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Published: February 22nd 2006
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Field Trip
A monk at Wat Phra Sigha in Chaing Mai tries to corral a group of schoolchildren After the relaxation of Ko Pha-Ngan and the easy touring of Bangkok, the past week has been the start of a neverending journey through the backwoods of Asia. The night of the 15th, we got on a bus to Chaing Mai. We had congratulated ourselves on shopping around and finding a bus for 200 baht, rather than 350. Then we got on it. The bus may have looked like the picture they showed - in 1985. Thankfully, we got the last two seats in the back, so we could feel the full effect of what no shocks will do over 13 hours. Boy, were we glad we saved that $7.50 six hours in. The upside is we got to see a movie starring
Kadeem Hardison in Thai.
That morning, we were poured from the bus into a pickup taking us closer to the center of Chaing Mai. Usually, we resist getting a room at the places we're brought by drivers, but this time we happily consented. Thankfully, it was nice, featuring a bathroom with hot water in the room - unspeakable luxury. After a nice long nap, we walked around the city. Chaing Mai is considered a cultured alternative to Bangkok,
Meeting of the Minds
Chris and Daniel discuss how much whiskey they can drink in the Lahu village featuring lots of students and novices. The center still resides within the ancient walls and moat that protected it hundreds of years ago. We were able to wander from wat (temple) to wat, observing the monks. We stopped for a drink at an ex-pat bar, and happily splurged on a cheese platter - we realized we hadn't had any cheese for at least a month. For dinner, we headed to a run-down locals' restaurant, where we had perhaps the best meal of the trip so far. Northern Thailand is noted for its food, with good reason. Our favorite was
Khao Sawy , an egg noodle dish sitting in a coconut chicken curry. We had it at least three times during our stay.
The next day, we decided to head into the surrounding mountains for a bit of trekking. After driving in a pickup for a couple of hours, we headed up into the hills. The four hour walk wasn't long, but straight up. Thankfully, our compatriots included people in even worse shape, so the pace wasn't too bad. Our group stayed with family in a Lahu village. While it was beautiful and serene, the village also lodged at least two other
Ride in the Jungle
Chris and Justin on the only animal that smelled worse at that particular moment trekking groups, proving there is nowhere you can go to avoid tourists (thanks, Lonely Planet). We were even treated to the children of the town singing - if you've ever been to a sister's dance recital, you have an idea of the pain involved. Thankfully, our group was interesting, including Ricky and Daniel, two 19-year-old Australian Jews we travelled with for a bit.
The next day, the four of us headed down. After stumbling down the steep part, we did a few activities - riding an elephant, white-water rafting, and finally a bamboo raft to our lunch spot. Heading into town, the four of us went to the same restaurant for some more Khao Sawy, and several beers. Then another bar for a couple of bottles of whiskey to mix with coke. Then, we decided to got back to the guest house with a bigger bottle of whiskey to play a drinking game,
Kings . When Chris started speaking exclusively in Spanish, it was time for bed.
The next morning, we felt neither 19 nor like Kings. Luckily, we got picked up for the trip to Chang Khong in a minivan with eight other people. After 8 hours of
Minivan Breakdown
How do you spell MAACO in Thai? choking back vomit and praying for death, and sitting for a couple hours in the sun while a mechanic tried to fix the leaky brakes, we finally rolled into town. Needless to say, it was an early evening.
The next morning, we set out on a two-day trip down the Mekong in a slow boat to Luang Prabang in Laos. The Mekong is kind of the SE Asia Mississippi River, winding through the hills of Laos all the way to the south of Vietnam. It carries goods and food all through Asia. The views were quite picturesque - however, after a couple of hours on a small wooden bench shoulder to shoulder with your fellow travelers you stop noticing the vistas as much. We were on the boats 18 hours all told. The night in between, we stopped in Pak Beng - think Tijuana with more opium and fewer sex clubs. We wisely decided to book a place before we left after looking at pictures - the guest house used the same photographer as the bus company. We found ourselves with many of our new travel friends in what can only be described as a pit. But at least
Beer Anyone?
Throughout the boat trip, stops were made along the shore so that Laos children could try to sell their wares the proprieter was thoughtful enough to offer heroin as we checked in. We went out for some Laos food with a group of others in the same situation, including Arwen from Holland and Chris and Tom from England, and a procession of Beer Laos followed. We got back to the room to find the electricity out and promptly fell asleep. The remenants of the group thoughtfully decided to leave us a 1:30 a.m. wake up call with a room party that lasted for a good hour.
A bit cranky the next morning, we ran to get on the boat, since we'd first boarded the one going back to Thailand in the wrong direction. A mere 9 hours later, we were in Luang Prabang. A chill city in north of Laos, it carries many remenants of French colonialism, including the architecture and culture. Given that we hadn't had anything but bread and water all day, we quickly dropped our bags in a room, and feasted on local cuisine. It also marked 18 months since our wedding, so we really splurged - it came to 7 dollars.
Today, we caught up on sleep, and went out to explore the city.
Ah, Leg Room
Chris by the shores of the Mekong in Luang Prabang A trip to the National Museum, the former Royal Palace, underscored how poor this country really is - it's GDP is something like $130 million. The palace would be overshadowed by any nice house in a wealthy area of the U.S. Of course, it's hard to build up your reserves when you're the most heavily bombed country in the history of the world - thanks, America and Operation Rolling Thunder!
We're heading out the night market, and a cool bookstore we heard about that shows movies - tonight, Broken Flowers. We have many heavy travel days ahead, including a 9 hour trip to Vietienne tomorrow, and a 24 hour trip to Hue in Vietnam a day later.
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