It was time to leave Chiang Mai and head north, we’d booked a VIP bus to Chiang Rai for the following morning, costing 270 baht each for the 3 hour journey. Buses have improved a lot since I last took one in Thailand (which is well over ten years ago), instead of being limited to…
Author: OTRAdmin
Thailand, Chiang Mai
October means time for another road trip, and the tribe wanted some chilly weather so we decided to head northern Thailand and Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai for a couple of weeks. We booked on Air Asia from Don Muang as Kan Air from Hua Hin was over double the price, and with four of…
Thailand, Koh Phayam
A long weekend meant only one thing; road trip time. The road to Ranong from Chumphon is still being repaired; it has been under construction as far back as I can remember travelling on it which is well over ten years ago. That said, the drive was pleasant enough as most are when you get…
Thailand, Nakhon Si Thammarat
It was that time again … a road trip beckoned, so I decided to find a province not too far that I had yet to explore. A friend of mine has a teaching job in Nakhon Si Thammarat (NST to the locals) so I ventured down there to have a look. The city itself is…
Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur
Air Asia had no direct flights from KK to Bangkok so instead of wasting a day at the hellish KLIA2 for the transfer we stayed in the city for a couple of nights. For anyone that hasn’t been to KL the airport is 70km away from the city so be prepared for a long ride…
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Borneo
The flight from Johor to KK was uneventful though the scenery as we descended on the northeastern coast of Borneo was quite spectacular. We’d booked a two bedroom apartment out of town via Booking.com for around 160 MYR per night, what we’d saved on not staying in town would be used to rent a car…
Malaysia, Legoland
Our kids are growing up fast so we decided to take them to Legoland in Malaysia before they enter the dreaded teens phase and no longer want to do such things with their parents! Tickets for the park were booked online a couple of months in advance, not cheap at 880 MYR for the four…
Hong Kong
I’d always wanted to visit Hong Kong but never envisaged I’d be going there on a business trip. The airport is like a city in itself, complete with railways and all the amenities … very efficient, a taxi into town stings at $HK340 – I’ll take the train next time! First impressions are of a…
Thailand, fishing and camping
It was time we ventured out on a little camping and fishing expedition to seek out untouched waters in search of the elusive wild snakehead (Pla Chon). We spent two nights in the jungle in the Bangsaphan area at a lake formed in an old quarry. With permission to use the land we cleared a…
Thailand, A New Year secluded beach getaway
I know it sounds strange to be ‘getting away from it all’ when you live somewhere like Bangsaphan, but after ten years of going to the same parties and seeing the same faces during the festive season we fancied a change. Armed with a kayak, fishing rods, bbq, a couple of tents, a full esky…
Cambodia, Kampot and Kep
I’d met up with some old friends based in Phnom Penh and since we were all heading in the same direction it made sense to hire a minivan for $70 to take us to Kampot for a break from the mayhem and nightlife. Once out of the gridlocked city we started motoring on roads that…
Cambodia, Phnom Penh
The skyline of Phnom Penh had changed little in 15 years, and aside from a shiny new tower block and a patch of dusty land where the lake used to be, it appeared very similar from the air. Getting through the airport was a bit of a fiasco and far from smooth with four separate…
Nyaungshwe, Inle Lake
Again the road beckons, I was heading across country to Inle Lake and not being a 25 year old backpacker any longer I opted for a 45 minute flight at 55 bucks as opposed to a ten hour bus ride. I know it is low season but being the only one on the plane really…
Myanmar, Bagan
It was time to leave Mandalay and the ‘express’ ten hour ferry down river to Bagan pulls out at 7am sharp. One of the pluses of travelling in the off season is that you’re not swamped with bus tourists and Lonely Planet toting backpackers, the boat was at less than 30% capacity, however they were…
Shan State, Pyin Oo Lwin
Today I’m riding into Shan State and the former British colonial hill station Pyin Oo Lwin at 3,500 feet, the town was established in 1896 as a place to escape the Mandalay heat. Escaping Mandalay is the first challenge as a traffic cop pulls me over for riding over the wrong bridge and proceeds to…