Travel blog of a digital nomad
Camiguin is a small island in the Philippines that happens to have has more volcanos per square km than any other island on earth (making it a great mountain climbing island.) The island doesn’t have the white sandy beaches other Philippine islands are famous for. Despite this, the coconut trees at sunset look stunning.
Travel Photos: Camiguin Photo Gallery
Country: Jordan
Date: 9 May 2012
After spending the last seven months in Southeast Asia, Jordan has made for a refreshing New Country Day. Apart from a three day stopover in Dubai I haven’t been anywhere in the Middle East, so I am looking forward to exploring more of this part of the world.
I arrived in Amman at 5am and instantly appreciated the cool crisp morning air. The dry heat in the day time is also a refreshing change from the humidity of Bangkok. And while I love my rice and noodles, I’m already appreciating the change of diet (why hello bread and cheese, it’s been a while.)
This trip will be a slight change of pace from my usual travel style. I will be travelling with travel writer Kevin Revolinksi for the 11 days I am here. As well as that, for five of those days we will be travelling as guests with the Jordan Tourism Board, who will be taking us to some of the highlights of Jordan and some other stops we have requested. After that we will be heading to Aqaba on the Red Sea coast.
More Jordan posts and photos to follow.
Location: Bangkok – Thailand Date: 8 May 2012
Greetings from Bangkok. While I have extolled the virtues of living in Chiang Mai, particularly with its excellent cafe culture, every time I come back to Bangkok I feel like I should be spending some more living time here as well. It didn’t feel right to leave Thailand without lingering in the capital, so I have spent the last 10 days in Bangkok, renting a comfortable little studio in Sukhumvit Soi 22, and I am leaving tonight after nearly seven months in Souteast Asia.
Over the last ten days I have been mostly working, getting ready for the upcoming trip, as well as meeting up with friends who live here or have passed through.
[meetup with Shannon, Ana (and Jodi) in the street eats heaven of Soi 38]
Tonight I will be the beginning of a two month round the world trip, with a mix of business in Europe, conferences in the US, and a brief stopover back in the homeland. I’m happy to report that my first stop on this trip will be Amman, Jordan.
Jordan
Jordan wasn’t on my radar until the Mad Traveler, Kevin Revolinski suggested we meet up there. As I was on my way to Europe, stopping off in Jordan was a no brainer. We will be guest of the Jordan Tourism Board for four days and then we will be on the Red Sea for the following week.
[Kevin hiding behind the camera in Bangkok, with ridiculously photogenic sushi roll]
Europe
From Jordan I will be flying to Vienna, where I will make my way around Europe for a few weeks. I have a few travel projects which are yet to be confirmed, so more on that later. I do know though that I will be passing through Budapest and Croatia, and I will be finishing off on the contintent in Amsterdam and then on to London. If you are anywhere around there look out for me online.
USA
After a stopover in New York, I will be making my way to the TBEX travel bloggers conference in Keystone, Colorado. Three weeks later I will be in Portland, OR, for the wonderfully titled World Domination Summit.
Australia
So I go back to Melbourne…in July! As soon as I get back it will be a mad dash around town to remember where I left my winter woolies. I’ll have 2 weeks here to catch up with family and friends, do my business paperwork, sit around in the wonderful cafes of Melbourne as well as catch a game of Aussie Rules.
Bangkok
And back to where I started. This is the first time I’ve planned a RTW trip like this. I’m not usually a fan of planning this far ahead, but seeing I needed to be in Europe, the US, and Australia, this ticket made sense. I have no travel plans after that and I want to keep it that way for now. I’m guessing though that I will be holing up somewhere in Asia for a few months to catch up on work after two solid months of travel.
So Bangkok, a pleasure as always to be here. See you in a few months.
[Oh mango and sticky rice, I shall miss thee]
[Lazi Convent, Siquijor - Philippines]
The island of Siquijor is infamous for black magic, to the point where at the ferry terminal there is a billboard proclaiming that there is in fact no black magic on this island. Even without black magic it was a island worthy of a visit. If you are novice motorbike rider this would be a great place to learn to ride in the Philippines. To circumnavigate the island on bike takes around 3 hours (not counting for stops along the way) and there is hardly any traffic.
