• Day 18: Gokyo to Mong

We were up early and breakfasted by 8am as we wanted to be on our way and get as far as we could in one day on our return to Namche. We felt ready to start heading down and Helen was starting to feel ill with a sore throat. This was our final morning with our new best buddies Joshua and Amata as they would leave a little later than us. We arranged to meet up with them in Kathmandu.

We left at 8.15am and it took us around 4hrs30mins to reach Dole. Although we were taking a few photographs along the way our main goal was to get down. We had borrowed some money from our friends to help us out with the budget; we’d gone over budget but only just. At the Himalayan Lodge in Dole we had some ra-ra noodle soup and hot lemon which was more expensive than nearly anywhere else we’d eaten the whole trek. We left Dole at 1.45pm and got to Phortse Tenga an hour later, from here we decided to head up to Mong and get the nasty uphill out of the way. We were feeling pretty shattered though and Helen was starting to feel rough so we opted to stay in Mong for the night at The Bouddha Lodge. We shared a Dahl Bat and sat in the smoky dining room with the family whilst they drank chang we watched and soaked up the warmth. We went to bed at 7pm which was probably a mistake as we didn’t sleep well at all.

• Day 19: Mong to Namche

Helen woke up with a stinking sore throat and cold, she was not the happiest of bunnies but we got up early enjoyed a pancake, porridge and tea and then set off at around 7.45am. It was a really lovely morning with clear blue skies, bright sunshine and hardly anyone on the paths. We decided to take a little detour on our way  back to Namche to visit Khumjung. Khumjung is one of the places that most people will do an acclimatisation walk to when they are staying in Namche as it sits at 3780m. We arrived there pretty early and were in search of the world’s highest bakery, which we found as we walked through the streets of the town. It’s quite a big place Khumjung and nearly every building has a green rooftop so it’s picturesque and also home to more locals than Namche.

We got to the bakery and decided to stay there a little while enjoying the hot chocolate, coffee and the best apple pie we’d eaten perhaps in the last year of travelling! It was well worth the stop. We left Khumjung via the Hilliary school and the massive mani wall that sits to the right of it. From here there are a few steep up and down hill sections which eventually lead you towards looking out over the town of Namche below.

We were back in Namche by 1pm and settled into The Moonlight Lodge, they welcomed us back and we enjoyed more of their good food. By the evening we were sat in front of the fire hoping that we would be able to set out to Lukla the next day as Helen wasn’t feeling very good at all. We said we would let them know in the morning and then they would be able to fix our flight ticket. They do really good finger chips at The Moonlight and they have a very sweet grandchild who is often the center of attention.

• Day 20: Namche to Lukla

We decided to push on the next day and hike to Lukla, at Moonlight they re-confirmed our flight ticket and told us which guesthouse we would need to arrive at later on in order to arrange the details. We were reassured that we didn’t have to rush though, usually people would need to arrive in Lukla between 3-4pm in order to confirm their flights for the next day but as Helen was feeling ill he said not to worry about that and to take our time.

We still felt an urgency to get there though and before dark. It took us a lot longer than the average 6 hours taken by the locals (we assume it’s the locals – perhaps they do it in even less!). We were now also fully laden with the gear we had left behind at Moonlight and straight away this was pretty noticeable. We enjoyed a good first 3 hours after leaving Namche as it was all pretty much downhill, as we passed by many porters carrying goods up to Namche for the weekend market. We enjoyed a cheese and crackers stop in Mondzo and later on, which felt like hours, we stopped in Phakding for lunch at the same place as we did on our way up. We were probably a little late getting lunch as our energy levels were in need of some rejuvenation, and fortunately for us the food was really good; noodles, eggs and chapatti, followed by a much needed Twix.

It was another 2hrs30mins before we finally got to Lukla at 5.30pm, we were spent and tired and it was a very good feeling to have made it to our final destination. We stayed at The Northface Lodge which is by all accounts a business highway of trekkers coming in or out of Lukla, they are there to sort out flight tickets and try to sell expensive food in the process. Although the food was good and the room decent for it’s price this place doesn’t have much personality. They arranged our tickets and we had all fingers crossed that we would fly out the next day. We were on the 7am 4th flight, and that morning only 4 planes had left Lukla for Kathmandu on the 6am rota so we only hoped the weather would be in our favour.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8 processed in Lightroom 3)

Perth was our last stop in Australia before making our way back into South-East Asia. We were feeling ready for a cultural change having been spoilt with the Western world for so long. For our last week in OZ we stayed with Dave’s sister Louise and her other half Jason. They are really well located to the city with only a 10 minute walk to quirky William Street lined with boutiques, vintage clothing stores and Vietnamese Restaurants. That first night we went to What the Pho along this street after having a good snoop around the city.

