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Thailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24
  • JG TRAVELS

Thailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24

Back to Thailand for Christmas and the bits we didn't have time to finish before! Read more
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  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    24. 25. Koh Tao

    December 28, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Weather not so good these days, view from our balcony appeared very dark and grey over the two days.
    It was quite cool experiencing what the rain is like in Thailand though , extremely heavy! Within seconds of the storms starting the rain would stream off the roof.
    The storms never lasted long but every time we thought it was about to clear up, another storm would come in. Far too slippery to take the moped anywhere.
    We still had a nice couple days, we chilled on the balcony and jumped in the pool when we had a chance.
    The food in our hotel isn't very nice, so we still went out in the evenings for much nicer and cheaper food.
    James discovered this lovely, family ran restaurant on the side of the road. We almost walked right past it as it was literally a little shelter with some tables and chairs. The restaurant was ran by a lady and her young daughter, who was being taught how to speak English. They were so lovely and thrilled that we were at their restaurant. The food was so fantastic that we went back there the following night. We both had penang and massaman curries, quite possibly the best we've ever had    Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS
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    26. Koh Tao

    December 29, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ 🌬 28 °C

    No more storms today! Time to make the most of the sunshine and see the beautiful views koh Tao has to offer.
    There is a viewpoint not too far away from our hotel, so we took the moped up to the viewpoint cafe and had a cold drink before the long slog up the hill.
    Whilst admiring the view from the cafe, James spotted a wild snake. It was quite cute and had yellow dots as markings. We asked one of the locals if it was dangerous, he said it was slightly venomous, but not capable of killing humans - pheeew.
    Once refreshed, we started walking up the hill to the view point. It was seriously hot and sunny at this point, so we took it slowly. We eventually made it to the top and hiked through this small forest to find the view point.
    On the way back down there was another checkpoint, where we stopped for a short while. We realised that we could probably get the moped up here so we made the decision to drive back later to admire the sunset.
    We were so hot after this walk that we drove the moped down to the beach and had a quick dip in the sea to cool off. It was so refreshing!
    Once we got back to the hotel to freshen up, it was time to head back to the view point for sunset.
    It was so much fun driving up to the checkpoint on the moped, as it was very off-road and bumpy, very impressive driving from James 😂. Unfortunately the sunset was a little disappointing, but we enjoyed a relax with some beers all the same.
    We were pretty tired after walking in the heat today, so we had a lovely relaxed evening at the hotel and ordered in some pizzas as a treat.    Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    27. Koh Tao

    December 30, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Today we headed out early after breakfast as we had booked a snorkelling tour. The first stop was Koh Nang Yuan which is a collection of 3 islands joined together with a sandbank. This is a really beautiful group of islands and rated 2nd most beautiful in the world. Even though we have visited before we paid the landing fees and went on for an explore and snorkel. Due to the tide being up literally hundreds of people were stuck on this one tiny beach which was slightly chaotic but fun all the same. We then had a few more stops around the island, we found many areas of Koh Tao are struggling with coral health which was a shame. However on a couple of stops we found some amazing coral and an array of different ocean life. Highlights today were about 4 huge turtles and 2 smaller ones. We enjoyed the boat trip and enjoyed jumping in and going down the slide they had going from the third floor. It was a great day, we also met some lovely people from NZ who we are going to try and meet on NYE.

    We both learned to dive here last year, James has explored diving again but due to weather (swell) and having a slight cold decided to explore this option at a later date into the trip.
    After all the fun and miles of swimming we had some nice dinner and headed back to the hotel.    Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    28. New Year Eve

    December 31, 2024 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Breakfast and then chilled in the sun today, we tried to have an easy day as we knew tonight was going to be a late one. About 7ish we got into gear and headed down to Sai ree beach, we went back to the same restaurant we had Christmas dinner as the food was really good. They had a BBQ on tonight so we enjoyed that and sank a few cocktails. Afterwards we took a walk along the beach and found a couple of cool beachfront venues. The whole place was alive. We stocked up on the huge G and Ts as they were on offer before 10 and enjoyed these whilst having a boogie and enjoying the music. When it hit 12 there was a huge countdown and fireworks. It was great fun, after sinking more gins we called it a night. Taxi home and both passed out eating crisps fully clothed with the lights on.. 😂Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    29. New Year Day

    January 1 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!

