DIY Muay Thai & Chiang Rai

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When we arrived back to our hostel after the trek, we were having a few drinks when this crazy thai guy from one of the hostels came up and sat next to us. We had a bit of a chat to us and started getting more and more angry as the night progressed. He finally snapped and had a go at all of us for being dirty westerners (amoungst other things). With a bit of help from a massive Welsh guy and his wife, the crazy cat was cast out onto the streets and the gates were locked. P.S i wouldn't really trust the police there as they said to us that they would arrest this guy but someone translated for us that they were going to drop him around the corner and have a laugh about it. Anyways, we shouted the Welsh guy a few drinks and he started getting abusive as well - thinking that i kissed his wife (who by the way was bigger than he was). After such a hectic night, we decided that skipping the country would probably be the best idea.

We got the 3pm bus from Chiang Mai busport to Chiang Rai (which is northeast). The trip was quite unpleasant as Arno thought it would be a fantastic idea to book the cheapest bus possible. I would probably recommend going a bit more luxery for trips over 2 hours (it doesn't cost too much more). We arrived in Chiang Rai and met some american guy on the street who had been in thailand for 2 years and still couldn't even speak any thai (go figure hehe). We booked into a pretty nice hotel for about 500 baht ($16 AUD) with the 6 of us packed into a 3 bed room. That night we had dinner in the night markets (not really recommended as it was overpriced and the service was pretty shocking). We jumped in a tuk tuk and asked for the best local night scene. Our driver dropped us out the front of the "Sperm Pub" (no joke) who were playing a bit of sweedish trance (in the form of gunter! "you touch my ta la la, my ding ding dong"). The whole place was packed out with locals and they were all really friendly - we also got to watch a kick-boxing bar fight which was awesome. A couple of us kicked on to "Par Club" which was huuuuuge and absolutely packed to the brim. I got a lift home from a guy called "rat" on his motorbike (it was his birthday as well). All in all, Chiang Rai was a very chilled out city and I'd definitely go back. The next day we boarded a bus for Chiang Khong (right on the border) so we could cross into Laos.

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Photos

View from the bus
Not too comfortable on the insde, but a great view outside (except when milney yacked out the window).

Arno In-Cognito
Out the front of our hotel in Chiang Rai