On the Saturday morning we went to the local Chinese market, which infused Asian charm and food goods. It was a real bargain to buy fresh fruit and veggies for the week. The market is on William Street and opens Friday and Saturdays. Later in the day we went to Kings Park, probably THE place to get panoramic views of Perth City and suburbs. We enjoyed a nice little picnic and were introduced to some Aussie Rules Football action. Kings Park also hosts a big Botanical Garden but we didn’t quite have enough time to get around it all, instead heading out to see the plot of land that will form Jason and Louise’s new home, exciting times for those two! That night Rod Stewart was playing at the Perth Oval so from our balcony we could hear Rod belting out the hits whilst enjoying a barbecue.

On the 6th we took a drive out to Swan Valley and participated in some Supa Golf at one of the resorts. It was pretty tricky for Helen and Louise getting used to the golf clubs and just having the patience to concentrate on hitting the ball not too hard. After a spot of expert teaching from Dave both Ladies improved their game! Jason enjoyed fetching out his ball from the shallow lake whilst a few of us got stuck in the bunkers. Dave came out top after 9 holes with Jason 2nd, Helen 3rd and Louise a humble 4th. So if we’re talking couples teaming up together…we won! he he! Sorry guys!

After leaving Supa Golf we enjoyed some wine tasting at Little River Vineyard and The Ugly Duckling down the road as well as a few others. We bought a bottle of Ugly Duckling Rose which was very nice indeed. We also went to a chocolate tasting factory and to the Yahava coffee shop which offers tasting sessions too. So we had enriched palettes by the end of it all! Later on Helen managed to skype home and had a lovely sing along with her beautiful niece Sukie over breakfast, a real taste of home!

Back in the city the next day we explored the city some more and took in the Perth Museum of Contemporary Art which was a nice breather from the increasing outdoor temperatures. The Fringe Festival which was now in full swing were hosting events throughout the city and every so often we would come across one of their quirky caravans, performances were going on all the time and it looked like a good thing to be involved in. Skyscrapers, buildings, skylines and sculptures caught our eye as we strolled the streets of Perth.

The next day we didn’t do too much because we were busy sorting and planning for our next journey but we did do something that made us feel very good at the end of the day. Helen’s best friend Lois had asked us to do a favour when she’d heard we were coming to Perth to see if we would visit her Nana and Gramps who’ve been living in Perth for 30 years.This was no biggie for us and we were very happy to see them with flowers, chocolates and Pink Lady Apples. We really enjoyed spending time with them and wish them all the best for 2012.

They also gave us some vouchers to eat at their favourite restaurant in the city, Miss Maudes, a Swedish inspired eatery offering a huge smorgasbord of goodies. We couldn’t quite stretch to the buffet but instead enjoyed burgers and sandwiches and even had enough left over for a tart from the nearby bakery. Something else we’d been wanting to do whilst travelling in Australia was to visit one of their open-air cinemas. They have them in nearly every city an we’d been looking at going to one in Melbourne so when we found out what was screening in Perth the 4 of us went to The Moonlight Open Air Cinema in Kings Park and enjoyed the novelty of sitting on our picnic blanket watching the humorous and slightly awkward ‘Carnage’. How luck they are to have the opportunity to sit on beanbags, bring their own food and enjoy a movie in the outdoors. It was great.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

Still feeling pretty tired from all the excitement and very late night after the tennis we had a couple of slow and easy days. However we also needed to do some training for the Nepal hike so we filled our Osprey trekking bags with cans of dog food, dumbbells and books, Dave’s pack came in at 19kg for some serious workout weight! We walked to Glen Waverley and back again with a few hills thrown in for good measure in total around 7Km. During the evening we caught up with our hosts Jane and John who kindly offered to cook us an evening meal which was lovely. After a few glasses of wine and tales of being hosts and travelling the world we retired to bed.