    Both woke up feeling good, surprisingly. We spoke to people at home which was nice. We had a transfer back to the pier at lunchtime to collect the moped from town. It was quite a walk back to the bike but we enjoyed it slowly having cold drinks walking along the seafront. We stopped for some lovely lunch and then got bike before heading back to enjoy the pool and hotel, before packing ready for our early transfer to Koh Phangan tomorrowRead more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    30. Koh Tao - Koh Phangnan

    January 2 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Up and out of the room for 830 this morning to get our transfer to the ferry. The ferry to koh Phangnan takes almost 2hours today, as the quicker boat was fully booked . At least there should be less sea sickness.
    We sat at the very front of the boat, it was a really pleasant journey and there were lots of chatty people on board, we met this really nice guy from Shropshire that is travelling solo for 6 months.
    Once we arrived at Koh Phangnan we caught a taxi to our bungalow for the next 4 days. We arrived a little early so we could drop our heavy bags off and have some lunch.
    Both really pleased with our little bungalow, we paid a little more than usual this time as we had no choice, but it is alot nicer than the others we have stayed in.
    James sorted out a moped ( which has seen much better days) and we took a trip to Haad Khom beach for a swim before the sun set. Nicest sand we have seen yet at this beach, so we are pleased this is on our doorstep.
    After having a quick shower, we headed out for some food. We had heard about this burger place not too far from us, so we tried it out and we're not disappointed.
    Full on beer and burgers, we went back to our bungalow and sat out on the balcony for a while before heading to bed.    Read more

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    31. Koh Phangan

    January 3 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Today we had a lie in and chilled in our bungalow for the cloudy morning, sorting penguins and pictures from Go Pro. When the sun came out we headed out on the worlds worst moped to a local beach called Malibu, completely suited the name with many palms trees, calm waters and beach bars. Very cool hip place, hippies everywhere. We then headed to a view point sunset bar, this was awesome, cool music, nice cocktails and beautiful sunset. We decided to have dinner here after reading the reviews and it was beautiful. Very good Penang and Mango Sticky Rice, long hilly route back on our not so goo moped... Could probably walk quicker up the hills! We got back and chilled with a couple beers for a while before bedRead more

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    32. Koh Phangan

    January 4 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    Unfortunately, the sky was grey again today. We decided not to take the long walk to bottle beach and to take an explore around the island on the moped instead.
    Our first stop was Zen Beach, it was quite a long drive and the roads were super bumpy towards the end. We thought it was a promising sign that the beach would have plenty of space, but we were sad to find that the beach was full with limited places to sit as it was a super high tide. We managed to find a seat at the beach bar and enjoyed a smoothie before heading off again.
    We carried on around the island for a while before stopping off at secret beach. There was nothing secret about this beach, as it was packed again, so we didn't stay long.
    Finally, we managed to find a decent place to stay for a while at a beach called Mae Haad beach. When the tide is low, you can walk over to the neighbouring island "Koh Ma" . The tide was a bit too high to cross over today, but we found a nice spot to relax with a beer for a few hours.
    We nipped back to the bungalow for a quick shower and went to this recommended restaurant a short drive away. We both tried this new dish called " Khao Soi soup", a really fragrant curry with loads of veg and soft and crispy noodles, it was seriously good!    Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    33. Koh Phangan

    January 5 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Our last full day in Koh Phangan. We decided to head to bottle beach, to get there we had a grueling 5 miles round trip walk up and down the mountainous and jungle coves. We completely under estimated this walk and definitely started too late. It was quite literally rock climbing in places 😂. We did make it to see the beach, and sat at the top of the last steep cove. We didnt bother going down the last bit as rains were coming and it was super steep and people were saying red flags in the sea as so choppy. We had a fun adventure though and felt very off the beaten track. When we eventually got back we headed back for our new favourite meal Kao Soi and went to have an explore around the night market. A very long day, we will definitely sleep well tonight.Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    34. Koh Phangan - Koh Tao

    January 6 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Beautiful day today. We checked out and headed to the pier with Dennis, a really nice chap who rented us the moped and offered a cheap transfer to pier. We got on board the boat and sat at the very front, had prime seating, sun shining, calm seas. When it's like this we really dont mind the transfer days. We checked into our hotel and then walked down to the beach, sat at a cheap cocktail bar and to be honest didn't do much else. Lots of dogs on the beach , so we enjoyed watching them play together .They all have collars so owned dogs but they all seem to freely just roam the island. Bet the dogs love their life here. We had a swim and enjoyed the sunshine for a while before taking a walk to a restaurant for some dinner.Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    35. Koh Tao

