As some of you might know, I've had to begrudgingly put some distance between myself and my beloved Thailand travel blog. The most obvious reason for this is that I no longer live in Thailand, and so my previous inspiration gathered from the delicious food, wondrous landscapes and thrilling adventures has completely dried up... along with my motivation for travel writing in general. Hopefully, one day, I will venture out into the wilderness again, but for now I'm settling for vicariously living through other people's entertaining explorations.

So I thought I'd compile a list of all the writers, food-lovers, adventurers, crazies, and perhaps even kindred spirits, who helped me along my own journey, made me smile, made me extremely jealous of the food they enjoyed without me, and inspired me to seek out new paths and places in Thailand and beyond. These are my favourites, their names still popping up in my search bar nearly two years after leaving my special Land of Smiles and All Things Deep-Fried. They are really worth getting lost in if you haven't already!

♡ Migrationology

"Food is the reason you should travel"

This was the first food blog I excitedly got stuck into while planning my move to Thailand. Mark must be the biggest foodie in the world, which is also obvious from his other blog Eating Thai Food. He runs Eating Thai Food with his friend Dwight from Bangkok Fatty (yup, that's the guy who stole the best blog name ever). Eating Thai Food is actually where I picked up all sorts of useful food phrases before I arrived, and was extensively reassured that I can happily be vegetarian in Thailand despite all the naysayers (the two meat-loving lads went veggo for an entire month for charity, and chronicled every little morsel they ate - amazing!) If you haven't already symbolically devoured every page on Migrationology, I urge you to do it right now!

♡ Never Ending Voyage 

"Because life is short and the world is large"

Another blog from the early days, when the idea of moving to Thailand was still just a festering, giddy idea in my mind. I became more and more interested in their nomadic way of life, gathering all the info I could about Thailand and Chiang Mai. I love their particular tone of writing - they're never condescending and are always on the look-out for new cultural experiences and joys in daily living. The married Brits, Erin and Simon, are sweet-natured, kind and helpful, and never fail to inspire me to experience and enjoy life as much as I can. They're also foodie vegetarians and animal lovers, which gives them a few extra points on my favourite bloggers list.

♡ Fearful Adventurer 

"A blog about fear. Love. Art. And adventure."

When I stumbled upon Torre DeRoche's About page, I thought I was reading about myself, my mother, my friends, or any number of people I know very closely behind their personas. The woman worries, and potters about. She admits to failing, and being afraid. How rare! So of course I was hooked, on her and her effortless words (her memoir is called Love with a Chance of Drowning) and I am still in awe of her today. I urge every adventurer to go and be inspired by her beautiful writing and her breathtaking photographs.

♡ Johnny Vagabond 

"Around the World, Low and Slow"

Wes Nations is not your typical twenty-something tanned backpacker wearing too many bracelets and starting a head-colony of festering dreadlocks. He's perpetually 39 years old and first came up with the idea of creating a 'travelling website' back in 1998, when blogs and wifi didn't even exist yet! He has now been an independent traveller documenting different countries through a beautiful lens and refreshing viewpoint for many years. I first discovered his blog when looking up yummy Thai food, and found myself drooling over posts like Chiang Mai's Cheap and Tasty Street Food, but now I check back to see what new places he's exploring and giggle at rare anecdotes like A Cranky Cheeseburger Dinner in Thailand.

♡ A Little Adrift 

"The world's too big to tell just one story"

Shannon is not just a travel blogger, she's an inspiration and a role model for travellers everywhere. The way she travels is with a kindness and caution that is so needed in societies that normalize destructive travelling experiences, like going to full moon parties or riding elephants. Shannon is an activist traveller, and since she started travelling the world back in 2008, she has written a book about volunteering, been named Traveller of the Year by National Geographic, and has spoken to students at universities around the US about global citizenship. She calls her blog a community with one common belief: a life of travel creates a story of the world worth telling. How can you not love this woman?