Lazi is one of the main towns on the island and features this impressive convent, which is now a school.
Travel Photos: Siquijor Photo Gallery
A month of cafes in Chiang Mai – Thailand
When in need of downtime to get projects done in Asia, Chiang Mai has been my home base of choice. I realised when I first started coming here that this city is a cafe wonderland. With so many cafes with wifi, it is an easy place to live as a digital nomad. Having travelled to every country in SE Asia (except East Timor), I can say that I can’t recall a city that has such a good selection of cafes.
On my last visit to Chiang Mai I was there for a whole month, and it occurred to me that I could go to a different cafe every day and still not see them all. So that is what I did. Here is a list of 30 cafes in Chiang Mai that I visited over the space of a month. All of them, apart from the two dishonourable mentions, have free wifi. It’s not a best of list, or ranked in any order.
I have Goat Coffee as the first cafe if only because this cafe was next door to my apartment. I never would have found this place if I didn’t live there, so it was a pleasant discovery. I give the cafe extra points for its goat nibbling on coffee logo (in homage to Kaldis goat.)
Location: Rachaphruk Rd, off Huey Kaew Rd.
Website: goatcoffeethai.com
Another place I never would have found if it wasn’t for my friends who already knew about it. Akha Ama might just be the best coffee in Chiang Mai. The cafe is run by Lee, who also grows the coffee at his home Akha village in Northern Thailand. It’s tucked away in a residential area, but if you are living here and on a motorbike this wont be a problem.
If you are interested in learning how coffee is grown and processed, then I highly recommend the coffee tour that Lee conducts a few times a year.
Location: Mata Apartment 9/1 Hussadhisewee Rd, Soi 3.
Website: akhaama.com
As soon as I saw this place I could tell that it had been influenced by an Australian. Sure enough this cafe was set up by an Aussie, and it is staffed by baristas who know how to pour a latte. If I lived closer to it I would have been here all the time.
Location: 15/3 Nimmanhemin Rd
Website: ristr8to-coffee-chiangmai.com
Pacamara turned out to be one of my favourite cafes. So favourite that I forgot to take pictures of the inside. If I was pressed to answer what is my favourite coffee in Chiang Mai, Pacamara would be in my top few. A good place to go in the morning, as in the afternoon it was often filled with students.
Location: Ratchadamnoen Road
Website: facebook.com pages
I would end up here whenever Pacamara was closed. Lovely outdoor area, though being in Thailand not practical for the afternoons.
Location: Ratchadamnoen Road, opposite police station.
Between the old city and Nimmanhemin Rd, Yellow Bear Coffee is easy enough to find. Just look for the yellow bear standing outside. If you can’t find that it’s opposite a big pink building called the Pink Pussy (yes, really). Good place to work but I should have faced away from the distracting vampire bear mural.
Location: 1 Sirimangkalajarn Road
Website: facebook.com page
An independent cafe in the old city, not far from Wat Phrasingh. Note the price board for coffee. A cafe latte here is 40 THB (about $1.3o USD), which is a typical price for a cafe latte in Chiang Mai.
Location: Inthawarowat Road
Inside the moat, this cafe proclaims to have the best coffee in Chiang Mai. It certainly is a quality cup, and I probably would have spent more time here if they had some more comfortable chairs and tables.
Location: Rajapakinai Road
How could I resist with such a name. I ended up here a few times to talk business with a fellow blogger over Vietnamese coffee. That was a common “problem” in Chiang Mai – too many cafes I wanted to go back to. Days when I revisited cafes I had already been to meant that I had to go to another cafe that day to continue my research. Not that I was complaining about it.
I love the art of Vietnamese coffee. Watching the coffee drip down onto the the goodness that is sweetened condensed milk.
Location: Ratchamanka Road
Another über hip cafe around the Nimman area, so naturally another favourite of mine. Extra points for the “coffee” walkway.
Location: Nimmanhaemin Road, Soi 7
A little hole in the wall type cafe. Keeping with its name, it is filled with all things cats. This concept would be too cheesy to work anywhere else, but this is in Thailand so a cafe full of cat knick knacks works well.
