Having seen all the sights in Phittsanulok we caught the train down to Auytthaya which is the historic capital of central Thailand. Again, we hired bikes to visit the temples which are spread over a large area. In contrast with the rural setting of Sukkhattai, the proximity of Bangkok to Auytthaya has meant that most of the gaps between the temples has been developed. The temples were just as impressive but the cycling was a bit more intense due to both the urban...

After reluctantly checking out of the Christmas hotel we caught a local bus down to phitsanulok, about half way down to Bangkok. We arrived at the bus station quite late at night and our first challenge was to get a tuk tuk into the city which is generally pretty easy as the drivers tend to stalk any 'falang' or tourist until they get into their vehicle. However, this turned out to be a bit more difficult than usual as no one could speak english or read a map. Wh...

Having booked a posh hotel for Christmas we decided that we would just have a relax for the day and not do too much, hoping to catch some Christmas films on the tv. Unfortunately the only English speaking Chanel was 'aljazeera' so we spent the day at the pool instead. Whilst in Luang Prabang at a night market we had taken 50,000kip (about $6) each to go shopping for presents for each other so we both had some little things to open in the morning. We also had a w...

After a swift border crossing from Laos we arrived in Chiang Mai a day earlier than expected meaning we had to spend an evening in a budget option before moving to our posh Christmas hotel the next day. True to form, invisible but noisy building work started at the hostel at 7 am the next morning and we were pleased to check out to move to the De Lanna hotel the other side of the old town. The hotel was amazing complete with swimming pool, huge room and a hairdr...