♡ 8 Miles From Home 

"A Man, a Woman and Dog living the expat life"

Sacha and Jmayel are high school sweethearts who became bored with their life in England and decided to move halfway across the world to Thailand with their adorable puppy in tow. Since then they've blown up in popularity, especially with avid Thai fans who follow their every move both on their blog and on their Youtube channel. This is where they post "cinematic travel videos" which are smooth, stylish, and entertaining. Besides being two of the most down-to-earth and friendly people I got to meet in Thailand, their dog Eden keeps the more dog-crazy portion of their readers very happy - she was even part of a Thai TV interview with her humans!

♡ Tieland to Thailand

"A couple who sold it all, paid off their debt, and left behind the nine-to-five."

Chris and Angela were a typical "successful" American couple: they worked hard, earned good money and lived for the weekends. What began as a light-hearted joke about "retiring young" grew into something exciting that they could almost grasp within their reach. In 2013, they left their jobs, sold everything they owned, and bought two one-way tickets to a city in the mountains of Northern Thailand... on the other side of the globe. Now, their blog has grown into a powerful platform that inspires, informs, and empowers travellers who also want to leave their "normal" lives behind and live in Thailand. They are both lovely, genuine people who work hard to keep up with their blog, as well as their beautiful Instagram and Twitter feed.

That's all I have for now! I hope you enjoy immersing yourselves in these fantastic reading corners of the internet. It's been a pleasure returning to my little blog for an update, and I hope to share something with you all very soon.

Phrae is a small town about 3-4 hours away from Chiang Mai by bus, with a reasonable cost of ฿180 for a return ticket. A while ago I joined a Dragonfly English Camp at a remote temple school there, but I decided to stay in Phrae for longer than just the two-day camp, so my partner in mischief could join me for a few days afterwards and have a countryside getaway.

The first thing I noticed was the weather, because Phrae was a different sort of Northern place - it was significantly drier and more humid than Chiang Mai, with a landscape that was quite unfamiliar to what we'd explored already. The feel of the city was much more bare than busy Chiang Mai, and felt quite simple and uncluttered. The best part about our trip was that a short drive outside the city in any direction took you straight into middle-of-nowhere Northern Thailand. Perfect!

This was the real highlight of the place; getting lost out on the open roads alongside lush rice paddies, mountainous backdrops, and long, winding highways to bigger, busier places than quaint old Phrae. As usual, everything I mention is marked on the map below, which you'll need as there is not much English to be found in this tourist-less little heaven.

If you're a big fan of day trips and have already hit up Ob Khan National Park for some cold beers and a refreshing swim, or spent a hot afternoon overlooking Huay Tung Tao Lake with friends, then you would definitely enjoy a lazy Saturday or Sunday spent at Tweechol Botanic Gardens in Chiang Mai.

A little while ago, I got that familiar itchy-feet feeling, and needed to escape my city of Chiang Mai. This happens quite regularly, and it might come as a surprise to some, but I get incredibly sick of Little Bangkok, with the same busy cityscape day in and day out. Also, exhaust fumes give me headaches.

I looked up a few choice keywords on Google and came upon a peaceful-looking resort named Fern Paradise. I was almost immediately sold when I landed on their website, complete with pretty pictures and easy navigation. Our one night's retreat from the city was booked.

Paradise among the ferns.

I woke up this morning to a bright sunrise and a heavy humidity in the air. It instantly took me back to my hometown of Durban, and put me right back in my childhood bedroom, waking up for school on a hot summer's day. The only thing I was missing? A sea breeze... which got me thinking about all the other things I truly miss and appreciate about home. So I've decided to make a series of posts about things I miss from South Africa, and I'll start off here with...

Food

South African cuisine and food culture is enormously difficult to sum up in a few sentences. I've had countless people ask me what South African food is, and usually I end up spurting out names of dishes which are popular, but not necessarily South African. Pizza, for example, is extraordinarily popular back home, but as we all know, has little to do with our heritage.

Samoosa - South African style.

As I've heard and read from many sources, South Africa has a very obvious "eating out" culture, and you would struggle to find a developed area that didn't offer you a myriad of foodie favourites, from sushi, steaks, to samoosas and sosaties. There are various flavours of restaurants in every city, which range from Brazilian to Vietnamese, to French-African fusion, to good old British pub-grub. Locals have coined the term "rainbow cuisine" to describe the bringing together of Indian, Malay, British, Dutch, and local African history into one big melting pot called South African cuisine.