Location: Rajvithi Road
I nearly didn’t go to this one as I thought it was just another roadside cafe. I’m glad I went though, as not only was it a good coffee but the building has been built around a tree. I had passed this cafe many times without noticing how close the canopy of the tree is to the roof. I couldn’t see the cafe for the tree, if you will?
Location: Sirimangkalajarn rd
Website: facebook.com pages
Still not sure if this a chain cafe. I like the logo of the Akha tribe woman so I went in. Not a bad option if you are by the south side of the moat and in need of an air conditioned caffeinated wifi fix.
Location: Changlor Road
A Thai cafe chain with an American western theme. I’m still trying to work that one out. I ended up here often out of convenience as I was staying for a while near the branch at Tha Pae Gate. Points given for being a chain that offer free wifi.
Location: Tha Pae Gate, and other locations.
Website: blackcanyoncoffee.com
Like Black Canyon, another chain that offers free wifi.
Location: Nimmanheamin Soi 9
Khun Nai Teun Sai is the epitome of groovy cafes in the Nimmanhaemin Road area. It has a big garden, plenty of lounge space, and lots of kitschy art around the property.
Location: Nimmanhaemin Road, Soi 11
Impresso is the sort of place that wouldn’t be out of place in Brunswick St, Melbourne. Luckily for me I didn’t get onto this place until later in the month, otherwise I would have ended up here more often.
Location: Nimmanhaemin Road, Soi 11
Freebird Cafe is set in an old wooden home inside the old city. The cafe is part of Thai Freedom House, a not-for-profit community center that assists refugees from Burma and Indigenous peoples of Thailand. They have excellent food and the floor cushions make going back outside a bit harder.
Location: Moon Muang, Soi 7
Website: thaifreedomhouse.org
I found this wandering the back streets of the Nimman area. I’m quite sure there are many other cafes hidden away in Sois that I never got round to seeing.
Location: Nimmanhaemin Road, Soi 9
Website: foursquare.com
A cyclist themed cafe in the middle of the old city. No lycra required for entry.
Location: Inthawarowat Road
Up the end of a lonely Soi, I never would have found this place if I wasn’t meeting some bloggers here. A homely duck themed cafe.
Location: Nimmanhaemin Road, end of Soi 6
Website: baanpedcafe.com
A cozy little cafe opposite the Anadard Hotel in the old city.
Location: Ratchamanka Road
Another place I ended up many times purely out of convenience as I was living on the same street for a while. It was a good street to live in having this one nearby. Smooth coffee and a good place for lunch and smoothies as well.
Location: Rachadamnoern Road, Soi 5
Website: peppermint-chiangmai.com
When I find myself on this side of town I often pop into Mo Rooms, which is a boutique accommodation/art gallery/cafe. East of the moat, between Tha Pae Gate and the Night Bazaar is a little explored area for me. On this side of town the food is a bit pricier and there are the sexpat nightclubs, so not really my cafe wonderland. Having said that, when I started telling people about this cafe project I was recommended a whole bunch of places around this side of town, so I will need to come back to investigate.
Location: Tha Pae Road
A modern little cafe/bar, the 9th St cafe would fit in just as well on 9th Street New York as it does on Soi 9 in the Nimmanhaemin Rd area.
Location: Nimmanhaemin Road, Soi 9
This one I mark down as “got potential”. It is set in a classic old wooden Thai house, the likes of which have mostly disapeared from the city. The cafe is set in the garden and there is a lot of artists material about. It is more of a studio in use rather than a showcase of art. This place would be very cozy with an improvement of the furniture.
Location: Kotchasan Road
Conveniently located in the heart of Nimmanhaemin Rd, I recall it being super airconditioned on one of the hottest days of the year.
Location: Nimmanhaemin Road
Making up the numbers with a couple of dishonourable mentions here. I noted at the start that all the cafes in Chiang Mai have wifi. I eventually stopped asking before arriving at a new cafe because they all do. This is the way it should be. Yet for some reason the chain brands of Starbucks and Wawee Coffee don’t have free wifi. Starbucks in Malaysia have free wifi, but not in Thailand, so I only go when I am not required to go online. Wawee is a Thai cafe chain and I rarely go for the same reason, that you have to pay to use wifi.
