Boat to Chiang Rai and I made it to Laos!

Taking boat from Taton to Chiang Rai turned out to be a pleasant way to travel. Twelve person boat, with all our stuff loaded to the front of the boat. We were sitting on the floor, getting all cosy. It got rather adventures when we hit the rapids and what felt like buckets full of water splashed over the edge at us. Just like rafting. ! Passing fisherman, kids swimming and later elephants taking tourists on the river ride.

Chiang Rai won  as my least favorite town in Thailand. To compare to Chiang Mai... Chiang Mai has the old town, Chian Rai has.... prostitutes at the bars, overpriced restaurants and not too exciting night market. My favorite... Boots cosmetic store..... I spend hour looking, smelling and testing... and I really needed that new nail polish! Especially since it was buy one get one free.

Border crossing and Laos
Four hours on the bus and we came to little village at the border.  I got my passport stamped out from Thailand and got on the boat to take me across the Megkong river to Laos. Some paperwork on the Laos side and I have new visa in my passport ( little collection by now).
Huay Xai is less than mile away from Thailand, but I am noticing the differences in architecture right away.
Food is about the same price, beer is $1. I found a room in hotel in original colonial building, with balcony with river views. That all for $8.
I stopped at the ATM, and now I am a millionaire ( ok, got out $100). I watched sunset from the temple on the top of the hill. Some kids-monks were hanging out there too, posing for my pictures as the almost full moon shone above the temple.

Laos is on the other side of the river

People import all sorts of things from Thailand..

View of Mekong river...

I am excited to start exploring Laos. Laos is one of the 20 poorest countries in the world, it will be interesting to be comparing the life here with the life in Thailand and Burma.

Pai the turist trap and Cave Loadge the jungle adventure

Pai is a little very touristy town 4 hours drive from Chiang Mai. The ride is an adventure on its own with it's 726 sharps turns. Finally , there are mountains and jungle around.
Pai is what it is ... touristy little place with restaurants, bars and bamboo huts to make all the tourists feel adventurous, unfortunately not much of a Thai feel.

I took a lesson in Scooter riding in preparation for my Southeast Asia adventure. It went good and I rented a scooter for the day to did a loop around the area, visiting hot springs and waterfalls ( not too special). I got to feel the breeze in my hair and enjoyed the ride.

So far, Tahiland is more touristy than any of the places I visited so far and I was reading the little print in Lonely Planet to find a place of the beaten track ( more like beaten freeway so far). So I got on the bus to Soppong. Only an hour from Pai, this place is it! Authentic Thai experience. I am staying in Cave Lodge, wooden bungalows  set in the green mountains, near river with caves and tribe villages in a walking distance, you can hear the gibbons in the morning and there are snakes and spiders and lizards here too. And only few tourists! This is the place... the travelers paradise! How happy I was to leave all the drunks behind in Pai.

Just following the map from the lodge I visited local Karan Village, good 10 km hike up the hill.

There is a huge cave near by I went to see yesterday, taking the bamboo raft through it. We came back in the evening to see thousands and thousands of Swifts coming back to the cave for the night. Amazing! So many of them, so much noise. 

The "little dots" are birds..

Today is a much needed chill day. I have a cold. It is a good place here to just read my Lonely Planet, planing my next move and chat with the fellow travelers.

Cave Lodge
What an awesome place. So peaceful, set up in the hills. I liked hearing the birds and the gibbons in the morning. I stayed for 4 nights, there is no rush to go somewhere else, when you find place like this.
I hiked to the Karan village with my friends one more time. The 6km of steep hill up and down was much more fun with a good company. We bought more weaved products, feeling good about buying directly from woman who made it. Jess bought a blanket for $25 and we were estimating how long could it take to make, weeks?

This village gets only few tourists there, unlike some other places that the trekking companies take you to, turning the villages into human Zoos. It was different when walking around alone, smiling, saying hi and watching locals who were curiously watching us too.
We took the river trail back, following the river back to our village. It was bit of a bush-whacking, and lot's of river crossings.

I headed back to Chiang Mai for one night. Little more shopping and street food eating.

It is good to keep the spirits happy...
Fanta should do it!

I had a lovely breakfast for the base for the antimalarics that I am starting today. The main side effects are that they can be harsh on your stomach and that you could get sensitive to the sun  (getting sun-burn blisters and rush!). Let's hope I will not get either....
I took a local bus to Taton, little village 4 hours north. I am getting good at staying off the beaten track. There are only handful of tourists in the town. I was enjoying the river views, the lush green hills and the Buddhas set in the hills overlooking the village.

Garlic from the local farm.

Options

I am only staying one night, taking the slow boat to Chiang Rai.

Thailand

Thailand
Bangkok, something old and something new.
I spend few days in Bangkok, actually enjoying the busy, modern town that has all the touristy comforts you can think of. Restaurants, bars, shops and massages, unbelievably clean trains and metro with AC that makes getting around town so easy.
 We went to visit the Royal Palace and braved the heat and the crowds of tourists. We only lasted for little over and hour, taking long taxi ride back to our artsy hostel on the other side of the town. I was sharing a room with friends who I met in Burma.
I visited  the Siam Paragon shopping mall the next day, enjoying the AC and people watching. I could not resist to buy cheese and freshly baked bread from local gourmet food shop, it has been so long since I had good European cheese.

Chiang Mai, place of the markets ... ( nights, Saturday and Sunday)
I took a overnight bus to Chiang Mai, North Thailand . It was just in time for the  Chinese New Year. I like this little town, with it's markets, restaurants and massage parlors everywhere.  I feel like being on vacation. Bicycling around, eating delicious food and I even gave myself a day at the pool.

I've got amazing massage yesterday... hour for $8,50....
Today was all about Thai cooking class. I went to a farm to learn to cook some of my favorite Thai meals. Green curry, pat Thai, coconut soup with chicken, papaya salad and the best ever desert... sticky rise with mango. I didn't burn anything or myself and it all tasted soooo good. Can't wait to have dinner parties now!
I am staying one more day. Tomorrow will be all about pool and evening body scrub and massage. Oh... I just love this life!

It is all about the food in Thailand....

Bugs anyone?

Better give the dragon some money...

The best Tom Kha.... ever

I will be leaving day after tomorrow to go up north to smaller towns, maybe staying in he jungle for few days, with hopefully less tourists. From there I will take boat on Mekong river to cross the border to Laos. I am all excited to be starting a new adventure, now when I am all relaxed and rested.