Off to Paradise

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SAME HERE PROBLEM WITH PHOTOS ... HA NOW YA ALL GOTTA WAIT TO VIEW A GLIMPSE (AND HOPEFULLY INHALE) LUANG PRABANG THROUGH MY PICTURES ... THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE A TOWN I GOT A 'COUP DE FOUDRE' FOR ...



Alrighty enough bullshit about spirituality (even if the title may read different :-) ... It was time for mi to get myself to Luang Prabang as i had given myself an advanced Bday present ... 5 nights/ 6 days in the jungle learning and living with elephants ... Hopped a swaengtawn (i finally looked up the word for the benched open minivan, however no clue how to pronounce it) to Chiang Khong, the thai bordertown which connects via longboat crossing the Mekong with the the Lao bordertown<span> XIay Pay ... Most of the way was dirt road following the Mekong through little fisher/farming villages, it took us over 2 hrs for 55 km to get to a T-Split where to the left was the border and to the right the town ...planning to take 2-day slowboat ride to Luang Prabang, i wanted to get some lunch, passport photos,ang, i wanted to get some lunch, passport photos,money before i crossed over into Laos ... unfortunately unfortunately i had to deal with just bit more corruptness b4 leaving Thailand ... when i got on, i had agreed with the driver to pay 50 Baht, i made it clear that i was only to pay what was on the sign nailed to the old tree, okay, okay, okay 50 Baht ... i had received an email from Ghislaine who had travelled the same road the previous day who had mentioned that she also had agreed on 50 however upon her arrival she had to pay 100 ... so i really made sure with signlanguage shaking and nodding my head (which is the same in this part of the world) however when i got off in town i gave him 60 and said was ok ... the driver immediately turned angry, and i showed him photo of sign with Chiang Saen-Chiang Khong 50 Baht ... he then didn't want to hand mi my luggage which he had just taken off the roofreck ... i said not fair, we have agreement ... he turned away from mi, and with a few firm steps he stopped a cop/border controll ... he never said a word only violantly moved his head covered with white helmet, chin for and upward... i could tell out of the taxidrivers body and hand language that i didn't give him enough money for the trip ... for mi it wasn't the 2.50 extra, it's a principle to honour what u agreed upon, and felt i was done injustice ... i even showed my picture to cop, who suddenly had taken over my suitcase with the first words uttered since arrival 'immigration, u come to immigration' and he gesture with my luggage to better get moving ... not wanting to get into more/any trouble i paid the full fare, uttering the words 'it's not fair ... u not good man' i said to the driver who grinned profusely. And turned to the cop 'u not good man ... it's wrong ... and u know that ... bad!" For a moment i thought he completely understood mi as his eyes shot fire, however than something came over him and as he drove away he gave mi a huge grin ... F*** THEM! And with that thought i run my errands,realized i was still harboring frustration and anger i walked to the border 2km down the road ... Around 1pm (i had left at 8pm) i had crossed the Maekong and had decided to take a bus that afternoon to bring mi to Luang Prabang in 12 hrs ... i figured, oh well tomorrow morning at 5am i'll be at my next destination, instead of staying overnight in Xuai .... to then board a slowboat for 8 hrs, to then overnight in another small vilage, to then have another slowboat ride for 7 hrs, and that with all the smoke/smog from all the fires still burning winter debris all around thailand and Laos ... and not to speak off the very low river ... unfortunately the ride wasn't 12 but 16 hrs, no space to speak of whatsoever to put my legs ... i couldn't even put my feet down because my knee was hitting seat in front of mi ... let alone the f***ing big dutch fellow countrywoman, who reclined her seat all the way back so i was forced to slide down my chair to accomadate mi legs, and then worse of all, of the 40 seats in the bus, i had the only one were the back could NOT recline ... and that with a still very much hurting bruised rib (leftover from my seal action in KohPhangan on day 2 of wedding ...) anyway, i truely believe i can say i had the worst ride of my life, as my rib REALLY was hurting lots i could only sit in one position, and those who know mi better, know that this is an almost impossible task for someone who always moves ... however it was the right choice after all as when i entered Luang Prabang it was like it felt i was coming home ... for the first time in my life i've fallen completely in luv with a town ... unfortunately filled with foreigners and the<span> restaurant and little onereigners and the<span> restaurant and little one-living room supermarket prices on the peninsula €5 room again overlooking the Nam Khan who at the peninsula's tip flows into the Maekong ... which runs on the other side ... if u don't pay attention while walking the mainstreet with little sidestreets running down to the two rivers, it's easy to walk<span> to the wrong side of town to the wrong river ... it not only happened to mi, on my second night i run into a laughing norwegian ... of course i couldn't shot up 'your happy hour has lasted quite a bit?" He burst into more laughter and said te a bit?" He burst into more laughter and saill tell ya a little secret. I'm a navigator on boats, not only that i work for the coast guard ... ssssst our secret ..." we agreed that the town looked alike both ways ... he was visiting with his son (also navigator), who obviously wasn't with him. I think i already wrote it b4, however there r two kind of foreigners u meet on the way, those just on vacation (with or without a family/partner) and those who like mi move from one place to the next trying to change due to a person/problem, internal or external ... I had one more day in where i strolled around and then i did go literally to paradise ... the jungle and elephants ... i've made good choices so far on my travels, however this one wasn't only a good choice, it turned out that nature also had lots to offer back ... being the only staying guest, others would come and go for the day, i got to mingle with those who were running the place, Miss Tong the sister in law of the owner, Kaying -my guide for the week, Ole, the cook, Chai, Chun, Uhn, Ai to name a few ... funny enough the first words after thank you and hello have been elephant commands ... a week in heaven, as you can see by the pictures ... what i couldn't photograph or even video it, was the very careful elegant stylish slow movement of these grand mammals when they are going up or down steep slopes ... have really learned from them that if ur big and carry a mass just take your time on your path ... and those who know how clumsy i really am know this lesson is a good thing<span> -<span> again i'll let my pictures tell the rest of story ... in the next blog ...

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