Francis Peppett Photography

After a day of hiking, we arrive in a small village nestled deep in Chiang Rai province. Whilst we wait for dinner to be cooked over an open fire, we play football with a couple of kids outside our homestay. After showing me his pet cockerel, one of the boys takes a rest as the sun sets behind him.

After a day of hiking through thick forest, we decide to scooter up to the top Kong Mu hill, where the Wat Phra That Doi Kong Mu temple looks over the town. Monks are busy tidying, sweeping and lighting incense as the sun sets behind the Buddhist temple. A short walk away, a biker pulls up to view the burning twilight sky.

A cat lazes on the back of a scooter, whilst we search Chiang Mai's back streets for some breakfast on our first day in this northern city. The pace of life is more sedate here, helped by its milder climate and absence of mega skyscrapers and vast concrete structures.

As we tucked into some Laab Muang, in a small roadside eatery in Bangkok's Bang Krachao district, we strike up conversation with Tisha, the chef and owners granddaughter. Having just come home from school, Tisha treated us to a speedy Thai language lesson and showed us her sketches of the local cats and dogs. Before we got back on our bikes, her grandmother insisted we took a photo to show off her make-up and stick-on jewels.

After a sleepy morning in Sri Raya, the islands old town, we venture out onto it's pier to catch a boat to neighbouring islands to swim and snorkel. Koh Lanta is a beautiful, in parts wild island. It's inhabitants are predominantly Malay Muslims, yet it is also home to sea-faring gypsies and ethnic Chinese maritime traders.

Once the principal method of trade and exchange, Bangkok's floating markets are now primarily tourist attractions for domestic and international tourists. Among them, Khlong Lat Mayom stands out as a smaller, more intimate market. A short boat trip along its nearby waterways reveals hidden pockets where traditional trading still thrives. This lady briefly docks to exchange goods with some local ladies, before puttering upstream into a hazy canopy of coconut plantations.

In Thailand's northwest corner, close to the border with Burma, Mae Hong Son is a small outpost, nestled in sprawling hills and untouched forest. After an 8 hour, lurching and hair-raising minibus journey via sweeping mountainous roads, we arrive to our guest house after dark. We venture to the towns small lakeside food market for some noodles and beer, spotting these boys arm-in-arm, strutting down the central promenade.

We spend two gruelling days hiking in the forests and hills of Chiang Rai province in Northern Thailand. Our guide is Tse, a local farmer who also leads hikes out into wilderness. He cooks us delicious meals on the go, whittling bamboo, starting campfires and cooking with lots of chillies and galangal. Our last night is spent drinking moonshine whisky with Tse, his farmer friend and dog. After several cups of the cloudy whisky, we sleep on musty mats in a rudimentary bamboo hut, overlooking a beautiful hillside farm.

We head to Mae Hong Son's market for breakfast, and eat a Shan speciality - Deep fried tofu in a creamy, garlicy soup, with chillies of course. Sitting at the vendors market table, watching her chop chillies and slice soft tofu, we peer through stalls to the street outside.

Meandering through a warren of residential backstreets, we reach a few unassuming houses aside the Chao Phraya river. After a few enquiring shouts along a line of helpful locals, a boatman puttered towards us to take us across to Bang Krachao. Aptly nicknamed 'green lung', it is a leafy enclave of small villages, temples and hospitable locals, and also a perfect antidote to the intensity of Bangkok metropolis.

As the sun sets over Chiang Mai's old city, a monk strolls along Arak Road. There are over 300 temples in Chiang Mai province, meaning thousands of monks call the city their home.

The humid, sweltering heat of South East Asia is felt acutely in Bangkok. City rambles reduce down to short jaunts between cafes with sweet iced coffee and AC. Whilst snooping around an art gallery, a woman walks past it's illuminated entranceway.

Bangkok. A colossal, heady megapolis. Nestled within neon haze and piercing skyscrapers, its China Town is a pulsating, fragrant labyrinth of food, history and street vendors.

A grandpa and granddaughter drop in to pick up some lunch at a roadside noodle joint, before pootling off down one of the small alleys on Kho Kret island. Situated in north Bangkok, this unhurried neighbourhood of houses, small plantations and temples is home to Mon people, originally from Southern Burma.