Northern Thailand and into Laos

Hello again dear reader,
Forgot to mention a very interesting conversation we had as we were walking along on Thursday. Brent was asking Dat about how old people were looked after in the villages and this lead to Dat asking about what happened at home. We said how as a nation we felt we were not very good at this and talked about old people's homes etc. Dat was clearly horrified by this. He explained that your parents spend years looking after you and then, it's your turn to look after them as they get older. He just couldn't understand why this didn't happen at home. I explained about young people moving out of their parent's home when they studied or got married, but he still didn't understand. Have to say we were humbled by his approach and the young people with us were all very quiet...actually none of them commented! Food for thought eh?

Saturday May 2nd
Well we had a nice night last night to finish off our trek: we met up with everyone near to the night market and enjoyed a nice meal with everyone. We got through a fair bit of ale...especially Ben and Jenny tee hee! and were the last to leave the restaurant. Ben wanted to catch the end of a thai boxing contest and Nicola and Karen headed off with him, while the rest of us headed back for a good night's sleep. I'd been very sad to pick up the news that my aunie Marie had died and have to say I really felt a long way from home tonight. I kept thinking of her during the night and didnt sleep well: I really wanted to catch up with my sisters!

This morning we had a lay in and got some organizing done, before wandering down to explore a different part of town: the riverside. This was very pleasant and we saw some lively looking bars and a restaurant that had been recommended by Nicola. On the way back we decided we were hungry and stopped for a snack, which proved to be a full meal! We stopped at a little cafe just around the corner from Eagle house, where we are staying: we were met by a lovely local lady and ordered a soup and a stir fry meal, both of which turned out to be huge and lovely and very filling. With 2 beers the bill came to under £3...wish we'd found this earlier. After leaving the cafe we struck up a conversation with some newly arrived travellers, who turned out to be a portuguese guy and a Spanish girl and both very lovely! I was very pleased to be able to get on line at an internet cafe and to catch up with Jan and Barb. Just speaking to them made me feel better and tonight I'm able to focus on remembering all the good times we had with auntie.

Sunday 3rd May
I spoke to Shirl today, which was good and I'm also catching Gaz and Steph on facebook, so that's good. Simon also caught up with us, which is great. We decided to visit one of the famous Chiang Mai temples today and used a taxi to get up to it. We were going to be charged 40 baht for the single journey and 80 for the return. We were worried that the driver might disappear with our money, so I suggested that we pay half on arrival. Were we surprised when she just waved us off without any payment after asking how long we wanted!!

Wat Doi Suthep is at the top of a hill and there were great views of the city on the way up to it. There were also lots of locals out and about visiting the zoo, botanical gardens and other temples on our route. When we got to the temple we were pleasantly surprised to see the Spanish speaking couple from yesterday at the base of the staircase leading to the temple. We had a nice chat with them. They had enjoyed the previous evening which they'd spent at the riverside ( we had been too knackered to go back there!!). There were lots of stalls at the base of the staircase and it was very busy. The actual temple was very ornate, to the point of being gaudiesque. Queues of followers waited to pour oil into bowls to keep lighted oil burners alight, others offered flowers to the various Buddhas, others walked around the golden towers with loads of flowers to offer... all very interesting and a bit overwhelming. It was lovely to discover an open area, where first of all we saw the traditional row of bells, then some beautiful trees with great views. We sat here and had a drink before venturing back down where we decided to buy a few bits and bobs from the traders. As soon as we reached the bottom of the staircase our driver spotted us and drove us back. The Thai people really restore your faith in people. After a quick break at the guest house we wandered down to the night market, which once again we found a bit overwhelming: we did spot our Spanish speaking friends from afar, but quickly gave up the search for shorts etc and settled into an Italian restaurant, which served reasonable pizza and pasta... a nice change. We also picked up a box from the post office, ready to post off our sleeping bags, bedrolls etc. Then wandered down to the saloon bar to watch some footie on TV. Here we got chatting to a very interesting guy, who bought us a drink...I drank G&Ts tonight as a change from the beer. He had family in England, but had lived all over the place. Canada seemed to be his home but his daughter lives in Switzerland. He was no longer with his wife and actually, despite being very wealthy, didn't seem too happy. He'd made his money as a trouble shooter in the Nuclear energy business and was now retired. He enjoyed the adrenalin rush and had done all sorts of things. He was a qualified dive instructor and had run a business in Hawaii doing this. He had also been a very competent skier.