Not really a cafe, but I wouldn’t have made my list seeing I departed early on my last day. This listing is part make up the numbers and part travel tip. If you are coming or going to Chiang Mai via Bangkok, be sure to check for flights on Bangkok Air. They are usually pricey when they have no competition, but as there are five airlines serving BKK – CNX, the prices are always competitive. With Bangkok Air every passenger gets to use the Bangkok Air lounge, which offer free wifi, free snacks, and…free coffee.
Location: Bangkok Airways Lounge – Chiang Mai Airport
Website: bangkokair.com
While I was compiling this list I told some of my friends about the project. I was then told of other places which I didn’t have time to visit. If you know of any more cafes in Chiang Mai feel free to leave a comment. I’m sure I’ll be back again so I would like to try them out.
Tagbilaran is the capital of the island of Bohol (the land of tarsiers.) As per usual the nicest building in the city is the principal church. You will also seemingly find a tricycle taxi (pictured) for approximately every 6.3 residents of the city.
Photo Gallery: Bohol Travel Photos
Spend more than five minutes in the Philippines and you will spot your first Jeepney. They are all over the Philippines and the paint jobs vary wildly in their outrageousness. This one was spotted at the Carbon Market in Cebu City.
Photo Gallery: Cebu City Travel Photos
Songkran in Chiang Mai
I’ve had many friends over the years rave about how good Songkran is, so naturally I had to find out for myself. I have already attended one incredible festival in Chiang Mai, the Yi Peng Lantern Festival, which I didn’t think could be topped. I would have to say that Songkran has blown Yi Peng out the water (pun intended.) In fact Songkran might just be the best festival I have ever attended.
Songkran marks the start of the Thai Buddhist new year, and the throwing of water is a symbol of cleansing for the new year. It just so happens that the Thai new year starts in mid April, which is the hottest time of year in Thailand. Perfect weather for a water fight.
Songkran in Chiang Mai goes for four days. All day for four days. I often found myself stopping to take all the madness in, still in disbelief that such a festival can exist. Anywhere else it would make sense if the festival went for four hours and it be contained along one blocked off street. But no, this show is city wide – nationwide – and here in Chiang Mai it is on all day. There is an unspoken armistice at sunset, which is for the most part observed, apart from the occasional stray shooter.
Smiling Assassins
Thailand is known as the land of smiles, and during Songkran the smilometer is turned up to eleven. My first day out during Songkran I walked from my apartment to the old city. There were already people in my street with water guns, and as soon as they saw me their faces lit up into a broad smile at the sight of a dry farang. The first guy who tried to spray me was hilarious. he went to shoot me but his gun malfunctioned. The look on his face was priceless and as I sprayed him we were both laughing uncontrollably. That set the scene for the next four days (did I tell you this goes on for four days!)
There is lots of laughing involved in Songkran. How can you not laugh when you are assaulted with such lovely smiles as these.
Songkran – Where tradition and modernity collide
Traditionally the water used in Songkran was from water that had been poured over Buddhas for cleansing. The collected water would then be poured on your shoulder with a small cup, like the ones used in this parade.
Somewhere along the way Songkran has morphed into a monster waterfight party that rages for four days, with a mashup of international influences. I detected a bit of a Halloween influence, with many young Thais wearing masks like this.
Another feature of modern Songkran is the iced water. All around the moat there are ice dealers, selling ice to the party trucks. Good thing it was 38c every day, which made the buckets of iced water down my back slightly more palatable.
Choose your weapons
As Chiang Mai has a ready supply of water from the moat, buckets are a popular item.
I wasn’t sold on the idea of getting a bucket, but if you are staying in one spot by the moat to douse passing cars it is a better option than a water gun.
We were wandering around so the water guns made a better choice. Plus it just looks cooler.
If I can give you one piece of advice it would be to shop around before buying a gun. I made an impulse purchase at the first “gun store” I found. Turns out the range of my gun was terrible compared to some of the others on sale.
