We'd heard mixed reviews about the little tourist-haven town of Pai, and were almost going to give it a miss, but the lush forest and misty hills of this north-eastern pocket of Thailand convinced us to stop for a few nights. Only an hour on the bus from our homestay in Nong Tong, Pai was a world away. The quaint little riverside town with beautiful views of the mountains in every direction has attracted a solid community of backpackers, ex-pats and urban Thais, ...

Wanting to experience a genuine traditional hill tribe community in Northern Thailand, we decided to board the bumpy local bus to Soppong and the nearby village of Nong Tong. It wasn't until we arrived at this rough little agricultural village in the mountains, that we realised the authenticity of the 'Lisu Hill Tribe Homestay' which we had booked into. This place really was a living, breathing home for a Lisu family, and we were simply guests, like anybody crash...

Our flight from the Philippines landed us once again in Bangkok. Having already spent over a week there, we were keen to move on without much delay. Seeking cooler temperatures and the 'real' Thailand, we decided to head north to Chiang Mai. The twelve hour train ride was pretty comfortable, with glimpses along the way of rural living, untouched forest and farmers tending their young rice paddies. We knew that Chiang Mai was a large city, but still had drawn an ...

We were waiting to jump on a bus to the main ferry port in Bohol, when a moto taxi rider convinced us to take a more direct, local and much cheaper route to the island of Siargao. So, three buses, two jeepneys, two ferries (one overnight), three motorised tricycles, one cheap hotel room and around 36 hours later we arrived at a beautiful resort only 150m from the world class surf break, Cloud 9! Unfortunately, July is the flattest month for surf in the Philippin...

When we made the decision to visit the Philippines, the first recommendation we received was to visit the Chocolate Hills in Bohol. With so many options we decided that this geological wonder was as good a place as any to start our own adventure through the land of the Pinoys! Bohol is a beautifully clean and green island southeast of Cebu. Like Cebu, it is another one of a group of islands known as the Visayas. The 'Chocolate Hills' are a collection of unique n...