The train from Bangkok to Chiang Mai is a great way to see more of Thailand, but depending on your travels it’s not always the best way. With some planning by picking the right trains, you can save money and see some of the highlights of Thailand. Bangkok to Chiang Mai – train, bus, or […]
Guesthouse Review: Rainbow Guesthouse Penang, Georgetown – Malaysia
Guesthouse Name: Rainbow Guesthouse Penang. Address: 5 Lorong Muda, George Town, Penang, Malaysia. I stayed at the Rainbow Guesthouse Penang in Georgetown, Penang. I got a single room with a shared bathroom, and I booked it online and selected it for its price and location within the old town. This is my preferred area to […]
Hotel Review: Asia Like Boutique Hotel, Kuala Lumpur – Malaysia
Guesthouse Name: Asia Like Boutique Hotel. Address: 200 Jalan Pudu, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I stayed at Asia Like Boutique Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. I booked it online for its location near Bukit Bintang, which is one of my preferred areas to stay in KL. I’ve previously stayed at another hotel on Pudu Road, […]
Notes on Pattaya: The beach of Bangkok, and thoughts on retirement
I’m usually immune to click-bait listicles, especially when they just arbitrarily rank cities. One list that I will always stop to read though is Mastercard’s Global Destination Cities Index. For the 2018 list Bangkok was number one again, which was not a surprise. What was a surprise was to see Pattaya checking in at #18. […]
View Bangkok from the King Power MahaNakhon Tower
King Power MahaNakhon is one of the most visually distinctive buildings in Southeast Asia. Up close it looks like a jumbled mess with pieces of the building missing. From a distance though it all makes sense. The missing pieces resemble pixels that are spiralling around the building. The building was completed in December 2016, and […]
The remote mountain magic of Mae Hong Son
Mae Hong Son is in the far northwest of Thailand. So far northwest that it’s just a few kilometres from the Myanmar border. There’s no way to get to Myanmar from here, and it’s not on the way to anywhere. It is though on the way through to somewhere via the Mae Hong Son Loop. […]
Pai – The Shire of Thailand
Pai is in the mountainous northwest of Thailand, about 140KM from Chiang Mai. As a frequent visitor to Chiang Mai I’ve heard all about Pai, yet I had never been. I can trace my reluctance to visit down to the arduous road journey by minivan, and by hippies. On one of my early visits to […]
Chiang Mai trip report – the provincial powerhouse of Southeast Asia
Every time I return to Chiang Mai (which has been often) I marvel at how hard this inland provincial city punches above its weight. After thinking about this I looked at a map of Asia, and I can’t think of a non-capital city (and not a port/coastal city) that has as much to offer as […]
Notes on Macau – Where US casinos and Portuguese heritage meet
When I was in Hong Kong I visited the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, which meant a trip to Macau. I was in Macau unexpectedly last December so I didn’t expect to be back again the following December. I like visiting Macau, even though I’m not into casinos. The UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Historic Centre […]
Hotel Review: Nantra Ekamai Hotel, Bangkok – Thailand
Hotel Name: Nantra Ekamai Hotel Address: 9/14 Soi Sukhumvit 63 (Ekamai), Bangkok, Thailand. I stayed at the Nantra Ekamai Hotel in Bangkok. I booked it online for its location in Ekamai, which I have listed as one of my preferred areas to stay in Bangkok. Ekamai is about as far east as I like to […]
