Thailand's cultural and social roots are firmly set in the countryside, in fact, when Mahatma Gandhi said of his home country "... the real India is in the villages". He could just as easily have been referring to Thailand, a country whose political and cultural birth was in the "million rice fields" of the ancient Lanna Thai Kingdom.

Set amidst emerald-green rice fields and lush orchards, Khum Lanna gives you a luxurious home-stay experience combined with a cooking school specialising in traditional Northern Thai cuisine. A celebration of heritage, food and lifestyle, the Culinary & Wellness programme combines cultural exchanges with local communities with Thai cooking classes, herbal steam baths and massages.

Kanchanaburi is Thailand's third largest province lying 130-kilometres west and a comfortable 2-hour drive from Bangkok. The Province is rich in rainforest, lakes, rivers and wildlife, as well as ethnic minority people, and makes for some scenic as well as challenging biking.

The best of Thailand's dive sites lie in the Andaman Sea between Phuket in the south and the Burmese border in the north, and are best accessed by liveaboard dive safari between the months of November and May.