The previous night had been spent in the hostel garden with a chap called Rick experimenting with the effects of a bottle of SangSom ‘Thai Whisky’ on the brain and body. Rick had been travelling for seven years and had collected enough tales in that time to merit a second bottle and – once the shops had shut – a visit to the hostel bar.

Despite the hostel owners kindly rescheduling our morning trip to a tea plantation and a rose centre to the afternoon I was still slightly drunk when our guide picked up the biggest bug I had ever seen. This photo is an accurate representation of how I saw the creature at the time while these ones looked a bit blurred.