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Published: April 1st 2007
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We took a night bus from
Chiang Mai, we're a bit tired of all these trips, but it does get you from place to place. We spent a couple of days there, mainly looking at temples and wondering the streets of the city.
Then we went to
Pai, which is a hippi town, or at least used to be one. It's quite remote, extremely calm and we enjoyed ourselves very much. We spent a week there, just laying in our balcony, reading, playing cards and sipping tea/ coffee when it was cold in the morning and later lots of water, as the heat was really strong. It feels good to retire early, but could be as well fun later on, probably.
We went elephant riding, which was an out of the world fun experience. We took a ride in the forest near by, the elephant camp and then towards the river, where the elephant tossed us into the water, every time we attempted getting on it, it was just great and so much fun.
Ariel took a cooking course and would love to be cooking as good as it came out that day. Only time will tell.
Was fun anyhow and something different.
We rented a motorbike one day and explored the area around, where we saw a couple of waterfalls, a lot of nature, villages and people around. It was a lot of fun and we managed it pretty well, till we slipped walking in water and landed on our asses (both, though Ariel first), but otherwise without a scratch ; )
Then we went to
Chiang Rai, it's the gateway to the
Golden Trinagle, which is a small area between Thailand, Laos and Myanmar. There's a really cool market there, but not so much more (at least for us) to see.
After a couple of days there, we moved on to see 2 town in the Golden Triangle, it was very nice, peaceful and the street food was just great. There was kind of a storm one evening, that scared the locals away quite early, it was quite the show- some wind and dust and many people running up and down the streets and we were finishing up our shopping.........
Then we crossed to
Laos. We took a bus to the north west of the country, stopping in
Luang Nam Ta and then
Muang Sing. We spent a couple of days there, to see the hill tribe life.
Then we went to
Luang Prabang, which is a nice town along the Mekong River and the architecture there was very nice (thanks to the French) and was nice to wonder around the streets there and around the night market and the food market, where you could find probably every animal on earth (grilled, or pre grilled).
Then we went to
Vang Vieng, where there's a beautiful river and many limestones just near the town. We went swimming a couple of times and laying in the shallow waters. One day we took a trip, that included caves, walking and going in a tube (which like a tire) and floating along the river and through one of the caves, with flash lights and all, it was still dark, but really great, the guide was singing and he enjoyed it more than anyone (his singing).
We spent a bit of a longer time in this town and took the tube for another go the next day.
It was a lot of fun. There are bars and restaurants on both sides of the river
and it's quite the thing to see. You can jump and swing into the water and we enjoyed it as well.
Now, we're in
Vientiane, the capital of Laos, as well along the Mekong River. It's a nice city, a bit bigger than the rest, but like the rest of the country is under construction. Really crazy, making it dusty and everything.
Yesterday we went to see this amazing Buddha Park, a bit out of the town, it was really something to see and the sculptures and figures were really impressive.
Today we went to see the market and the National Museum, which describes the history of Laos and the way it's come since 400 years or so and focusing on their wars- with the French and then their role in the Vietnam War. It was interesting enough to see and learn, but was lacking details.
Tomorrow we will cross the border- back to Thailand. We'll go to Bangkok and then to the Islands, in the south.
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