted to the heat now). It's a nice place to stay and we can still avail ourselves of Bella Bella's fab food next door and we get to watch movies all day.

After catching up with laundry, cash and storing the fins and snorkels, we take a train to Phitsanulok. Now this is somewhere I would highly recommend for children. It's a great town. For a start, we got two great rooms at the Petchpailyn Hotel. There is a fantastic park along the river (the street is aptly named Healthy Street). It has amazing equipment, from the usual swings and slides to climbing walls, cross-trainers and rowing machines. The children had a great time (as did we). There's even an outdoor arena where free aerobics classes are held. Talk about sport for all - very impressive. Further along the river there is a colourful and friendly night market (great quality cheap clothes and stuff), where you can see the 'flying vegetable' men at work (so called as they toss the veg high from their woks) and eat some of the best food we have ever tasted. My mouth was singing from the awesome flavours. The cafe owner was delighted to see two little 'farangs' scoffing his food - beancurd and vegetable soup, beancurd and chillis, stir fried vegetables and rice. A two course meal for four plus drinks cost us less than a quid each. We had to return the next evening for some more of the same. Its a beautiful evening walk too, as the river, bridges and tress are magnificantly lit - it was quite magical.

The next day, after another trip to the park, we visited Wat Yai, where the most revered Buddha image in Thailand is held. There were lots of visiting Thais and we met a friendly young lama who practised his English with us. We also got a blessing from one of the monks.

The following morning we took a local bus to Sukhothai's Old City. This is where I am writing from now. We opted to miss out the dull and unattractive new city and headed straight for the walled ruins where it's possible to stay in a nice guesthouse (we're at Vitoon) and there are plenty of cafes and a market. It was so hot by the afternoon we decided to eat early and go to bed in order to make a dawn start on bicycles around the park. This is the best move we could have made. Up at 5am, we hired our bikes from K's (80 baht for all of us and they have a bike for all, from toddler ones with stabilisers, junior, senior and even tandems). We were in the park by 5.30am and we had the place to ourselves. It was very atmospheric and quite spiritual to watch the sun rise above the old temples, Buddhas and ruins as we cycled happily around the well laid roads and paths. The children thoroughly enjoyed themselves although were a little wobbly at the start having not been on a bike for nearly six months. By 8.30am the sun was up and already starting to fry, as we watched large noisy groups of tourists bumble off their coaches to walk around the park with their very loud guides. It was time for us to leave now.

We have just checked out of our guesthouse and are waiting for the bus to take us to Mae Sot near the border with Myanmar. I am so glad we chose to come this way instead of heading straight to Chiang Mai. Both Phitsanulok and Sukhothai are well worth visiting - beautiful, educational and very family friendly.

Tarutao National Marine Park & then north bound

We had a seamless journey to Koh Lipe in Tarutao. It was a little unnerving as we kept expecting the unexpected but the Muslim Thais of Satun took such great care of us and were so friendly, I almost felt like staying on the mainland. Our bus dropped us in La Ngu where a kindly Sangthaew driver (share taxi) stopped to pick us up. No problem Ick said. I will take care of you. And that he did. He took us to the pier to pick up our tickets for the morning ferry then delivered us to the delightful little 'Diamond' beach huts where Tevo struck up a game of football with the local children. After a glorious sunset admiring the Tarutao islands in the distance, we got an early night and headed for the park on the slow boat to Koh Lipe.

Now the Lonely Planet preaches that it is not very developmentally sound to visit Lipe as the demand will invite over-development of the island, and to stick to the park accommodation only islands such as Tarutao & Adang. Here's a thought - don't stay at the places that are clearly the work of large outside investors (unless you want the place to look like Koh Chang or Koh Lanta in a few years times). Stay in the original island huts rather than new developments (on this note I would advise avoiding Mountain Resort since they already have plans to build a multi storey complex - hideous idea). You really don't need hot water or air conditioning - and it's important to respect the fact that waste created by tourists is a problem for the island - if you have to use tissue (and I'm sorry Guy but we have not been able to adapt to the water only method - even in India - I refuse to wipe my arse with my hand and those hoses often result in you looking like you've peed your pants) don't throw tissues down the loo.

