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Not by choice! The boat had an electrical problem so they cancelled the cruise. We get a refund and a credit, and for us it wasn't too much of a disappointment, and a whole lot better than going on a not-quite-right trip. We got to sleep on board and have a few buffet meals, so sort of a try before you buy. 

Penang

A 2 day stopover in Batu Ferringhi with play group pals Meg and Col is great fun. We walk and talk, with a few months of conversation catchup. Our cheap room shares the same beach view as their much comfier one, but we have the mosque nearby so are woken by the call to prayer. Lots and lots of people from Saudi holiday here, and the black-clad women take some getting used to. 

There's a beautiful spice garden to visit 

And an amazing Chinese mansion

And of course wonderful sunsets

Koh Samui

It takes 2 overnight trains, a bus, a ferry and a mini van to get to our hotel at Ban Rak on Koh Samui. We've booked a standard room in the garden but decide to upgrade to beachfront. Ahh. $50 is relatively expensive but that's ok! We're in a quiet area, though almost all the beachfront is developed. Other beaches have umbrellas and vendors, and wall-to-wall markets/shops along the main streets. It's sort of like Bali without the hassle...!

We do the time share thing and win a free week's accommodation, eat beautiful cheap fresh spicy food, and generally chill out. Oh, and drink $2 cocktails at the 'walking street' markets. 

Chiang Mai

There's plenty to do here for a couple of days. Ian fancies the tigers so off we go: it's a reasonable $15 each to enter the enclosure for plenty of photo ops. Why choose babies when you can pat the big ones??  They're sleepy cos nocturnal, but appear healthy and well cared for and very well supervised. We can certainly sense the power within...

Night time we opt for a touristy dinner/show combo, which was quite good. 

This morning we gave alms to monks and visited some temples. Ian was knocked flying by a pack of racing dogs, but luckily landed on top so minuscule blood loss. Who got bigger fright?

There are PLENTY of shops and huge day and night markets to fill in the remaining hours ahead of 2 overnight train trips. This time we are well prepared with food and drink!

Thursday

It's great to just relax and explore the local area. We love being able to wander down and visit the elephants next door, the babies are very cute and really like to eat treats!

We follow the road behind the resort and discover a shortcut through the green and beautifully maintained village to the main road. It's even better walking in the rain. 

Now we know that dragon fruit grow on cacti. 

We eat from a variety of little food stalls - we point at what we want, make use of phone apps (very handy) and sometimes find someone who speaks a bit of English. Ian almost copes with the local chilli level, I love it! The roast pork is particularly yum. We manage to chat with a couple of teenagers. They're keen for an English lesson so we collect mum and they come to our room for a couple of hours. Why does this happen on our last day here? 

Tuesday tour

We join another couple on a day-trip.  

After a beautiful drive we ride an elephant - thankfully not bareback - that looks very uncomfortable for an hour. They are truly amazing animals, at one stage our female heaves her huge bodyweight and us up a very steep slope, though I think going downhill was scarier! The fuel of choice is banana and sugar cane, she knows what the rustle of a plastic bag means. 

After a plentiful and delicious lunch we are led on a trek to a waterfall, with lots of steps, where a swim is very invigorating. 

There's also a visit to a very poor looking Karen hill tribe village. They are originally Burmese refugees, and hopefully make a reasonable living from their beautiful woven handcrafts. 

The next thrill is being punted down the river on bamboo rafts - 8 bits of bamboo lashed together with old bike tires. More relaxing than thrilling, though there's a few small rapids and plenty of splashing going on, as our bums get wet and we are shoved off rocks and banks. The high river mark is evident way up in the trees. 

Our guide takes us to a local market on the way home where we buy huge amounts of fruit and takeaway dinner in plastic bags, for a very little amount of money.  

Another great day....

Chiangmai

A Thai cooking class is a fun and delicious way to spend a day, with 12 dishes made between the 2 of us and recipes for lots more. Very quick and easy, tho our bbq wok burner at home is nowhere near hot enough to do a good job. 

Bangkok-Chiang Mai

They check our tickets, they check our seat numbers then the 12 hour train trip begins....

There's the occasional frangipani tree amongst the city-trackside squalor, and of course houses, shops and letter boxes. Address 255/77 railway line?  

Food and drink is provided by the trolley dollies, the fans do an almost-ok job of keeping us cool and its nice to just sit, read and watch the passing scenery. We're late arriving, the expected food vendors don't appear and no dinner is provided, but the trolley dollies go on a food dash from a station and return with instant soup and noodles. Lesson learnt? Always take more snacks than you think you need!

Somewhere west of Chiangmai

It's wonderful to be awoken by roosters and birds/bugs rather than cars and motorbikes. There are jungly hills all around, the skies open twice daily, and our remote resort room is big and comfy. Nothing to do but walk, swim in pool, read and eat. Is this sounding familiar? 

We walk past a funeral at the nearby tiny village and are invited to join their meal. We walk to the adjacent elephant camp and for an hour watch a group of people who've paid a lot of money each to be a mahout for the day, in what looks like a very good setup. 

http://www.pataraelephantfarm.com/

We return to the village and one of the ladies from the funeral sells us noodle soup, remembering that I can eat rice not wheat. Guess not too many tourists turn up at the local eating place ...

Bangkok Thursday

The half day tour said "floating market" but included elephant camp, snake show, wood then gem factory, all with optional extra tours and purchasing possibilities. 

Floating market is definitely a tourist-only destination, but still fascinating. All sorts of food and souvenirs were available. Even real coffee. 

 

The wood carving factory was especially amazing, with lots of possibilities for the home handyman to copy. 

A great day was topped with 'street food' 100 choice buffet dinner on the 75th floor of the posh Baiyoke Hotel. We started at 5pm and stuffed in our last yummy morsel at 8pm. Great value for an exorbitant $20 each, especially as it included access to the $10 83rd floor revolving viewing platform. 

Bangkok Wednesday

A tuktuk to the station is our first task, to book return train Bangkok-Chiang Mai, then Bangkok-Koh Samui. Yes we could fly but what's the fun in that? Upcoming Queen's bday hol means minor itinerary changes. We take a long ride on the local river ferry, eat yum street food, watch night market and wholesale flower market setup, then scuttle back to our hotel in a $2 taxi when it all gets a bit much. 

There was severe flooding 1 1/2 years ago. Some houses look well kept, others seem about to fall into the river. 

Pleated and tucked lotus flowers

 

Gotta love fresh cooked food. Watched whole lot get unloaded from truck and set up: burners, tables, food stands etc. 

Hello Bangkok

Ooh, a new country and culture to explore. We take a back streets bike tour as our first outing, and are ably led by the intrepid Jackie Chan along tiny canal paths and across busy roads where he stops the traffic with a wave and a whistle. We see glimpses of colour amid the concrete jungle, visit temples and a huge golden Buddha, walk through a fragrant  flower market and take ferries across the river. All around are gentle smiling people, and our happy hormones kick in so we are grinning too. 

Bangkok is remarkably smogless, we're already accustomed to the heat, and the traffic jams don't really affect us - we travel today by bike and a/c local bus so happily people watch when delayed, and laugh along with the bus drivers when ours gets too close and smashes the other's mirror! 

These bunches of 10 stems orchids cost 35c!