In addition to being continually blessed with water, there is also the chance of getting your face painted with muddy chalk. Apparently it is also good luck. I got a faceful of good luck from my man pictured below.
Nowhere to hide
The wettest parts of the city was around the moat, so I went inside the old city down some side streets to meet up with my crew to avoid getting too wet. Even in the smallest streets there was no place to hide. You will always find someone ready to water you down.
One lunch time our group found a quiet courtyard with no one around. With some takeaway food it was the perfect place to dry out for a while. Dave and Lauren didn’t get the memo about the lunchtime truce.
Instant Karma
If you douse someone, expect to be doused in return. I was just snapping photos randomly here as my viewfinder fogged up, and I caught this great sequence of Anthony about to squirt a little child…
…followed by her bucket full of sweet, sweet, revenge.
Songkran car party
Chiang Mai is supposedly the biggest Songkran city in Thailand, even bigger than Bangkok’s Songkran party. The city layout lends itself to being the perfect Songkran location, with its square moat and road that surrounds it.
Each side of the moat is a mile long and all of the roads around the moat are jammed with cars for the entire four days.
The slow moving cars made for easy targets, but most of them are armed with ice, so expect an icy bucket of water thrown your way if you pick a fight with a pickup truck.
This brave/adventurous couple had their wedding party drive down around the moat in an open Tuk-Tuk.
As the traffic is reduced to a crawl for the entire circuit, the road resembles a tailgate party.
Chiang Mai Moat
While it’s not the Ganges, the Chiang Mai moat is a murky body of water that I never thought I would go swimming in. So here I am now, post Songkran, wondering what came over me to think it would be a good idea to go swimming in the moat. I was overwhelmed Songkranitis, that is what happened. The euphoria of Songkran can make you do some crazy things.
I was by the moat with two friends refilling our water guns. Next thing you know, we are all in the moat playing with the local kids. We lent our guns to the kids to play with for half an hour while we sat in the green and murky water.
While I was casually wading in the moat water I met this man who was by far best in show for headwear with his Princess Leia inspired towel wrap.
If I ever come back to Songkran I must learn how to wrap a towel like this.
Everyone is in on it
I got tricked a few times into showing mercy upon little kids and the elderly. Big mistake! Trust no one at Songkran as I found myself getting wet from all age groups.
I was even surprised to find the police in on it. This police woman was AWESOME. She got such a soaking that she had to take off her riding boots to empty out the accumulated water (not the best Songkran footwear.) I made sure I got a shot in, if only to be able to say I shot a cop.
My poor camera
In addition to a DSLR, I also have an old pocket camera that was already on the way out. I decided that I didn’t wan’t worry about trying to keep my big camera dry, so I opted for the pocket camera.
My little camera got thoroughly soaked and the viewing screen died for a while. There was also the problem of getting water on the lens and not being able to find a dry square millimetre of cloth anywhere. as a result I was taking photos blind for much of the day and some of the photos literally have watermarks.
Songkran – Would I go again?
After four days of non stop watery fun, I was ready to dry out and get back to a normal routine. I figured I had experienced enough Songkran to last me a lifetime (I’ve certainly had enough moat water for this life time.) Funny thing is though that the day after Songkran I was walking around the almost deserted streets, wondering if it was all a dream. I also started thinking that it wouldn’t be half bad to do it all again. Part of that might have been that it was 40 degrees celsius when I thought that. Mostly though, it really was that good. We shall see.
[7 Commandos Beach in the Bacuit Archipelago, Palawan - Philippines.]
The Bacuit Archipelago was pretty much everything I had hoped the Philippines would be like – little islands with white sandy beaches and seas with ridiculous shades of blue. The Bacuit Archipelago is close to El Nido in Palawan.
Travel Photos: Bacuit Archipelago Photo Gallery
I always try and get a window seat on short haul flights as I never tire of looking at cities from the air. On my flight from Yangon to Bangkok there was the not uncommon backlog of flights waiting to land at BKK. While waiting for a landing slot we were treated to 10 minutes of circle work over the great metropolis. Even amidst this jumble of concrete I was surprised at how many buildings I could pick out as ones I know.
Travel Photos: Bangkok Photo Gallery