During the daytime Pai is very quiet, the handful of streets that make up the centre of this smallest of towns are hardly bustling with visitors. Like a ski resort, everyone has gone out for the day, it is by night when it comes alive. After a cool start where you can see your breath in the early morning sun we wander into Pai. Like … Continue reading Pai – sleepy by day, party by night…
A minibus fare of 150 Thai Baht and 762 sweeping curves are all that separates Chiang Mai from our next destination, Pai. To cover the eighty mile journey will take a little over three hours, strap in and hold tight. Our departure is on time, or as near as, which was a pleasant surprise. The 8:30 a.m. departure had never rolled into the station until … Continue reading The long and winding road…
It may only be an hour’s fight from Bangkok but Chiang Mai is a million miles away in character. The neon lights have been swapped for golden stupas gleaming in the sun, here is the home of the temple, or wat. With around seventy-five wats within the confines of the city walls it feels like we have been in each and every one of them, … Continue reading Which wat’s what?
Murrayhead were spot on with their song lyrics, everyone should spend at least one night in Bangkok. Three in a row is about our limit… Be it Soi Cowboy close to the Asok BTS station, the streets of nearby Nana or Patpong it is sure to be an eye opener. We visit as a middle-aged couple and are left alone to enjoy a drink and … Continue reading One night in Bangkok…
A mere 344 steps – and the hundred baht entry fee – are all that stands between us and panoramic views over the city of Bangkok from the top of the Golden Mount Temple. It is a climb that we have made once before, hopefully we pass our fitness test this time out. The start of our circular ascent is alongside some ponds and water … Continue reading Stairway to Heaven…
The American silk magnate was an architect prior to enrolling in the US Army just before the Second World War, it was a secondment to Thailand that started his lifelong association with the country he fell in love with. Soon after finishing his military service he returned and got involved with the hand woven silk industry that was neglected and out of fashion at that … Continue reading Jim Thompson’s House, Bangkok
Laman Padi literally translates as Field Rice in Malay, so a very apt name for this living museum that dedicates itself to the history of rice cultivation in Langkawi. The site covers fourteen acres, and the bulk of that is made up of paddy fields where water buffalos graze and egrets strut. The sign at the entrance has images of colourful birds that you are … Continue reading Laman Padi, Langkawi
This part of the trip was always going to be pretty relaxed. The first six weeks have been full on, covering who knows how many miles as we pounded the pavements of Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, Singapore, Ipoh, Kuala Kangsar, Taiping and Georgetown. Now it is the time to feel the sand between our toes! By day Langkawi has numerous excursions on offer, boating through the … Continue reading Beach days in Langkawi!
Over the years we have visited a few cemeteries, two in Scotland stand out particularly – Edinburgh and Stirling. When we read the Penang heritage brochure and learned about some of the graves near the coast road we were intrigued. It was a chance to visit the resting place of Captain Francis Light and many others of high rank from the East India Company. An … Continue reading Penang’s Cemeteries
The caricatures that are scattered around the streets of Georgetown came about through a competition to market this UNESCO world heritage site. Work on them began in 2010 and as of now there are fifty-seven of these sculptures in place. Each of the pieces is relevant to where it has been sited, the theme is called ‘Voices of the People’ and the idea is to … Continue reading Penang – Steel Rod Artwork
Georgetown was established as the first British settlement in South East Asia by Captain Francis Light of the East India Company in 1786. It grew rapidly in the first half of the nineteenth century with a big influx of immigrants from China and India. In 1826 Penang was incorporated into the Straits Settlements (alongside Melaka and Singapore), before becoming a British colony in 1867. Light and … Continue reading Georgetown, Penang
It was originally known as Klian Pauh – Klian due to it’s mining heritage and Pauh after a type of small mango. By the 1870s mining disputes between different groups of Chinese immigrants had became so bitter that the British intervened, took control of the situation and got her first foothold in Malaysia. By 1874 the feuding was over, and the new name, Taiping, was … Continue reading Taiping – City of Everlasting Peace
Oldest On the Bus 