More exploring of Melbourne was required therefore we headed into town and proceeded on foot. We visited Fitzroy Gardens, walked around the outside of the Melbourne Museum, found some nice bookshops and a funky bathroom warehouse. Eventually we arrived at Brunswick Street which has lots of cool shops (Helen was on the look out for a new floaty skirt) and cafe’s to keep you busy. As it was a Wednesday we decided to head to the Victoria night market with Jo and Ellie, to be joined later by Vic and Dave.

The Victoria night market starts at 5pm and it is definitely worth getting there early as it quickly fills up and any chance of a table and chairs vanishes. Food ranging from Nepalese to Spanish and Fish & Chips to Kangaroo burgers is on offer all around the $10AUS dollar mark. Yellow Tail wines were also offering free tasting samples so we did the right thing and tried each one, some of us more than once, just for good measure of course! We finished the evening in a great pub called Prudence just up the road from the night market. It has a good little atmosphere as well as rear outdoor seating and a cosy upstairs section. All in all a great day with Aussie, adopted Aussie’s and UK friends.

The 2nd Feb was to be our last day in Melbourne as we were due to fly to Perth on the 3rd. Therefore we headed for the National Gallery of Victoria which has an eclectic collection as well as interesting spaces inside and outside gardens. The Melbourne Botanical gardens offered some peace and quiet in an outdoors environment and is worth a visit. As it was our last night in the City we enjoyed food at one of the many popular restaurants in Federation Square and later on we organised to meet with Vic and Dave one last time in the awesome bar Section 8 which is tucked away down a side alley. A hip crowd gathers in this old car park nightly and it is a real gem of a place. We had a drink and then said our goodbyes to Vic and Dave. Good-luck to them in their new lives in Oz.

Next stop Perth to see Dave’s sister and boyfriend for a week before continuing with our Eastern travels in Bali.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, 18mm f4, 90mm Tele-Elmarit f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

We left Gunns Camp after a good little exploration of their museum and grounds, it is full of quirks this place and we most definitely recommend staying here in terms of value for money and facilities. So onwards to Milford Sound it was, which was a pretty epic journey. We stopped as we passed by huge waterfalls bursting out of the rock and close to the road-side before gradually reaching the famous Homer Tunnel. Up until this point we were faced with low cloud, rain and a very grey landscape but as soon as passed through the tunnel we could see the cloud lifting on the other side. The Homer Tunnel is a good little adventure in itself, it’s narrow, dark and very much feels like it’s just been dug out of the rock. It’s one way traffic and you may have to wait a little while at either end for the red light to turn green.

On the other side we kept stopping to take more and more photos aswell as stopping at a few more landmarks along the way. We spotted a few Kea’s getting very close to people’s cars and vans in search of food as bus loads of tourists started to be shipped in. We guess this is the main downside of visiting such a place as Milford Sound…the tourists!! But if you can cope with crowds it’s beauty does manage to distract! Waterfalls come down the walls of the mountains like sheets of ice, it’s difficult to tell at firs that all the white bits on the rock are waterfalls pouring down.

We were surprised that the cloud lifted from this point on and we were faced with sunshine. We later learned that it hadn’t rained for the past 10 days which is very unusual for this area which boasts to receive around 220 days of rainfall per year! We took advantage of the good weather though and photographed from the Milford Sound pier and village. You can only go further than this point by boat.

Unfortunately for us we’d booked to stay at the Milford Sound Lodge as we were heading out at 6am the next morning for our kayak tour. The reason is was unfortunate was the cost of staying in a carpark at $36, and pay for wifi…nothing is free nowadays! Anyway it did the job and we found time to work on the blog. Later on we revisited the path leading out from the road to a reserve on the water-front, as the tide was low we were able to go quite far and did a few long exposures during sunset.

So up early the next day we were picked up by Skirts (our tour guide) from Rosco’s Kayaks, you can see why we chose that company? He was a good guy with plenty of banter and good instruction with it. Our group was made up of 8 including Skrits and it was 2 to a kayak which suited us just fine. So all donned in our thermals, water-proof gear, gloves and hats from the lost property box we were good to go. Dave steered from the back whilst Helen mumbled instructions to Dave which wasn’t heard over the waves and wind, but we managed to get out facing the current into the open water.

