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The big one

December 2021 - October 2022
That's it! We are finally off to somewhere far from London. We'll put updates and photos so you can travel with us ☺️
Ça y est! On est enfin parti loin de Londres. On va mettre des photos régulièrement pour que vous voyagez avec nous! 😊 Read more
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  • The big one
    1131
    Day 24

    Elephants and waterfalls

    January 9, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today we went to an elephant sanctuary, about an hour drive outside of town. we changed in to some comfy clothes that the elephants are used to and began preparing their lunch, a mix of sugar, tamarind, rice seeds and salts, as well as a bucket full of fruits. Once prepared we got to feed and play with them, followed by a mud bath and a wash down in the river. They were so calm and gentle for their size truly majestic creatues. We then walked half an hour to a waterfall where we could swim and wash over. A very memorable day.Read more

  • The big one
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    11121
    Day 25

    Getting high in Thailand

    January 10, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 14 °C

    We took our car and drove south out of Chiang Mai to Doi Inthanon, Thailand highest peak at just 2500 meters. Luckily there is a road which goes pretty much straight to the top 😄. We thought we would be able to have a view at 360 degres at the top...but no, because trees can still grow, we were in a nice forest!
    The mountain sits inside a large national park which has some amazing nature trails and hikes ,stopping at some amazing view points and gorgeous water falls. We can now say we have officially been as high as you can get in Thailand 😉    Read more

  • The big one
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    Day 26

    Getting high in Thailand part2

    January 11, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We stayed overnight close to the National Park and following a quick breakfast we drove back in to see the King and Queen Pagodas (where we learnt Buddha's story), Thailand's highest waterfall and a walk along side the Klang river passing more waterfalls and ending at a small tribal village which has reinvented itself from an opium den to a coffee lover paradise. We had a local guide join us for the walk and pointed out all the edible plants as well as the local wildlife.

    We both have fallen on love with Doi Inthanon, a really rich and diverse corner of Thailand.    Read more

  • The big one
    Day 27

    Sticky Waterfall and Pai

    January 12, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    We left Doi Intanon national park and headed north west to stay a few days in Pai and enjoy the nature over there. As it was getting late when we left the mountains we stopped on the road just north of Chiang Mai and stayed in a Boutique Hotel we found for only £9 a night, ridiculously cheap for how nice it was

    On the way, we stopped at a very special waterfall, named 'Nam Tok Bua Tong' , but more famous for being sticky...strange right? Well, because of a minerals in the spring water which are very high in calcium a layer of calcium carbonate has coated the rocks in the water fall creating a unique structure which made the surface non slippery! That means that without problem we managed to climb up the waterfall! That was very fun 😊

    After that we drove on one of the windiest road in Thailand to arrive at Pai. A small town on a plateau up in the mountains, it has become a backpackers retreat, with great restaurants and bars. After some good dinner and drinks we headed out the next day to check out the hot springs, canyon and Bamboo bridge,the main attractions in Pai.
    The natural hot springs push up water from deep in the earth's core and hit 80° at their peak, hot enough to boil eggs, although that is specifically forbidden. There are a serious bathing pools that range from a more comfortable 40° down to around 25°. We had a good soak and felt very relaxed.
    The canyon, although I'm not sure it is actually a canyon based on the geological description of what a canyon is, was more of a steep ridge line but have great views of the surrounding mountain ranges.

    We finished the day with a walk along a raised Bamboo bridge across the rice fields to a forest temple. As it is dry season the rice fields had not yet been planned so the scenary was yellowing fields rather than the lush green we had expected but it was still a delightful walk and we stumbled across a secluded waterfall set onsite a cave which was very calm and serene. .    Read more

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    Day 31

    Cave Lodge

    January 16, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    After our stay in Pai we have adventured further into nature. We're staying in a guesthouse made of comfortable bungalows and a ridiculously nice common area called Cave Lodge. As the names doesn't suggest we're not staying in a cave but more like in the trees!
    This is the perfect spot though to explore all the different caves in the North West of Thailand. We've done one and it was amazing! A guide walked us through three different caves, that were all so impressive. A river runs through the main cave and we went through it on a bamboo raft followed by huge fish! There's not only fish in this cave, there are also a lot of bats and, at night a lot of swifts make it their home. We stood there one evening to see them come in at sunset, it was extraordinary to see the number of them going in (apparently 300 000), it took an hour for all of them to be in, and then let the bats come out!