Monday May 4th
Our last day in Chiang Mai . We got up and finished our packing before heading to the bus station, where we picked up a bus to Chiang Rai. This proved to be very comfortable. We were given a drink of water and wafer biscuits by the 'bus hostess' who was lovely. The bus had air con and the 3 hour journey flew past. Suddenly the bus stopped and we realised we were there! As we were climbing off the bus we were assailed by tuk tuk and taxi drivers wanting to drive us into chiang Rai. Brent was very impressive: he shook them all off and went to ask at the info desk, only to discover that for 10baht we could get a taxi /bus into the city. We did this and then walked along to find the guest house which we'd booked on line. On the way we stopped in a wonderful air conditioned cafe...recommened in the Rough Guide, called ....... We then found the Chat House. Have to say I did think it would have been easier to get a taxi...they are so cheap and it's so hot! Still when we got there we were chuffed with the room: it was a lot more comfortable that Eagle House with air con that worked and a lovely communal area, which was quite busy. After settling in we walked up to the night market. Unfortunately as we arrived I was desperate for the loo, so we decided we'd have to have a beer in the bar / restaurant opposite the night bazaar. The Ayes bar proved to be a good find, and we stayed there and ate another lovely meal, which set us up for a stroll through the night market. This was much more civilised than chaing Mai's market, with fewer people and a stage with live music. I bought a gypsy style skirt, which I'm very pleased with for £4.

Tuesday 5th April
Today we explored the nearby temple of the Emerald Buddha, which was very lovely. After we'd explored the museum there we sat outside on a bench to cool down and one of the buddhist priests came along and offered us some Lychees, picked freshly... they were gorgeous! Visiting the temples certainly made us reflect on religion and its importance to people the world over: I (Linda) had naively thought that Buddhism was more a way of life than a religion, but having seen so many people worshipping the buddhas in the temples, as well as all the ritual aspects of the religion, I have realised that it is very like all other religions I'm familiar with... and it seems that many humans need to have something to look up to.

We then continued to the tribal village museum, attached to the Cabbages and Condom restaurant ( also in the Rough Guide1). This had 2 lifesize models – Santa and Captain Condom, made totally out of condoms!! Looked like it could be a fun place to th eat in the evenings, with live music, but we were too tired to walk all that way again! We chose to eat at our guest house and very nice it was too.

Wednesday 6th May
Walked down to the bus station and were speedily directed to the Chiang Khong bus. We had a bit of time, so Brent popped out for provisions. This bus wasnt air conditioned but had lots of fans and open windows, so was fine. When we reached our destination after about 3 hours we were immediately approacched by a tuk tuk driver, who explained that the town was actually 2k away. We took him at his word and he drove us to our next guest house. We'd hoped to stay at the bamboo riverside guest house, which Toe back in France had mentioned. It turned out to have closed down, so we used the Baan Tam Mi La instead. On arrival we were shown a list of prices. The room with aircon at 600 baht, seemed a bit expensive I£12) but we went to have a look at it and it was lovely, so we stayed. There was a hammock out on the veranda, a view of the river and a large bathroom with a good shower, as well as a king size very comfy bed and Tv ( mostly in Thai). After settling in we had a wander as usual, but this time with a purpose: we wanted to find Mr Jib and his wife Doe, Toe's friends. We were chuffed when we asked our host about them as she immediately knew who we meant. It turned out that they now run a coffee shop just 2 doors away. We introduced ourselves to Doe, who was thrilled to hear about Toe. Apparently she and her husband visited Toe and his family in Vias some time ago so we were able to talk about the village.. This couple explained that they had given up the guest house at the right time, before recession hit. They said that there had been fewer travellers this year and they were cleaarly just beginning to get established in their new business. Mr Jib arrived, a hippy looking cool guy on his scooter. He made us laugh talking about the French and their baguettes! After a very good coffee, smoothie and piece of home made banana cake, we left this lovely couple. We told them we'd see them tomorrow to buy provisions for our trip down the Mekong. We then walked down to the immigration area and sussed out how the system worked ready for tomorrow's journey. We enjoyed a stroll back along the riverside, where a huge path / cycle way is looking a bit the worse for wear, but which had some lovey views of the river. Back at the guest house we had quite a nice meal befoe getting an early night.

Thursday 7th...Happy 40th birthday Steve!!!
Up and out before 8am, We had scrambled eggs at the guest house and picked up sandwiches and cake from Mrs Jib. Whille Brent, who was panicking as usual on trnasit days, went off in search of more baht, Mr Jib gave me some sound advice re. the slow boad: he said it was cheapest to make our own way to the pier in Houxxai in Laos, to pick up the slow boat. Also suggested we sit near the front of the boat, in case of rain. What a nice couple! We said our goodbyes and headed off on the next stage of our adventure!

Despite the long queues at immigration we managed to get the ferry across into Laos with plenty of time . The vendors of all inclusive tickets for tuk tuks and the boat seemed disappointed when we waved them off but we took the given advice and made our own way to the pier. We were nice and early on to the ferry and it was almost an hour later that the huge crowd joined us on the boat... we'd saved a few baht too...always a good thing! Now here we are on the Mekong... we've just had a game of quiddler with a Canadian guy and US girl sittig behind us...that was fun. There's a clear blue sky above and a pleasant breeze blowing and we can't quite believe we are here...fantastic