    January 7 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Beach day today, sun was shining, water was calm so no other place to go. We went and had some nice lunch as it was going to be a long day today. We both had a swim but not really clear enough to snorkel today so both decided to sunbathe instead.
    We are off to a drum and bass event tonight- an intimate gig with people we saw at festivals this year, and was completely free ! As we were sat on the beach we noticed Inja was sat close to us, we ended up in a conversation with him ,he's such a nice guy. Felt so strange talking to someone famous on the uk DNB scene in little Koh Tao. The day progressed dj after dj and eventually got to Gardna's and Inja's set, all really good and enjoyable day/ evening. So cool to be at Koh Taos biggest DNB event ever! Both really happy we came back for it.
    When the event finished we packed and had a shower ready to move on. We leave the islands tomorrow and heading to an off the beaten track national park. Looks so nice and not a touristy area so can reduce our daily costs.
    The islands are great but they are expensive, especially this time of year. So onwards we go, got a 7 hour transfer tomorrow to Hua Hin. Guaranted good weather now as we are heading north.    Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    36. Koh Tao - Sam Yoi Rot

    January 8 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We left our tiny little room at 0900 this morning to get the ferry to Chumphon.
    It was already quite hot, so we grabbed some cold drinks and some breakfast instead of waiting in the sun to be called for our boat.
    Luckily, we managed to find a really nice place on the boat to sit for the two hour journey. Plenty of space to stretch our legs, which makes a change.
    Once we arrived at Chumphon, we had a 45 minute wait before catching our bus to Hua Hin. The pier was just crammed with people and it was very chaotic, so we were glad to be getting onto a cool and spacious bus for the next many hours, we were stingy and went for the basic bus ( we somehow had a VIP bus with super comfy seats and little pods for each couple to sit in)
    We arrived in Hua Hin at about 630 and we really struggled finding a taxi driver who was willing to drive us for 40 minutes to Sam Yoi Rot. Eventually, after waiting for about 30 mins on the side of the road, we managed to get a taxi. We tried to explain to the taxi driver exactly where we wanted to on Google maps. He seemed quite abrupt and ignored us and drove us to this random resort. After he paid a bit more attention to the map, we were on our way. This taxi driver was honestly the worst driver we have ever come across, driving on the wrong side of the road and randomly slowing almost to a halt for no apparent reason. Our theory is that he had ever driven that far out of town away from the streetlights before?! After nearly asking him to stop we finally arrived at our little resort by Sam Yoi Rot beach. The owner ( who is Belgian, called Michael) gave us a very warm welcome and told us all about Nakhom cave and all the attractions to visit in the area. He rented us a moped and left us to go and get some dinner. He is super friendly and enthusiastic, a real character.
    Been a long day today, so had a relatively early night.    Read more

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    37. Sam Yoi Rot

    January 9 in Thailand ⋅ 🌙 26 °C

    After a lovely night's sleep in our bargain accommodation we got up and firstly caught up with some much needed washing! It doesnt take long to pile up, Michael very kindly offered us to use his drying line. The customer service at this place is unreal, they are both so friendly.
    We jumped onto our moped and headed out for an explore. The beaches here are massive and empty so they are used as roads for the mopeds. This was great fun yet slightly scary wiggling about everywhere, but we had fun going up the beaches. We carried on and went to this beautiful cove with an island a few hundred meters from shore. The water was really warm and there loads of Sea Snails along the beach, we had to be careful as these have a nasty sting. After a splash around and chill we headed onto our next stop which was a giant Buddha overlooking the national park. This was really cool and interesting. You can definitely tell we are off the beaten track now, no touristy bits, no english menus, cheap local food and amazing accommodation for next to no money. We only saw about 5 tourists all day.. A huge contrast to the islands. We enjoyed the temple and statues and they had a fish pond with the most active fish. They all came to side of bank expecting food which was quite funny. We enjoyed an explore of the national park and headed to the cave we are going to tomorrow. A 3 hour hike to a temple inside a cave which is lit up by the sun during morning hours. So early start tomorrow for our 12 year anniversary. After an explore, scaring off stalks when trying to photograph them, sketching out with monkeys around, being chased by a dog at 45kph.. We got back and finally updated the penguins! Had a lovely meal and early night for big day tomorrow. Happy days, so excited to be here, amazing what no people around does for the soul😂    Read more