    This place is also central for a few hikes. We've done one that is called the ridge walk and it was beautiful! A bit challenging at the beginning as we missed the path and had to climb up through some jungle to find it back, but worth it at the end!

    Cave Lodge is also just a place were people come to relax for a few days, and we met great people around a wood fire that they lit every night in the common area.    Read more

  • The big one
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    Day 33

    Last night at Cave lodge and Chiang Dao

    January 18, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    We sadly departed the well loved cave lodge for new adventures! After another quiet night (except for the frogs, birds and some dogs), one of us got motivated to wake up early and watch the sunset (guess who that was) from a close mountain view point. It was quite magical due to the low clouds that are stuck in the valley until the sun rises.

    After a tasty breakfast, we got on the windy roads again to reach Chiang Dao. We heard a lot of good things and were excited to see this part of Thailand! We found out that the two guesthouses we intended to stay in were closed but managed to find a nice enough room almost in the mountains! We visited another cave which required more crouching and that was very impressive with a few temples built within the cave. We didn't drive up to the top of the mountain this time (the third highest mountain in Thailand) as we had enough of windy roads for a while!
    Chiang Dao was nice but maybe not at its best due to the lack of social interaction because of Covid closures    Read more

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    122
    Day 36

    Tha Ton

    January 21, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    Tha Ton is a small town nestled in the Northern Part of Thailand at the very edge of the Golden triangle, it was meant to be a one night stop on our northern road trip but unfortunately we both got struck down by a vicious 24 HR stomach bug (and no it wasn't from my cooking).
    We drove to Tha Ton via a scenic twisty road, stopping off at Pha Hom Pok National Park to see the hot springs and Thailand's highest camp ground. The hot springs were far to hot and used mostly as a geothermal power plant and the viewpoint at the top of the Doi was in a cloud. Dejected, we booked ourselves into a fancy resort to revitalise our spirits, on arrival we saw the swimming pool was cloudy, apparently due to extra clay in the water, our Karma must have been very low.
    The next day we planned to do a Northern cooking course tailored to our favourite foods and some Kayaking along the river, unfortunately our Karma hit rock bottom as Armelle got struck down by a stomach bug and had to spend much of the day in bed. We still managed to do the cooking class! James got hit the following day so we spend 2 full days in bed on the BRAT diet. Banana, Rice, Apple sauce and Toast. Yum!
    On the third day our Karma changed and we managed to venture out to see the local temples and Celestial themed Gardens. It was surprising to find such garden far from main towns! We then drove to a town in the mountains called Mae Salong famous for its tea plantations were we found another nice place to stay! We didn't do much but it was great to be finally out of bed.    Read more

  • The big one
    1112
    Day 38

    Doi Tung

    January 23, 2022 in Myanmar ⋅ 🌙 18 °C

    *Long story today! Go grab a cup of tea or coffee first 😁*

    From Tha Ton, we drove up to the small mountain town of Doi Tung with pretty low expectations. Nestled in the heart of the Golden Triangle we had heard there was a good Royal Palace and some flower gardens that were worth a visit. We planned a two hour stop before heading off to Chiang Sean, the border town of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.
    On our drive up to the Royal Palace the road was closed and we were waved off to a side road by the local police, luckily there was an alternative route that passed by a viewpoint. Another splendid view and we got chatting to a local Monk who was on his way home, he had walked, barefoot from Bangkok, over 800kms away, his feet looked knackered. He gave us a blessing of good luck sealed with his own lucky bracelets.

