Lahu (Lahu Na, Black Lahu) tribe from a Burmese handpainted color manuscript (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

English: Mountains in Mae Hong Son Province, Thailand. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

With Paula & Leo, plus a local guide with a sharp machete, we completed a wonderful 15 Km trek in the mountains. The Mai Hong Song Province is one of Thailand‘s most rugged, mountainous regions, close to the border with Burma, with many traditional ethnic villages.

Firstly, let’s bring you up to date – we spent two delightful nights chilling in Pai. We left Pai (see photos) on the main Mai Hong Son (MHS) road and took special care that we were travelling in the right direction (see earlier blog for fun on the MHS loop). Anyway, we spent the next two nights in a quirky resort overlooking the river…

Marilyn & Alf relaxing, Matai Bay, Doubtless Bay, NZ

The Pacific Ocean viewed from Cape Reinga Lighthouse, northerly tip of NZ

Distances from Cape Reinga Lighthouse, northern tip of NZ

Whirlpools mark where dark blue of Pacific meets light green of Tasman Sea Cape Reinga NZ

Cape Reigna NZ Meeting Point of Oceans and one of Maori people’s most holy sites

Cape Reinga Lighthouse most northerly tip of NZ

Seabird having lunch, ignoring us on Matui Bay, NZ

Matui Bay, ours for two hours then we met a couple from Essex, UK who took some photos of us

Stunning hill-top view of Mangonui, Doubtless Bay, NZ

After ‘Six splendid days relaxing at the Bay of Islands‘, we took the delightful coastal route north for an hour and a half to Doubtless Bay, another area of outstanding natural beauty, with its huge rocks and small uninhabited islands…