Our final stop on the way to Chiang Mai is in Sukhothai, meaning "rising happiness". The town is renowned for its ancient ruins of Sukhothai, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a temple-lovers wet dream. We take a night bus from Bangkok, arrive in the early hours of the morning and are greeted by a pushy tuk-tuk driver who wants to take us to a guesthouse that is open and has space. Hmm… I have worrying flash backs of arriving into Cusco, Peru but we don't have...

Onwards and upwards to Ayutthaya; the previous capital of Thailand which at one point had a strong hold on a large portion of mainland South East Asia. In 1767 the Burmese successfully invaded and the Thai capital was moved to Bangkok. I travelled to Ayutthaya with Morgan and Cam, we arrive a little late so only have time to see a slice of this temple-filled town, but scooted around a few temples in a tuk tuk and get fixated on watching tourists taking elephant r...

As painful as it is to leave the south, it's expensive and I'm keen to get to Chiang Mai with enough time to visit Pi and Chiang Rai before my visa expires. Morgan, Cam, Mike and I travel north overnight to Bangkok making more friends along the way. Morgan, Alexandra, Freya and I spend a day looking for a bazar that doesn't exist and follow a similar path to my previous visit but this time I do eat the tasty insect delicacies!

The guys were heading further south to Koh Lanta but I'm keen to see the north and visit Koh Tao on the way as I've heard good things about it, so sadly I leave them here. I book myself in to do my open water scuba diving course but change my mind after one night on the resort-Britt-fest that is Sairee beach. I almost leave the island right away but luckily meet a group of international solo travellers at Mr J's Bungalows who all found each other at the Full ...

I move to Krabi and stay at Pak Up Hostel (great choice) with two Australian girls from Melbourne who sound like they just stepped off the set of Muriel's Wedding, are beautiful, hilarious and lovely. We spend the next few days together in Krabi, meet Canadian 'Mad Tim', UK's Got Talent Finalists, Hassan and Dave and have a ball of a time! I climb Tiger Temple with Tim and get a lift back from a kind local Thai lady who won't accept any money. We spend a gorgeo...