Work in progress
Previous | Contents | Next Bed and Breakfasts, and Airbnbs. They’re our preferred mode of travel because they’re affordable and you never know what you’re going to get. Mr Peng’s establishment was bigger than our house, two storeys and idiosyncratic in its layout. Upstairs was an echoing bedroom about the size of ... Read more
Previous | Contents | So I think I speak with some authority, and where I’m wrong my editor will correct me… In forty years of travel we’ve only been robbed twice, once by a pickpocket on the Paris Metro — another story — and once when our credit card was skimmed at ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next A sense of community Forget about our little sidestep in Vientiane, we’d enjoyed, in order, a modest cabin in a lovely rural retreat outside Chiang Rai, a self-contained house above a beautifully tended garden in Chiang Mai, and an even bigger two story place between two excellent ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next Luang Prabang to Bangkok via Vientiane… The number of times we get seats without a view is beyond reasonable, and so it was with the Chinese Bullet Train, which runs between Boten at the Chinese border and Vientiane. But the whole enterprise was very efficient, and we ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next We were out in the countryside very quickly — dry paddy fields and scrub — and arrived at our first stop. And then sat waiting for two hours. It was as if the train was treating its timetable as an aspiration, not a target — like a ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next This is our second stay in Chiang Mai. The first time we flew in to treat ourselves to a week in a gracious little hotel called Ratchmanka, and promptly got sick. We spent most of time in our (very pleasant) bedroom and saw little of the town. ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next In Auckland there comes a day in Spring when we’ll get the urge to open our bedroom doors for the first time and enjoy a morning cup of tea. In bed. In the fresh air. Molly, our Border Terrier, heads outside to bark at the dog up ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next We went to Northern Thailand to be there, not to do things. One day all we did was go for a walk, watch Nee cook our lunch, then read books until dinner. On another we went to Singha Park, took photos and had a meal. I don’t ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next I’m writing this after arriving in Chiang Rai and a decent sleep, which means I’m in a better state of mind now. I’d hate you to think I was being hard on Auckland Airport security — Auckland’s our home and we love it, especially our little patch. ... Read more
Previous | Contents | Next At the Gate we sat in the Special Needs area, next to the Premium line, which you can get away with at our age, and made it to our seats. The Purser looked us up on his list so he could greet us by name in that ... Read more