Here I've listed some of the foods I find myself day-dreaming about in Thailand, and gush over to my new foreign friends whenever I get the chance. I apologise for any drool that might land up on your keyboard!

Bunny Chow

A hollowed-out half or quarter loaf of bread filled to the brim with saucy curry, served with a side of sambals (grated carrot, chilli, and onion), and luxuriously eaten with your fingers. They range in price dirt-cheap to still-pretty-cheap, and are now recreated in restaurants throughout the nation, and have even been featured in worldwide cooking shows. Bunny chows are an obsession in Durban, which is where they originated, although the exact story is hard to confirm. Some say they came about when Indian workers were made to work in sugar cane plantations and needed a way to bring their lunch to the fields. Others say bunny chows first made their appearance outside the back entrances and windows of local cafés, where they were gratefully eaten by the workers of colour who were not allowed into the café itself. Wherever they came from, they are delicious, comforting, and cheap, and I'd give a limb to have a quarter veg sitting in front of me right now!

Bunny chow and sambals.

Curries, dhals, rotis, naans

The man himself: Johnny of Johnny's Roti's.

Yes, I have a thing for Indian food, and in my opinion, I'll never be satisfied with the Indian food in Thailand. Durban is often pointed out as having the largest population of Indians outside India. There are small, family-run spice shops in every mall, and takeaway curry stands at all our universities. There are superb Indian restaurants in posh areas of the city, as well as locally-loved, inexpensive eateries in the not-so-posh parts too.

One of my favourite Indian places in Durban is a famous hole in the wall called Sunrise Chip n' Ranch, affectionately known as Johnny's Rotis. It's in a pretty dodgy area of town, and your massively-portioned, dirt-cheap rotis and bunny chows are served wrapped up in paper through cage-like bars. You will find every sort of character there, at all hours of the day or night, and it's the first place I'm taking any foreign friends to eat when I eventually get back home.

My other favourite place is a takeaway chain called My Diners (who knows why) which has a never-ending menu with fantastically cheap curries. For R60 (around $6 or ฿180) I'd treat myself to a rich Paneer Makhani (homemade cheese in a buttery tomato broth) with some fresh Roghni Naan (warm, flattened bread with butter and sesame seeds) - there's no way I'm recreating that deliciousness in Thailand.

Woolworths

There's a lot to be said about a supermarket that can make me lust after ready-to-eat meals. Usually I'm an advocate for fresh food and love the idea of home-grown vegetables going straight onto your plate. But as many South Africans would agree, Woolworths is our home-grown luxury superstore, that can beautifully fill your home from garden to wardrobe to kitchen. They're an inspirational brand for the future (I urge you to read all about their Good Business Journey) and have got me wishing there was something similar over here. Even though I never earned big bucks back home, I'd regularly stop into a Woolies to browse the deli section, meander through the produce aisles, sniff the vast selection of cheeses, and eventually leave with a cheap bottle of wine and a few takeaways for a night with friends.

Some of my favourite items in this world:  Butternut & Feta Canneloni; Sundried Tomato Soup; a mixed bag of Baby Spinach, Rocket & Watercress; a Cheese selection; and finally, a tub of layered Basil Pesto, Feta & Sundried Tomato.

South African treats: Rusks, Koeksisters, and Malva Pudding

The brand Ouma Rusks is so well-known in South Africa, it even has its own Wikipedia page. Many countries actually have their own variations of rusks, and you could even say biscotti or Melba toast are a sort of rusk. My personal favourite are the classic buttermilk ones from home - they remind me of being a little girl, dipping a rusk into tea and watching old soap operas with my great grandmother on her big wooden box of a TV. 

