I have been travelling in Thailand a while now and of all the places I have been this is the winner by far. Thailand is a friendly country but Chiang Mai is in a different league. The people are great and just hanging around the city is a lot of fun.

It is far less busy and polluted than Bangkok and much less commercial than Phuket and the islands.

There is tons to do. I have been trekking, done a cookery course, had loads of massages and spa treatments and the food is terrific. A wide variety of choice and at ridiculous prices.
Brilliant all round so my tip is go to Chiang Mai!

embracechiangmai.com/

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It’s hands-on during the informal cooking workshop in a Bo-Kaap family home that follows a culinary walk through Cape Town's colourful Muslim quarter.

You will learn how to mix masala, fold samosas, and how to balance the delicate flavours of a Cape Malay curry. Real fun!

www.andulela.com/english/malay_cooking_workshop.html

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This wonderful restaurant and hotel is a big old house where they source the food locally with fish from Ballycotton, superb beef from Cloyne, vegetables from their own gardens and cheese from local indepedent cheesemakers. If you have the time do visit Ballymaloe Cookery School. Their cookbook is well worth buying.

Ballymaloe House and Ballymaloe Cookery School, Shanagarry, Midleton, Co Cork.
Tel: +353 (0) 21 464 6785.
www.ballymaloe.ie
Ballymaloe is about 20 miles east of Cork.

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"The Thai cafe" is what we affectionately call this treasure. Once a kitchen with communal tables in a Thai food shop, it has now moved two doors away, leaving more room for diners. The food is exquisitely fresh and beautifully presented, and the service is excellent. Watch your order cooking — the kitchen is visible from the restaurant — and learn how to cook it yourself: the chef gives lessons. A friend who moved to Spain daydreams about how her order might be flown to Granada. I dream of the hot sour soup with mushrooms, and the prawns and long beans in oyster sauce.

320 Upper Richmond Road, SW15
Tel: 020 8789 8084

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