Bottle Temple, Khun Khan, Si Sa Ket.

This is an amazing temple made up entirely of bottles of various colours and sizes. It must have taken ages to build, but it was well worth the time, as it is a wonderful sight.
Well worth a visit if you are in the NE of Thailand.

Elephants of Ayutthaya

Ayutthaya is situated around 80 Kilometers North of Bangkok and is the old capitol city of Thailand. Thailand's capitol in the mid-14^th century and remained the capitol until the late 18^th century until the Burmese attacked and sacked Ayutthaya. They cut off all the heads of the Buddha statues and stole the gold from the wats (temples).
The Ayutthaya period is looked on by many as the time when much of what is now thought of as "Thai style" was developed. Regarding temples, this is when you see a marked transition from the Khmer style "prangs" to the bell shaped "chedi." While Sukothai further north is seen as the birth of the Thai kingdom, Ayutthaya is seen today as its high point.
The came Khrung Tep (Bangkok) which is of course the present capitol. This is a great historical day out and there is always the option of seeing parts of the old city from an elephants point of view.

Floating Markets

Thailand's floating markets are among the most-photographed destinations in the country. The river and 'klong' markets give a realistic glance of how daily life must have been in earlier times. The floating markets are where the sellers, their boats laden with a wide variety of tropical fruits, flowers, vegetables and fresh produce, come to meet and barter their products with other traders.

It s very common to be approached by small boats carrying goods to sell on the 'klongs' of Bangkok so don't miss the great photo opportunity.

A great way to fully appreciate a floating market is to hire a long-tailed boat for the day. A tour along the 'klongs' also gives you an appreciation of Thai houses along the canal banks. Don't forget to get up real early for a trip to see the markets. Usually they start at dawn, and most traders have already gone back home by late morning.

Songkran. Thai New Year

Happy New Year or Sawadee Pi Mai!
The Thai New Year is just about to start, so there will be a lot of excitement in Thailand right now. The celebrations include what must be the biggest water fight in the world and it lasts for 4 days, so get your water guns out.
If you are in Thailand during the festivities make sure that your money, mobile phone and camera a safely tucked away in plastic bags because everyone is a target.

You can be attacked any time, any place anywhere during the 4 days of water madness, by anything from a friendly Thai, a drunken farang (foreigner) or in this case a elephant!


The local ladies like to have a bit of fun too and who's complaining.

Staying in Yuncheng, Northern China

Hi this is the hotel that I am saying in in Yuncheng, Northen China.

It ain't much but it's home for a while. They have dog on the menu. Yukky!

Friendly Chinese people

I just finished work at the factory at the usual time and got transport to the hotel with the rest of the guys from work. we went for dinner in the hotel restaurant and enjoyed some top notch Chinese food. people drifted away and I was left alone at the table finishing my last cigarette before retiring to my room when two Chinese waitresses appeared and said something to me which I obviously did not understand. I stood up to leave because I thought that they wanted to clear the table, at which point one of the girls produced a mobile phone and beckoned me to have a picture taken with her friend. I of course obliged and then it was the first girls turn. She stood close made the usual victory sign, the camera clicked and they both ran off in a fit of giggles. I guess they don't get many foreigners in this area of China. Damned friendly these Chinese people!