This is where I am staying. A bamboo hut amid rice paddies in the countryside of northern Thailand just outside of Chiang Mai. After the relentless pace of city life and the commotion of travel I was looking for a touch of tranquility, a place to retreat to for a few days, somewhere to rest and recharge. This is such a place.

It’s no luxury spa resort for sure, but for less that £7 ($11 US) a night (including breakfast) it is astonishingly good value. It has power, and warm shower, and even wifi internet, but is otherwise a simple little place that basks in the serenity of of its surroundings.

In the day you hear the occasional cow or rooster call, and at night the air is filled with the sounds of crickets, cicadas, geckoes, birds, frogs, toads, and who knows what else. The funny thing is that back in the UK I had a CD of this sound that I would sometimes put on when I went to bed so that I could fall asleep imagining I was in a bamboo hut somewhere warm and tropical.