As it was so windy we had to raft together a few times with the most laughable part being when a cruise liner came into the Sound, passed us and came back past us again as it did a u-turn. This was a little embarrassing for us; 4 kayaks rafted together in a huge basin with a massive ship going past, but the spectators loved it.

We got as far as Sterling Falls and had to raft up again. We couldn’t go any further which was disappointing but necessary as Skrits didn’t want to risk taking us into 40-50 knot winds. He managed to entertain us as we bobbed up and down with Kiwiana tales and poems lovingly recited with some hot orange. This managed to do the trick for a while but we had around a 45 minute wait for our pick up which didn’t help as it was pretty cold out of the sun.

Eventually though we got the pick up and were taken back to where we started. This is part of the Morning Glory tour but the pick up would usually be at the end of the Milford Sound upon meeting the Tasman Sea. So we didn’t get that far but we did learn that we are pretty good kayakers together which is always nice to know. We do feel that the tour was pricey for what we got out of it at $185 each, it promised so much but just didn’t quite deliver. Still we were at the base of the mountains as they jutt over 1000 meters out of sea. That’s not bad at all. We didn’t take any photos during the kayak as we were worried about the Leica and the waves and stupidly we didn’t take our waterproof camera with us! Doh!

Afterwards we managed to get back into the hostel without having to pay a further $5 each to use the facilities and went back down the wonderful Milford Road past Te Anau and onwards to a free DOC campground at Monowai Lake. We were ready for sleep that night.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We journeyed off down the 1 to Point Reyes National Seashore about an hour north of San Francisco. The drive down was once again very scenic and rugged, so with a few stops along the way we made our way to The Samuel P Taylor State Park to find a camping spot, the main problem being that it was the weekend and the campground was already full with more San Francisco weekend holidayers! We knew of one other campground in the area called the Olema RV resort and after a quick call we learned that camping spots were available, at an all time high of $42/night! It was a very well equipped campground and we found a spot amongst many campers, which made a change for us!

We ventured out to Point Reyes Station, a small village up the road from us where a farmers market had been taking place. It was still pretty busy when we arrived and so we walked around the village and chatted to a local photographer about his work in his little studio on the main street. After picking up some maps at the visitors Information in Bear Valley we decided to drive out to do a hike out to the most northern point in the area. There were a good few historic ranches along the way and we parked right by one of the oldest ranches in the area called Pierce Point which is open to walk around. From there the path heads out into the marsh-like landscape, it felt very much like the Scottish Highlands and wild Elk accompanied us along the way.

We didn’t manage enough time to fit in the whole walk out to the furthest point as it was getting dark but we did cover around 6 miles on the trip. At the end of the walk we drove down to McClures Beach where the photographer had talked about the rocks he’d been photographing. We took the path down to the beach watching and photographing the sun go down. The waves were immense and the sky was angry but we had an amazing sunset and there were only 3 other people on the stretch of the entire beach the whole time we were there. More amazing views for us!

We got back to the campsite when it was dark, prepared a stella meal and then proceeded to sit in the laundrette to do some washing and work indoors for a bit. We won’t miss these laundrettes!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We left Kirsten and Danny’s after a productive morning; packing, sorting, skyping home and making sure we had everything we would need, for at least 5 days! We were aiming for the 11.25am ferry across from Seattle to Bainbridge but when we got to the terminal we paid and drove straight onto the 10.25 ferry! Result! When we parked up and got out of our upgraded car we felt suddenly very grown up, this was our first drive-on ferry ride without our parents! He he! The ferry over took around 40 minutes and was very pleasant indeed, well worth the $21 we paid! The views back to Seattle were really rewarding as was looking out across the Olympic Peninsula, or as far as the eye can go.

After the delight of our first ferry journey we continued away from Bainbridge, making our way north east of the Peninsula towards Port Townsend and a little further to Fort Worden State Park where we’d read that An Officer and A Gentleman was filmed. It’s a gorgeous base with naval barrack buildings and a lovely little bay. We wandered along the bay past an old lighthouse and then back into the barracks area to take a look at an HI hostel we were interested in viewing, it was very twee indeed.

Continuing on our first USA road trip we ventured to the Olympic National Park Ranger Station. They are so informative over here, even after closing hours there is still a ranger on duty. We discovered that backcountry backpacking is very popular over here, most people were dropping off bear cans and collecting permits to hike. We just wanted a park permit, some info on camping and a map! Then we set off in direction of Hurricane Ridge. If you’re ever in this area this ridge is a must-see, the road is windy and around 30 miles going up but at the top the views are so rewarding! We could see across the park to Mount Olympia and for the golden hour we hiked around the top of the ridge and just took it all in.