    Feeling blessed we jumped back in the car and carried on round the back road up to the royal palace. As we got closer we noticed a lot of cars parked alongside the road, thoroughly confused but as it was getting busier as we got closer we deiced to park some 500m away and see what was going on. We had inadvertently stumbled upon the 'Doi Tung in Colour' annual festival. They close the streets around the 3 major attractions and fill them instead with locals crafts merchants, food stalls and flower shops, it was quite a site to behold in what we thought was a small little mountain town.
    Through the 'Hall of Inspiration' museum and Royal Palace we established that in the 80s Doi Tung was a major opium farming region, the naturals forest had decayed due to years of deforestation and land mismanagement. The region was very poverty stricken with children sold to the sex markets when the opium yeilds were low, causing an aids outbreak in the area along with rampant addiction.
    In 1987 King Rama IX mother, Princess Srinagarindra, at the ripe old age of 87, took it upon herself to help the people break the cycle. She set up royal projects to regrow the forest and create foresters jobs for the locals as well as encouraging economic forest management, mixing high value crops with native trees to create a sustainable habitat. She also created a huge Garden open to the public and taught the local opium grows to cultivate beautiful flowers which could be sold to the gardens and the public. This, alongside public health initiatives brought new life to the area, and Doi Tung now has a thriving community of botanists and have eradicated the Poppy industry entirely.

    The Gardens and Palace were both fantastic, we ended up spending all morning and most of the afternoon wandering around and trying the local delicacies.
    We unfortunately ran out of time to visit Chiang Sean but did manage to drive along the Myanmar Border road, which winds its way North past a few old defunct out posts and does actually sneak across the border in a few places as well so James can officially say he has been to Myanmar and Armelle has returned after 25 years.
    This road led us to a little Akha village called Pha hi, village that is built so much in the mountains that no one who lives there must be scare of hights!

    An absolutely wonderful day, the Monks lucky blessing really came through for us. Thanks random Monk!    Read more

  • The big one
    112
    Day 40

    Artistic Chiang Rai

    January 25, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    Back out of the mountains we had to return our little Mitsubishi and spent a few days in the artistic town of Chiang Rai. It is a really small quaint town which seems very authentic and unassuming. The artist Chalermchai Kositpipat, has had a big influence on the town, from white temple, a wonderful modern take on a classic Thai Temple design, to the clock tower in the centre of town which serves as a very opulent roundabout.
    His apprentice, Putha Kabkaew also created the wonderful Blue Temple, not as much of a political statement but still very beautiful.

    We also visited the Black House by another local artist Thawan Duchanee, the building was amazing built entirely from teak. He filled it with assorted animal hides and Hunting Trophies, we were less touched by this kind of art. There was another building which housed a large number of massive shells which should probably have stayed on the beach. The compound was nice enough if a little odd.

    Lastly on our tour of Chiang Rais arty temples we stopped at the Wat Huay Pla Kang,a massive Buddha Statue (that we later saw from the plane!) you can climb to enjoy the views along with a Wat and a Pagoda, all decorated with intricate dragons and flowers. Very different from the more traditional Temples in the rest of Thailand but really equally stunning.    Read more

  • The big one
    Day 42

    The Ruins of Ayutthaya

    January 27, 2022 in Thailand ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C

    Be prepared to see a lot of temples in this post! We are in Ayutthaya, Kingdom of Siam's old capital. This is a town full of history. It was once a central place of international meetings, now it is a quiet town with a lot of temples to walk around.
    We jumped on a train from Bangkok, an hour journey for two people cost us a total of £0.51, and it was on time!
    The biggest shock we got when arriving from Chiang Rai to Ayutthaya was the heat... 36°C is not what we were used to in the North! We had to slow down our pace.
    We did try to cycle through the town in the morning, but we soon gave up and hired a little tuktuk in the afternoon. This was a much better way to sea the temples and we even saw some nice ones that were not on our list!

    We've been warned by Lonely planet that Ayutthaya was busy with tours from Bangkok, but we found it very quiet. We were almost the only ones in each temples, which we liked. The evenings were quiet as well, although we found a little bar with craft beers and some live music on the street.    Read more

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