I am back in Chiang Mai. After a nice rest in Mai Hong Son, I got the Air-Co (ohhh fancy...) bus to Mae Sariang. Never heard of Mae Sariang? Well neither have a lot of tourists. It has definitely been the most tourist free city I have been in. This is good and bad... On the good side I became really good friends with the guesthouse owner. I had many a cups of tea with her. She did get slightly upset when I added sugar to my tea (apparently THAI tea should be taken without sugar), but I think she got over it. On the down side... there is not much to do at all. In the morning some girls I have been travelling with and I took the bus to Chiang Mai. We were all prepared to pay the extra $2 for the air-co bus again, but the Thai Transportation Industry decided that today there will be no air-co buses. The fan bus took about 5 hours, and was quite an experience. Oh well.. $2 saved.
Now I am organizing my trip to Laos. There are some agencies here which arrange the trip for you... but after talking to a few of them I have decided to do it independently. If you go through the agency you are stuck on their schedule and staying at their guesthouses, and of course they want the money up front. I don't think soo... To many potentials for a nightmare trip. Tomorrow I will go to the public bus station and buy a ticket for Chaing Rai and then to chiang khong. Depending on the time... either spend the night in Thailand or cross immediately to Laos. Then the next day jump on a slow boat down the Mekong. Slow boat takes about 6 hours to Pakbeng (city in between boarder crossing and Luang Prabang - my destination)!! I will spend the night there and then maybe take a speed boat into Luang Prabang. Now those speed boats give you lift vests and helmets... hum.. there must be a reason why... Boating with a helmet will be something new for me.
For those of you who read the news about the tourists getting killed by a flash flood.. it is terrible. That happened all the way in the south by the nice beaches. Hopefully we will have none of that on the Mekong.
Tonight's plans - catch a movie in a theater with massage chairs!! Oh - it is ALL about the massage here.
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10 comments:
You are on the go-go girl! I love your adventurous stories, but floods.....brrrr. Stay away from them. Quite an interesting way of traveling: slow boat-speed boat. Wonder if you see a great difference between Thailand and Lao: food, people, attitude towards Americans. Well, you got some other nationalities you can take out of your hat. Enjoy the ride and stay on the safe side of the river.
Lots of love, your ma-ma
This is great finding these out of the way spots.
I thought the Thai people were great. I'm sure you will find that in Laos. Go slow, you seem to be finding that fast is not always the best.
It does sound like you are having fun.
jim
hey mon,
when you going from Thailand to Laos, keep your eyes out for this guy. http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/16/childsex.suspect/index.html
he is over that way.
love you and good travels!
i dont think the whole link went through. here it is again: http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/16/childsex.suspect/index.html
here it is bbc style:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7047308.stm
creepy
The icecream survived my bike trip to Publix. Had to ride fast hom otherwise icecream drippings! You got me hooked on PolarBear icecream sandwiches, oh well only 100 ca., but 2 makes 200 cal.!!!
Your bro Grant wrote a funny comment on Pai in the Sky. And Bird walked on flip flap trough near freezing temp. in Utrecht...
Love folllowing your trip on that map, great idea. Are we there yet???
Love, your mom who is in the progress of making REAL Thai soup in honor of YOU!
sorry i got you so worried in my last post. but do not fret, im here with the update. it looks like he was on his way to visit you, but they caught him just before:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7052065.stm
Now, you can rest easy that a guy who likes little boys is no longer in your midst and possibly coming your direction. and now you can hire yourself a little boy to carry your bags. isnt that part of the world all about the service industry?
i wish holland was all about the massages...
I know you are out there now. This many days and no report. Probably in a village with less tourists than the one before where you thought there were no tourists.
Probably short of rooms with a/c as well.
I wish I was there.
jim
Hey Moni-Boni,
on an early sunday morning a quick Hey from me. Life OK among them foreigners? Wonder if you notice american infiltration like McD., DuncanD, KFC, and....Starbucky. Bet the tea is allright over there. All ok here.Still warm(90)and sunny. How about the weather in Lao. As a true dutchman you forget to complain about that love!
Enjoy the Noodles and stay side of the open air market.
Heaps of love from your MA
Hey-yo, sounds pretty good over thar Hannah. Should be nice taking a boat ride instead of those fancy air-co coach buses they got. I hope your are eating plenty of pad thai - can't ever have too much of that stuff! Keep having fun, ride an elephant for me!
Hey-yo, sounds pretty good over thar Hannah. Should be nice taking a boat ride instead of those fancy air-co coach buses they got. I hope your are eating plenty of pad thai - can't ever have too much of that stuff! Keep having fun, ride an elephant for me!
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