We made tracks and took the further one hour drive to the campsite. We aimed to get to Crescent Lake campsite at the south end of the lake, and when we got there we were confused with the set up; there was no-one around to register with but we could see people setting up their tents. So we asked them, how does this work? We learned our first lesson in camping, you do an honesty payment, fill out a form, display the ticket in your car and enclose payment (on this occasion $12) in an envelope along with car details and post this into a box! Easy!! So we found a nice little spot just in time for dusk, set up our little tent for the first time, and made our first camping meal!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

After a noisy camp at the Caribou RV Park in Burnaby, (the trains that had been following us all trip were still there!) we were up relatively early and cleaned out the cooler’s we’d been using for the trip. We left to head into downtown Vancouver at around 10.30 and headed in the direction of Granville Island. We spent the first hour wandering around the market and getting a few items for a picnic lunch, then the next 2.5 hours were spent cycling around Stanley Park and enjoying our picnic lunch. Stanley Park is a beautiful area on the north-western edge of Vancouver facing Vancouver Island, it was a very sunny day once again and so many people were out doing the same thing. There is even a beach on one side of Stanely Park and locals were soaking up the rays.

We followed the bike tour with a walk through the city and into downtown and we ended this with a karaf of white wine at the Vancouver Art Gallery. It was too expensive for us to go in at $24 each, but the terrace, wine and live jazz was far more enticing in the cafe. We spent a good hour or so here and then set off in the direction of Gastown where we bumped into a few of the boys. Gastown houses the older buildings of Vancouver and has a lot of character and characters hanging around. This is where most of the tourist shops are too, but it’s all easy enough to avoid, we along with Lee found a fairly decent Thai restaurant heading away from Gastown in the direction of Granville Island. More of the Vietnamese, Thai and Chinese restaurants are in this area. After a satisfying feed we enjoyed a beer back in Gastown before meeting up with the rest of the group to head back to Burnaby. This was our last night together and a few of the group had already left us so we were very much feeling like it was coming to an end.

The next day we were up early, and packed our tents away…the last time we would be staying in our sorry green tent, although it did do us pretty well! We piled into the van and took a 4 hour journey back to Seattle. We got back into Seattle at midday and said our goodbye’s! What a wicked few weeks it’s been for us both and we’re delighted to be sharing these images with you!

Moving on from Intrepid though we had other things to sort out…get a bus back to Kirsten and Danny’s, pick up our car, get to REI and Trader Joe’s all in preparation for our next big road trip! Gradually ticking off the boxes we had to add a visit to Camera Tech on the Fremont side of Seattle so we could get the Leica sensor cleaned, thanks to them for fitting us in just before closing time! Fortunately there was a good Pho restaurant over the road so we did more than go to the Camera shop! We ended the evening with a home-cooked meal, catching up with emails and backing up imagery before a well-earned first night’s sleep in a comfy bed! Better not get used to this though!!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM processed in Lightroom 3)

We got up early and had the usual breakfast. Every Wednesday in Santa Monica they close off a small section of streets and have a Farmers Market take place. On our way along the beach walk Helen “Hung Tough” and easily beat Dave by going the distance! “Contender READY!” The Farmers Market is great for getting a variety of fresh foods from fish, vegetables, fruits, flowers and breads. It can be a little pricey for the budget traveller but even if you don’t buy anything is a nice little morning stroll. Here is a list for the events…

• Wednesday Downtown. Arizona Avenue (between 4th & Ocean). 8:30am – 1:30pm

• Saturday Downtown. Arizona Avenue (between 4th and 2nd Streets). 8:30am – 1:00pm

• Saturday Pico. 2200 Virginia Avenue (Pico Blvd. @ Cloverfield Blvd). 8:00am – 1:00pm

• Sunday Main St. 2640 Main Street (in Heritage Square). 9:30am-1:00pm.

Helen headed off with Sarah for another dose of yoga teacher training and Dave got on his bike and headed south along the beach. The path does run out shortly after Muscle Beach, but you can head east along the main road for about 0.8 miles and follow the bike path signs (Google map route). These will take you past the Marina and eventually back onto the beach path.