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    38. Sam Roi Yot

    January 10 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    12 years today, both woke up and headed out early today as we needed to be at the cave before 10.30. We zipped down on our Moped to the cave, a short 15 min ride away. When we arrived we got our tickets and headed off. The sea was really rough today so no cheating having a boat ride back... It was a fairly easy climb over the first bay. The last bit up to the cave was harder but manageable with a break half way. We were keeping quiet and trying to spot some Red Faced monkeys which are really nice and friendly towards humans. Very different to the other buggers we have crossed paths with before. We got to the opening of the cave and wow. It was ginormous, probably 2/300 mtrs high and 300 mtrs wide. We carried on walking through and then we were greeted with the most beautiful temple. It was magnificent, probably one of the maddest things we have seen since travelling. We got there about 10 and slowly the temple was getting more and more lit by the beaming sunlight above. Wow, what a experience and still hardly any tourists. We headed back and we stopped for the worst pancakes humanly possible. It wasn't as far as we thought but still 3 hour round trip and about 12k steps.
    We then had a drive around the park before heading back to hotel for a break from the sun before our next excursion later.

    About 3.30 we headed off to our next stop, Bueng Bua wetlands. It was a bit of an eventful ride as Google maps had no clue where we were and kept making up roads, after chatting with a very friendly local who pointed us in the right direction, we finally arrived. We had tickets valid already from earlier so just to pay for the boat hire. Which was a £11.50. Bargain for the experience. Bueng Bua is a WWF site and a significant area for many rare animals and birds. Really special area which has been on numerous documentaries for wildlife.
    We headed off through the reeds and the lilys with birds all taking flight. It was so fun, we stopped and had a few photo opportunities and the guide took us to a walking area with a viewpoint. It was nice to see it from above.
    We boated back to the start after 1.5 hours of exploring. We both decided to watch the sunset go down, it was unreal across the water, our best yet. See video below.
    When we got back to room we decided to go out for a curry. Although flavours were there it took so long to serve to us it was mostly cold and not the most appealing. The most exciting thing was a cat who decided to join in on our anniversary date night. He looked very at home 😂 (especially next to Grace, the crazy cat lady 😂). We were both exhausted after today so decided to set no alarms and sleep as long as we can tomorrow! What a great day!    Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    39. Kui Buri National Park

    January 11 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    After a long debate yesterday, we decided to go and visit the Kui Buri National Park to hopefully spot some elephants!
    Michael wanted to charge us alot of money to arrange someone to drive us there and back. We didn't really fancy this option and James was happy to drive the moped steadily there, which was a good 90 minutes. It was really fun and such a nice feeling being on the open roads with all the beautiful scenery on offer. We stopped off at Bun Nok temple along the way, we spotted how incredible it looked from a distance, so we just had to have a look.
    We had an hour wait at the national park entrance before we caught the safari jeep into the park, we sat in the shade and bought some drinks as the sun was blaring at this stage.
    We had a private jeep with a guide to take us about 8 km into the national park to spot some elephants. We were only 15 miles away from the Burmese border! We had so many questions to ask, so we communicated with the guide using Google translate.
    Unfortunately, there is still quite a lot of conflict between the locals and elephants. The elephants often leave the boundaries of the national park and ruin all the surrounding crops, not good news for local farmers. The local people formed a support group to help improve the conflict and decided to set up the safari for tourists and visitors - which provides an income for the locals and softens the negative affects of having these huge wild animals roaming their back gardens.
    After about 20 minutes of driving into the park, we suddenly turned around and drove back on ourselves as there was a reported sighting. We pulled up next to about 10 other jeeps with our binoculars and sat and watched. Eventually, we spotted this elephant in the distance behind some trees. We watched him walk to the water hole before he dissapeared into the trees again. It was an incredible sight.
    We stopped off at two other view points and managed to spot some hornbills in the trees very far in the distance. They are huge!
    Our driver quickly hurried us back into the jeep to another reported sighting. It was quite comical driving to the next point, all the drivers compete to get to the next spot quickest, they take it so seriously. Even more lucky at the next view point, as we saw a mother and young baby together. It was so special, but people started getting noisy and the elephants soon left. Which was a real shame.
    One last stop on our way back and there were another two elephants in the distance. We sat on the bank and just watched them for ages, it didn't feel real.
    After such a spectacular day, we had to brace our 90 min moped drive back home. 3 hours in total on a moped today, covering about 80 miles - which got quite uncomfortable towards the end. James did so well again and we managed to get home before dark. We saw a pack of puppies on the way home, which were just adorable, we were a bit worried as we couldn't find the mum though.
    Poor James was exhausted after all the driving, so we grabbed some food from the local night market to enjoy. There was a stall selling insects, so we thought we would brave it and give them a try.
    We had a very entertaining evening challenging ourselves to eat one of each insect. They were pretty awful to be honest. Really concentrated earthy, nutty taste.
    They all tasted the same, but some just tasted stronger than others.    Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    40. Sam Roi Yot