Another culinary gift from the Afrikaaners: the koeksister, a devilishly sweet and syrupy treat, smothered in gooey goodness and deep-fried to the perfect balance of crispy and soft. My stepmother, who is in no way Afrikaans, used to make mini "cake-sisters" for, ironically, me and my little sisters. The best ones I've found as I got older were from random little farm stalls out in the country which were cooked with some motherly love, as opposed to the generic, lifeless ones you might find in a supermarket. The only problem with koeksisters is that they are incredibly fattening, and incredibly addictive, which is never a wise combination.

Mmm, malva pudding. The best way to describe a malva pudding to someone who's never had it is by conjuring up the warm richness of a brandy pudding, and asking them to recreate the soft texture of the sponge, and the sticky sauce dribbling down the sides of the cake. Now, imagine it came from South Africa. All of a sudden, it's richer, and more fattening (yup, that's how we do it). Mix in a heap of apricot jam, add some home-made custard or simple vanilla ice cream, and you've got yourself a sticky, sweet, all-round comforting dessert.

Koeksisters and malva pudding.

Beer

Thailand is home to plenty of beers, and notoriously bad ones at that. I would never say I know anything about beer, but I do know how to taste them, and how they make me feel. I've never had a sip of Thai beer and gone, "Mmm!", and even though I'll admit beer in general doesn't bring "mmm"-ing to mind, I do find myself yearning for a sip of a South African brew now and then. Micro-breweries and home-breweries are taking off back home, and beer-on-tap bars are springing up in my hometown quicker than stray dogs are in Chiang Mai. This makes sense when you realise that South Africa consumes more beer than anywhere on the entire continent (and Africa is pretty big). Beer-drinking is a national past-time, and is a regular feature at family braais on the weekends, in township shebeens after a hard day's work, or in your local foosball bar with friends. 

My beer of choice is Hansa Pilsener - a pale gold, malty beer that I would get on tap at my favourite hang-out for around twenty bucks ($2 or ฿60) for a draught. I also sometimes enjoyed a Castle Milk Stout, and the undisputed king of beers in South Africa is Black Label. The popular way to drink Black Label is to part with a twenty Rand note, and receive what we call a quart of beer (actually around 750ml). Yes, please!

I miss all of you delicious beery fools!

All the things I used to cook at home

This might seem unnecessary to mention, but I genuinely miss cooking at home, and all the food I came up with in my little Kitchen of Nom. Yes, I still cook in Thailand, but the ingredients are different, and some are harder to find. And some that I've been using for a decade are completely non-existent. For example, I no longer cook with butternut squash - I use pumpkin instead. And while, once upon a time, I was cooking Indian curries at least once a week, now I'm cooking Thai ones. Not to mention, I don't have an oven, which means no pizzas, mac and cheese, or veggie-bakes. Seems criminal. Anyway, here are some pics of the good stuff that I haven't made in way too long (sob):

Delicious fudge. I'm gonna bake the heck out of you, just because I can!

Did you know that cous cous stuffed in anything is delicious? (Peppers, squashes, mushrooms, aubergines, etc.)

Gooey cous cous stuffed tomatoes and cheese. Yummmm.

What's up, pie?

Oooh, you're a spinach and feta one. Yummy. 

My usual pizza toppings - onion, garlic, peppers, mushrooms, olives, herbs, feta and mozzarella.

Yes, I am one of those weirdos that likes their food with a bit of black. Ugh, perfect.

What do you miss from your hometown or home-country? Tell me in the comments!

Ob Khan National Park, Thailand.

Here's yet another place to escape the bustle of Chiang Mai: Ob Khan National Park, about 40 minutes to an hour from the old city. The drive is simple, and thankfully has a sign or two in English, and you'll know you're in the right place once you're surrounded by beautiful forests and rocky cliffs. Please take note that it is very difficult to find accurate directions online unless you can write in Thai, so I've had a little trek through Google Streetview and found the exact route to the park. Take a look at my Ob Khan National Park Directions map below:



View Ob Khan National Park Directions in a larger map


My boyfriend and I first found ourselves at the park to test out our new camping equipment, and soon we were coming back for longer stays and camping further into the wilderness. There's nothing better than setting up tent near a gentle stream, surrounded by bamboo trees and sandy pits to make your fires.