It’s a lovely ride on a concrete path through the sand and along the sea front. Manhattan Beach (10 miles away) has a nice pier with a mini aquarium at the bottom as well as quieter beaches than Venice and Santa Monica. Watch out for the hang gliding crossing and beginner lessons a few miles north from the pier. This looks like a great spot for learning the art of hang gliding, if only we had the time here and the additional funds!

Tonight is our last night with Matt so we took a few photos of our home for the last week and cooked ourselves a great dinner. Packing will commence tomorrow for the move closer to the beach!

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f/2.0, Leica 90mm f/2.8, Zeiss 18mm f/4 ZM & Olympus PEN EP-1, 17mm f/2.8 & 100mm f/2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)

When we left Khoa-Sok our aim was to be on Koh Pha-Ngan for a week with a 5 day yoga retreat at the Yoga Retreat Koh Pha-Ngan. Unfortunately as soon as we arrived and after the mammoth and annoyingly long process of getting there with a combined bus and boat ticket, we had to make plans to come back. We had some sad news of a family emergency.

Where to begin in writing about this!? Our Notworkrelated adventure would have to be put on hold, but we will resume our travels and be in touch soon about when this will be. In the meantime enjoy a wonderful spring and summer, the weather has been pretty good to come back to all things considered and it’s great to see our family and friends again.

We wanted to leave a Spring-like photograph on here in the meantime to remember those we love and have lost.

Thank you for following our Notworkrelated adventure and we’ll be in touch soon with plans for the future journey.

David and Helen.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0, processed in Lightroom 3)

Oh oh beautiful Pai! How we loved our days camping in our wonderful boutique style tent with views across the valleys…not to make people jealous but we really were spoilt and all for as little as 250 baht a night! We loved spending time in our tent, reading, watching the sunrise, and having the luxury of a duvet! It was very hot during the daytime when we were here sometimes reaching 38 degrees, but in the night we were nicely cooled by the 16 degree air. This felt quite cold actually, long gone are the cold nights in China.

There isn’t that much to do in Pai to be honest, but it is a very beautiful town with lots of yoga class offerings, cooking classes, walks, bike rides and so on. In the night-time the streets turn into a walking night market with local crafts and clothes many of which are made by the neighboring tribal villages. We picked up a few nicely branded Pai items which are hard to avoid, but they do tend to stand out over most tourist branded things. There are opportunities to hike and explore on kayaking tours in the wet season but we opted for some low-key adventuring in the form of hiring a motorbike for the day and exploring most of Pai’s famous sights. It is a very twee place and extremely popular with Thai holiday makers due some old films that were made there in the 90′s.

There is a pool around 1km outside of Pai in the direction of the Canyon at a place called Fluid, it’s a good sized swimming pool and they have plenty of space for sunbathing too. The food there is okay but overpriced for what you get, however it’s probably the best place in town to cool down from the heat especially when the river is at a low level.

Helen found a nice yoga class to attend which cost 200 baht for a 2 hour session, if she hadn’t had been struck by her 3rd tummy bug in 5 weeks then she would have been able to attend a few more classes!! It’s also a great way to meet people as many will do 3 classes in a row before moving on. Aside from the stomach upsets though we had a fantastic time here and would consider returning. We don’t think we’d be able to get as good a deal on accommodation in the future especially for our little set up as we knew they were a new resort.

So 5 days later and we were ready to head back to Chiang Mai. We can quite see why people end up hanging around Pai for longer than anticipated. There are great restaurants offering a variety of good Thai, western and other foods, there are places to go and drink chai, a good choice of bars, shops to poke around in,  and a nice river that flows through beautiful scenery. If you’re a little prone to travel sickness then the 764 turnings in the road to get there may cause a slight problem but getting a mini-van would help with this. We got a minivan there for 180 baht and the return journey to Chiang Mai was only 150. You can get a local bus for around 72 baht if you don’t mind being crammed into the rooftop and the journey takes around 3-4 hours.

When we got back into Chiang Mai we sorted out a few arrangements for the next few days; one was to book an elephant mahout day, another to do a one day massage course and the last to sort out our travel arrangements to Bangkok.

(Leica M9, Summicron-M 50mm f2.0 & Olympus PEN, 17mm f2.8 & 100mm f2.8, processed in Lightroom 3)