Prayer flags in Bhutan

By Andrew J Wood: Enchanting Bhutan: A Traveller’s Guide – Believe in Happiness

BANGKOK: In the heart of the Himalayas lies a Kingdom shrouded in mystique and history, with brightly painted temples that echo with the monk’s prayers and chimes, the air heavy with incense. They go about their daily rituals, dedicated, serious yet resplendent in their dark red monk’s robes. This is Bhutan. With clean air, mountains […]

Lock, stock and one red hot smoking Barrow: On tour with RB

We are a strange trio; one international blogging star, Richard Barrow in his Amazing Thailand corporate wear, one 195cms ex British policeman (my publisher) and one Little Wandering Wren whose been plucked from her Thailand holiday nest in Krabi. Although to be fair between us we probably hit most of the expat demographics except perhaps […]

My new mattress and topper

Moving home? I have recently moved from a 5 bedroom house on 3 storeys in Bangkok to a much smaller condo on the fourth floor of a condominium in Hua Hin. Was it worthwhile trying to manouvere the quality king sized mattress down the stairs and then onto the fourth floor of the condominium – […]

A Mediterranean postcard from Bali

It is easy to feel like you are at the Mediterranean or on some back small coastal road in Hawaii while cruising around Uluwatu, the southern surf town on Bali. These days, as we all make decisions where we want to be based if one cannot travel, I have decided to ease my small Ubud […]

Nam Pha Pa Yai: A climber’s paradise

About two hours away from Bangkok there is the small town of Kaeng Khoi, off of Highway 2. Just on the edge of the town is one of those small roads that weaves through the countryside full of dogs and of old men puttering along on scooters that should have ended up in a junk […]

Descent into Nam Baw Pi

It took me three trips to Mae Hong Son to get to the bottom of the sinkhole. The first trip was just reconnaissance. I bought 120m of brand new rope on the second trip, but after throwing it in, very quickly realised that we needed more rope to reach the bottom. You don’t plan an […]

What would an alien think

Periodisation training! What is it? For non-athletes or athletes who haven’t done much research on different training styles, it is a method of training to try and improve your performance above and beyond what is possible with over simplified repetition.   You can go to war with yourself, sure. You can do this in any session, […]

The joys of Chiang Mai

The year 2020 which ushered in the horrific Covid-19 pandemic has been a traumatic one for all of us. Having been cooped up in Bangkok for the last eight months, I was getting itchy feet and ready to travel. The invitation from the Thailand Incentive and Convention Association (TICA) to visit Chiang Mai in November […]

Travelling throughout Colombia in the times of Covid

One of the most popular Ambassadorial couples to have served their country in Thailand over recent years were Andelfo and Astrid Garcia from Colombia. They were here for more than six years but touched the heart of many with their warm embrace, exciting and convivial company. Expat Life caught up with them back in the […]

The spirit of Nepal

Nepal is a place associated with the distant and the incredible. I’ve always wanted to return to this mysterious country if not for this pandemic which made it impossible to travel. I can still remember the thousands of visitors who savour the spirit of Nepal each year going home laden with things considered “Nepalese” – religious […]