    January 12 in Thailand ⋅ 🌬 24 °C

    Today we woke up to a storm, wind swirling and waves crashing. We decided to use this to our advantage and have a planning / penguins day. We have planned to do a huge transfer upto Chiang Mai rather than do it in bits and bobs, we are very conscious that our visa for Thailand is up soon, so we need to prioritise what we really want to do and heading north was first on our agenda, perhaps we will come back later down the trip and do the central Thailand bits. Tomorrow our journey starts at 10am and will finish at 8am in Chiang Mai. 5 hours to Bangkok and then 7 hour wait and then 10 hours overnight into Chiang Mai. We have paid extra for the super Vip bus so hopefully we can sleep enroute. They always sound so much better described than they actually are though 😂. Nice dinner and bed ready for tomorrow.Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    41. Sam Roi Yot - Chiang Mai

    January 13 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We got up and packed before waiting for our first transfer. It was delayed but eventually arrived. Dad would hate this van as so many knocks and bangs when it was moving 😂. We finally got to Bangkok after about 5 hours of stopping starting, breaks and police stops. When we arrived in Bangkok we had a long time to kill before our onwards travel. We decided to drop bags off and go for an explore. We were right next to one of the nicest parks in Bangkok so headed here. We spent a few hours slowly wandering the park, it was a lovely day and good to get moving before our next long transfer. The park was immaculate and had lots of different areas for us to explore. We then got a taxi back as the park was nearly 3 miles long and we were needing to be back at the start. We got a KFC and then headed to the bus. The super Vip wasn't too bad but not amazing, we were able to lie down a fair amount. Surprisingly I managed to have about 6 hours sleep and woke up in Chiang Mai, sadly Grace struggled to get any but we were here.Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    41. Chiang Mai

    January 14 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 26 °C

    After a very uncomfortable 10.5 hours, we finally arrived in Chiang Mai at around 0600.
    We sat in the fresh air for a while whilst we waited for our taxi to the hotel, both trying to stay awake.
    It was such a relief dropping our bags off at our hotel, even though we weren't able to check into our rooms for another 4 hours. We took full advantage of the free coffee and sat in the lounge for a while before gathering the energy to go and get some food. We really didn't fancy getting anything spicy at this time of morning so we treated ourselves to a maccies breakfast - we really appreciated this!
    We wondered around for a while and headed slowly back to the hotel. After unpacking and having a shower we both crashed for a couple of hours - we just couldn't keep our eyes open any more.
    Struggling to drag ourselves out of bed, we headed towards the night market. We really enjoyed this night market as there was so much on offer with half the people around. Felt much more relaxed and leisurely - so much so that we bought too many pairs of hippy shorts and trousers.
    We ended up at a food court and spotted that they were selling khao Soi, so we obviously had to stop there!
    Definitely our new fave dish.
    Heading back to the hotel, we spotted a very popular roti stand on the side of the road . They had a michelin star sign (😂), so we to try one. Very good but not quite sure it was michelin star standard. We then spent the evening having a look at what to do for the next few days in Chiang Mai.    Read more

  • JG TRAVELSThailand 🇹🇭 Part 3 ’24JG TRAVELS

    42. Chiang Mai

    January 15 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    We got up and headed out for a good time surprisingly this morning after yesterdays excursion. We headed to the old town today to explore. Chiang Mai is famous for the amount of temples around the city. The majority in Old Town. Literally hundreds to choose from so we had to choose the ones we wanted to see. We set up a walk on maps around which incorporated the ones we wanted to see. They were magnificent, some nearly 800 years old and still in regular use. The Stupas here were magnificent too. Sparkling gold catching the sun. The way they were maintained and used still was really nice to see. Most temples had Monks either saying prayers or blessing people.

    We visited..