The first time we went, we tried to speak to a woman sitting in an office, although we weren't entirely sure what the office was for exactly, or who this woman was meant to be. After a long while of exchanging nonsense, which included us repeatedly pointing out our own tent and camping equipment, and her insisting we still needed to rent one, we paid her 50 Baht just to get out of there. To us, the conclusion was that there was no fee to camp at the park with your own gear, and sure enough, no one checked up on our whereabouts, or asked us for any more money during our stay.

On top of that, there is no entrance fee to this park, unlike many others, and nor is there a charge for parking. The bathroom facilities are better than others I've seen in Thailand, with hot showers that are kept very clean. There is also a small cafeteria-type place which sells Mama's noodles, crisps, and soft drinks, but doesn't provide any cooked meals. It really is just you and your foil-wrapped potatoes at this place, so don't forget to bring anything you might need. The convenient thing is that water and beer can be kept relatively cool by lodging them in between rocks in the stream. You can go off exploring at 10 am in the hot sun and come back in the cool evening to find your drinks are still cool themselves.

At Ob Khan, there are plenty of things to see and do during the day, if you ever get tired of just relaxing in nature. There is a pleasant trail which winds along next to the river, and there are quite a few isolated areas to picnic and swim along the way. There are also waterfalls, viewpoints, and a few interesting birds and creatures to spot. Also, the park is sort of like a hidden gem in the sense that it's usually quite empty. We've seen a camp of churchgoers there once, and another time there was a large group of Fine Art students from Chiang Mai University, who sat around quietly sketching the beauty of our surroundings. All in all, it's an undisturbed, peaceful place to waste away a few days, and come back to the city refreshed and revitalised.

A view of the river at the start of the nature trail.

Hello.

Lost in the trees.

Alongside the river.

Late afternoon.

On the way back to camp.

A view of the same spot of river in the late afternoon.

Our fire as the moon rose.

Perfecting the art of cavemanship.

Relaxing outside the tent in the early morning.

A natural bamboo awning near our tent.

It was during the dry season at this time - still very beautiful.

A little bridge that led to our campsite.

Perfect for swimming.

A street in the heart of Vientiane.

A few months after my first exhausting and educational visa run to Laos, I was shivering on an overnight bus

About 10km out of the old city lies a well-known man-made lake called Huay Tung Tao. It's where you'll find groups of Thais sharing large platters of steamed fish and drinking beers on a sunny afternoon, and goldendoodles plopping in the water to cool off, and fully-clothed Thai children doing the same. It's a lovely place to watch the world pass by, even if that world only consists of a crisp mountain view over an enormous lake.

                                                                      View Larger Map

It's 20 Baht to get in the park, and you drive to any side of the lake you choose. You can hire pedal boats and tubes, and the menu offers the usual Thai fare, although it is a little pricier than usual. You can bring your own beers and food although you'll have to pay 500 Baht to use the table. We have never swum there, as we've heard rumours about lake-snakes and other creepy-crawlies, and usually get a bit distracted by our ice-cold beers, dancing shrimp, and great conversation.

Here are my photos from various outings to the lake:

Late afternoon skies.

The setting sun.

Some of the other huts.

A view of the lake and mountain from our eating-spot.

Myself, my boyfriend, and our dog for the day.

Serious Teacher Martin and Playful Teacher Matt.

Some gorgeous girlfriends.

A friend squeezing water from her skirt, and fire-smoke in the background.

About an hour out of Chiang Mai, you can find yourself wobbling on a houseboat in the middle of a picturesque dam,

One weekend near the end of 2012, my boyfriend and I grew restless (as we often do in the city) and decided to take an aimless drive to see if we could get lost in some nature. In a place like Chiang Mai, that's very easy to do, and before we knew it, we were winding through breezy roads around Doi Saket, where we found a little waterfall in the jungle, a temple near the mountain, and a sprawling scene of fields just as the sun started sinking.

Here are the photos from our day-trip through Doi Saket: 

Welcome to Doi Saket.

The road up to the temple.

Wat Phra Tat in Doi Saket.