In Thailand (and in all Buddhist countries) it is customary to take off your shoes before you enter someone’s house. I can understand the rationale with this custom, as shoes can bring in dirt, mud and lots of muck into the house.

At many Thai guesthouses, this particular custom can create a lot of havoc. Most people – both Thaïs and western tourists – more commonly known as farangs - will often haphazardly drop their shoes right in front of the entrance. It can be somewhat treacherous to navigate through the sea of shoes when entering the guesthouse especially at night. Someone could easily trip and have an accident.

Wouldn’t it be a lot better, if the management of the guesthouse had a sign at the entrance, urging guests to place their shoes in am orderly fashion to the sides of the entrance? I have even seen some establishments, notably some upscale Thai restaurants like Whole Earth in Chiang Mai that have shoe racks. I wish all guesthouses would adopt this system.

Funny thing, at the guesthouse that I am staying at in Nan – Nan Guesthouse - the collection of shoes got way out of control. In the morning when I woke up, I observed that one of the ladies who works here used her head and carefully placed all shoes to the side of the doorway – she even took the initiative to match all shoes up, bless her heart! When I check out, I will have to give her a nice tip!

LOCATION - Located about 700Km from Bangkok, Nan is one of the most remote provinces in Northern Thailand. By bus, it takes 9 hours from Bangkok and 5 hours from Chiang Mai. The best way to get there is to fly on PB Air (there is service 4 times per week). The one-hour flight costs approximately 100USD

GUESTHOUSES - Many of the Europeans and American Tourists (as well as the backpacker crowd) stay at any number of guesthouses in the area. I booked in advance at SP Guesthouse, one of the newer Guesthouses in town. Located just ½ block from the main drag and about 300 meters from the Dhevaraj Hotel, my room was large and clean and came with a portable fan, mini fridge and small TV. Cost of the room was 400 baht (about $11.50USD) No complaints here! At the time I was there, (late November 2008), they were in the process of adding additional rooms. Yai, the manager at SP was quite a character. Of Indian extraction and a Hindi, Yai (in Thai, Yai means big) is originally from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She relocated to Nan, Thailand sometime ago after meeting her husband there.

COFFEE SHOPS – Coffee shops (and cafés) are a popular gathering/meeting place for tourists. Nan is no exception - although there were no Starbucks in Nan (thank G_d), I counted three coffee shops. One is a small outdoors affair located next to the tourist center and across the street from the museum; the largest one is in the downtown area not far from the Dhevaraj Hotel, however the one I liked the best was around the corner from the bus terminal. Popular with the tourists and the young hip University crowd alike, the café (cannot remember the name) had a very warm and colorful décor. Owned by a young Thai couple, the guy was a bicycle enthusiast who also owned a large motorcoach which he used for transporting tour groups – mostly Thai Nationals and Chinese – from Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

THAI HIBACHI FACTORY - Most of the tours will take you to the kiln factory. Located on the outskirts of town, this is where they make portable Thai style hibachis - it is very labour intensive process as it takes about 1 month before the product is finished and ready to be sold. A lot of Thai people in the area use these portable stoves, as it is a very inexpensive alternative to a regular gas or electric stove.

MLABRI VILLAGE - A visit to a Mlabri village is one of the featured attractions of many of the day tours. The Mlabri, primitive hunters-gatherers, are mountain people - from what I have seen they are perhaps the poorest ethnic group in Thailand. The adults for the most part do not speak Thai, but the Thai government is making an effort to integrate the children into the modern world and Thai society. Mlabri children go to school with children from other hilltribe groups in the area, learning Thai language and ways of the west. I had the opportunity to meet the Mlabri chief of the village. A rather fit fellow – lean and mean - he was wearing just a simple loincloth to cover his genitals and nothing else. However, this is the traditional apparel of Mlabri men; in addition, men are encouraged to take more than one wife in Mlabri society. Before leaving the village, I made a donation of about 100 baht to the community.