We have also found the ice and jugged water perfectly safe to drink (as we have all over Thailand) and bottle refills are not difficult to come by, even in Lipe (Pooh's bar). Koh Lipe will stay a paradise if it is allowed to do so by the tourists. It is still just this side of shanti - since our last visit 3 years ago but change is happening so fast - and I can't help wonder how long it'll be before the friendly and accommodating Chao Lay (originally sea-gypsies allowed to settle here by the Thai government) become cynical and disenchanted with tourists who seem to be ruining their home. So enough of the soap box.

We spent a blissful 8 days in Lipe. We went kayaking around the island and found our own private beach and snorkelled til our feet hurt. The marine flora and fauna is spectacular. The sea was not quite the same clarity of Similan but then who notices the difference between being able to see 15-20 metres as opposed to 30 metres and the coral around Tarutao's islands has suffered very little tsunami damage - the reefs were filled with hard and soft coral, and at times it felt like you were floating through an enchanted forest, with its grotto-like coral caves and waving tree ferns, watching different fish go about their day. Silvery and stripey shoals surround you, giant faced groupers peer out from their caves, irridescent parrot fish shimmer as they scrape at the coral and clown fish venture from their anenome home, where their babies swim amongst the fronds, their little faces peeping out. I never thought I could build up so much confidence in the water after so many years of refusing to do more than paddle. My deep and morbid fascination with sharks and the general idea of fish with teeth has kept me from enjoying this spectacle for decades. Tevo and Roisin are in their element here - after 12mths of snorkelling lessons, they glide and dive like professionals.

We took a fantastic boat trip with Jack, a Chao Lay fisherman we met at Time to Chill Bar. He offered to take us to some different places and would teach the children to fish. We had a truly magnificant day! The snorkelling was mindblowing. I saw the shark's shadow first - I nearly choked on my snorkel and swam backwards (keeping my eyes on where it was going) as fast as I could. I noticed that the shape swam differently to the other fish - faster, rapid darting between coral cliffs and caves, something very practised about it. I realised the rapid movement and bubbles had scared it away and this gave me some confidence. It clearly didn't plan to eat me and it didn't look too big. I swam to Lee and the children and did something I have longed to do since my friend Anne had taught me and our other PGCE colleagues in a micro-teaching practice session. The language of divers. LOOK (point to your eye) - OVER THERE (point to where thing of interest is - pointing is important since a flat palm indicates to go that way, and it could have been a hammerhead - although I doubt it in water so shallow) - SHARK (make a flat palmed fin shape in front of your forehead). See Anne, you're a great teacher, I remembered.

It was about 3 1/2 feet and a black tipped reef shark. It was beautiful, sleek and metallic looking with souless dead looking eyes. Roisin decided it was time to get out. Tevo lapped it up although stayed nice and close to us. On returning to the longtail, we all excitedly chattered about our encounter. Then we took off for some more fishing. Jack taught them to line fish and to set the pole lines off the back of the boat while he skimmed about the deep water. Suddenly Roisin's rod almost detached from the boat and fell across her - we had caught something big. Jack showed Lee how to land it - and what a fish. A 3-4 kg striped king mackeral. It was a beauty. Then off for more snorkelling and more sharks - two this time and a little bigger - maybe nearly 4ft. My heart was still pounding and the deep drop off from the coral was starting to give me the heebie jeebies. We headed home the long way round from North Rawi to Adang and up the east side to Lipe's sunrise beach and back to Pattaya beach.

Tevo carried the fish proudly (and with some difficulty) up the beach to a round of applause. We celebrated with a few beers and sodas, while Jack cooked up our fish. It fed ten people and 3 dogs by the end. Jack made an awesome fish stew, BBQ'd fillets, calamari in chilli, rice, vegetables, scrambled egg and a chilli garlic soy dip (courtesy of the lovely Claudia). We had a wonderful night making new friends and still buzzing from the adrenaline surges of the day.

We were more than a little sad to leave Lipe knowing the place will continue to change and we cherish the moments in time we have had there. Our friendly driver from earlier, Ick, meets us at the pier, runs us to the Malaysian border (Satun) for a quick visa run (totally painless) and then onto Hat Yai for an overnight train to Bangkok. We only plan to spend two nights there as we are heading North for some culture and great food.