Bangkok is a city of extremes. You can see luxury apartments next to metal shacks, 5-star dining establishments across from cheap street food, a constant change between hot humid air and freezing cold AC, decorative Buddhist temples down the street from strip clubs…Bangkok has it all. Because of this, the city is one of the […]

Let me first say that I wear Thai fisherman’s pants on a daily basis. I always have a nice sheen going because I’m always sweating to some degree, I never try and fix my hair because I’m just going to put a helmet over it anyway, my clothes now often have white dog hair clinging […]

The overcast skies and cool mistiness of the mountains were a welcome change from the hellishly hot temperatures – 113 degrees! – of Bagan. After being dropped off near the famous Inle Lake in the Shan Hills of Burma around 3:30 in the morning (we were glad to already have accommodation booked) we didn’t really know […]

One thing you’ll quickly notice after spending some time in Chiang Mai is that there is a thriving yoga and wellness community here. There’s something about the combination of the laid-back lifestyle, sun everyday, gorgeous natural surroundings, a Buddhist culture where even the wildest high school students will sit still in silent meditation, and abundance of […]

In 1999 National League for Democracy leader and Nobel Prize winner, Aung San Suu Kyi, called for a tourism boycott in Burma believing that money spent by visitors would be supporting the military regime and show international support for its practices. In November 2010, right before I first moved to Thailand, she called for a lifting of the […]

“…Then, a golden mystery upheaved itself on the horizon, a beautiful winking wonder that blazed in the sun, of a shape that was neither Muslim dome nor Hindu temple-spire…The golden dome said, ‘This is Burma, and it will be quite unlike any land that one knows about’.” – Rudyard Kipling, Letters from the East In […]

I’m always hesitant to write a post about a place I don’t know much about. Travel blogs can be great sources of information, but too often bloggers tend to share information and tips for a place they’ve barely spent time in. Instead of their posts really being about the “Best Places to Eat in…” wherever, […]

There’s a ton of information and resources out there about traveling in Southeast Asia, butI tend to find a lot of it generic or outdated. Whenever I’m traveling around Thailand or the rest of the region however, I always consult these websites and resources because I know they will be helpful and and accurate as […]

It’s that time of year again…Songkran is almost here and that means high temperatures and lots and lots of water. I wrote this post last year, but the information and recommendations still hold true. (I’ve also added in some more tips as well as a section featuring posts from other bloggers who know Songkran well.) […]

Bangkok won’t charm you…at least not right away. It’s massive, intimidating, busy, hot, humid and really kind of ugly. Chances are you may get ripped off by a tuk tuk or taxi driver and you’ll definitely get stuck in traffic at some point. But, give it a little time, and you’ll start to notice how the […]