Where shall I go today?

With nearly three weeks at my disposal before meeting Ken in Myanmar, I arrived in Bangkok planning to travel to China and Tibet. However, not having arranged my visa or flight in advance, I found my plans thwarted by the expense and delay in sorting things out. I therefore abandoned my Chinese plans and started pondering - where should I go instead?

Having seen most of south east Asia already, I decided that Thailand was the best option for a lone and budget conscious traveller (well I have been a volunteer for 2 years!). Some beach in-action seemed a good place to start, so I took a luxurious overnight bus and then boat to the famed paradise island of Ko Samui. Big mistake. I hit the monsoon season at its worst with constant rain and flooded roads. Although naturally a pretty place, the vast number of tattoo parlours and the low cloud did not enhance its appeal for me, so the next day I headed back to the mainland and then westwards to the unspoiled Khao Sok National Park.
In complete contrast to Ko Samui, I stayed in the deep jungle in a charmingly rustic bungalow, where I could shower under the stars, as the only guest of a friendly family who treated me as one of their own. I hired a personal guide to take me trekking in the park, which was full of my most hated creatures - leeches - hence my fetching jungle attire, including protective leech socks!

From Khao Sok, I went to Krabi, a gorgeous beach resort with my favourite limestone karst scenery everywhere. I had forgotten that this area was hit by the tsunami, and it is amazing how it has recovered since then. There are evacuation route signs everywhere in case the unthinkable should happen again. While in Krabi I hired a natty little electric step-through motorbike to see more of the beautiful province, and I also attended a great Thai cookery course. I'm looking forward to practising my new skills when I get back to England.

I've just arrived in Chiang Mai now and plan to travel round the north of the country for a week. But who knows what I'll actually end up doing - I don't think I've ever had quite such a spontaneous holiday before!