    Wat Phra Singh Woramahawihan which is one of the city's most revered temples. It was built in the 14th century and is known for its stunning Lanna-style architecture. The temple houses the Phra Singh Buddha, a highly revered image in Thai Buddhism.

    Wat Chedi Luang Varaviharn
    Another prominent temple in Chiang Mai, Wat Chedi Luang was built in the 14th century and is famous for its large, partially ruined chedi (stupa), which was once the tallest structure in Chiang Mai. The temple was once home to the Emerald Buddha, Thailand's most important religious artifact.

    Wat Chiang Man.
    Wat Chiang Man is the oldest temple in Chiang Mai, built in the 13th century. It features unique architecture, including Lanna-style buildings and ancient stucco works. The temple is famous for housing two important Buddha images: the Phra Sila and Phra Satang Man.

    Wat Phantao.
    This serene temple in Chiang Mai is known for its wooden structures and peaceful atmosphere. Wat Phantao was originally built in the 14th century and later reconstructed in the 19th century. It features a distinctive Lanna-style design.

    After a very long day we headed to a burger shop for dinner, really renowned and good burgers so we thought as in a city to take advantage of the good western food. Burger was just what we needed as Grace has ended up with the lurgy I've had the last 2 weeks. Afterwards we took a walk down the red light district street which is always interesting to walk down. It was much tamer than Bangkok.    Read more

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    43, 44. Chiang Mai

    January 17 in Thailand ⋅ ☁️ 28 °C

    43 & 44 Chiang Mai.
    Not much to report over these couple of days as both not 100%, nothing serious though just coldy!
    We managed to have a walk around most days when we went out for meals, but otherwise we just wanted to laze around in an air conditioned room.
    We felt quite bad that we weren't making the most of the city, so we decided to move onto somewhere more peaceful and comfortable , just in case we didn't start to feel better over the next few days.
    Thankfully, we found a really cool place about an hour north of Chiang mai. There's enough to do in the surrounding areas if we feel up to it.    Read more

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    45. Cho Lae

    January 18 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    We checked out of the hotel and went for a walk to grab some food before our taxi ride to Cho Lae. It's really difficult getting transport around here, and not many taxi drivers are prepared to drive out of the city. A lot of time passed trying to barter with taxi drivers on the "grab" app, we had no choice but to go with a driver who charged us 900 baht ( about 20 gbp - super expensive!).
    Both so happy with this resort, we managed to find a luxury room with a huge discount. There's a sofa and a small kitchen area, as well as a balcony over looking the river.
    The man that owns this place is German, and has built this resort up over 30 years. There's a restaurant, swimming pool, ponds filled with Koi Carp and a snug little tree house filled with bean bags. The whole garden feels so tropical and jungly, frogs and butterflies everywhere. A really unique and relaxed place.
    After getting unpacked and showered, we enjoyed a red curry for dinner and had a relatively early night in the hope of going out to do some sight seeing tomorrow.    Read more

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    46. Cho Lae

    January 19 in Thailand ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Today we had a nice lie in and both woke up feeling slightly perkier. We chilled in our lovely accommodation and the gardens till early afternoon. The resort owner recommended some local attractions and we decided to go and take a look.
    We first went to a place called Dantewada, which was a beautiful man made waterfall and gardens. It was really cool here as they had misters in the trees and everything looked mystical. En route the scenic walk around we stopped and fed some baby goats and rabbits. We carried on around the gardens and it was different around every corner. There was about 3 big waterfalls. After being here a couple of hours we headed to a local restaurant. It was really really local and 2 meals of our favourite Khao Soi and 2 drinks was £2.30. Probably the cheapest we have ever found in Thailand and it was so delicious.
    After this, we were told about the unheard but most beautiful temples of Thailand. We were unsure of this place as surely if they were that good they would be more touristy and well known. When we arrived we were blown away by a collection of about 15 temples all with different statues weaving up the stairs. Our favourite was the green dragon and peacock. This place felt very spiritual and it's been a complete highlight for temples, we aren't sure the last 4 big ones we are planning to see before leaving Thailand will match this. After about 3 hours here, we headed back to the hotel and had some lovely dinner overlooking the river. We sorted out the next week of accommodation and travels. We were originally planning on moving to Pai, but we underestimated how far ahead we needed to book accommodation.
    We have changed plans and decided we will head back to Central Chiang Mai to complete the 100 km Samoeng circuit (a mountainous road around the Doi Suthep and Samoeng forest starting and ending in Chiang Mai) before heading to Pai.    Read more

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