2016 2016

The hardest thing about visiting Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is to see how so many locals struggle. They work harder and longer hours than any people I’ve come across anywhere in the world but have very little to show for it. A full time job can pay as little as $200 monthly! Luckily as a foreigner who can earn a lot more than that where I to go back to work, I’m in a position to make someone’s day from time to time.

The Republic of Pridnestrovie or Transnistra, as it's known in English, is an unrecognized country straddling the Dniester river sandwiched between Moldova and Ukraine. The country declared independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. However Moldova did not take kindly to this and a war ensue. I visited this capital with the communist hammer and sickle in its national flag as it's one of a handful of post-Soviet unresolved land disputes. The country was much less corrupt than I expected and I really enjoyed swimming in the Dniester river, visiting the 14th century fort in Bender, meeting the locals and the general Soviet aura that looms large over the place. See that and more in the film.

Day 2 of my month long tour of Thailand by motorbike. I set out from Nakhon Sawan, drive through Kamphaeng Phet and see some amazing old Buddha ruins before heading for Sukothai. After several pitstops at PTT gas-stations (they're #1), a couple of dead python snakes and a few wrong turns which sent me through Ramkhanheng national park I arrive at Thailand's ancient capital Sukothai. I find a hotel, eat my favorite Thai dish, grab some supplies at 7/11 before I head for the amazing ruins of the old city (or Muang gao as the city is called in Thai). Renting a bicycle is the best way to cover the most amount of ground in the shortest amount for time here. One bicycle costs 30 baht for the whole day! Entrance to the main site with the highest number of ruins cost 100 baht. There's also a second site i highly recommend visiting about 1km from the old city. There entrance also cost 100 baht. I chose to stay at a hotel next to the ruins in Sukothai's old town.

Day 3 of my month long tour of Thailand by motorbike. I head West from Sukothai towards Mae Sot on the Burmese border. From there i head North along the border and encounter a camp with refugees from Myanmar on the road to Mae Sariang. After surviving the ride up and down the mountain in a heavy thunderstorm I go hunting for a gas station. Turns out there are none and I head in to a Thai village to hunt for gasoline. What I find is the coolest gas station ever!

Day 5 of my month long tour of Thailand by motorbike. I head out from Mae Hong Son on the hunt for a hidden village of long neck hilltribe people on the Burmese border. The long neck people are refugees who fled Myanmar in 1992. They're not allowed to work legally in Thailand but survive selling their handicrafts in their own village market. This I had to see. Se what the long neck women are like and the amazing nature that surrounds their village in the mountains of Northern Thailand. Driving through the Thai jungle past picturesque ricefields on a motorbike crossing rivers was an event in and of itself.

Day 6 of my month long tour of Thailand by motorbike. I drive on top of one of Thailand's highest mountains on the outskirt of Pai. As I get caught in the rain once again coming down from the mountain I find a hotel in Pai city. I change my clothes and drive through some amazing Thai villages and rice fields to a waterfall where I 'fall' in love with more than just the river.

Day 7 of my month long tour of Thailand by motorbike. I leave Pai for the outskirts of Chiang Mai where I encounter some very nice ladies selling chicken. They watch my motorbike and I go exploring the Chiang Mai jungle. Chiang Mai's greatest secret is not within the city itself but outside. Find out more in this weeks' episode.