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Published: April 29th 2018
As I sit here, sipping on my lemon ice tea and enjoying my cinnamon scroll I am left to think; am I still in Asia?
Of course, I am. I'm in Chiang Rai and have 4 hours to kill before I jump on a bus to Chaing Mai and since I have all my bags with me, the thought of sight seeing just didn't appeal.
Instead I thought to tease you all with another blog post on how I promise to write more on my trip but I think we all know that won't happen.
I set the expectations way too high and now we are all left feeling a bit ripped off.
This trip has been life changing and I don't really want it to end but, on the other hand, my whole life has changed so actually I'm also quite excited to head 'home'.
I have no idea where 'home' is right now. Harrison, my darling husband, has settled in California and managed to find a great job after only a couple of weeks!
I will be joining him of course but we have to patiently wait until my VISA is accepted which might not be until November.
Between now and then I will be staying with my wonderful mother in Taupo, working and studying.
Speaking of my mother, I am super excited that she will be now joining me in exactly 10 days! We will be travelling South Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore together for three weeks.
It's such a surreal feeling of seeing someone familiar because this is the first time I've travelled this long without seeing someone I know (still waiting to see a BodyTech member)
I spent the last two days travelling from Luang Prabang in Laos, to the border via a slow boat up the Mekong river
I decided to invest the time to travel this way rather than the bus route for a refreshing change. I like it when my decisions pay off.
I spent a total of 18 hours on that boat with a stop overnight in a small riverside town PakBeng.
I really enjoyed the time on the boat for these reasons;
1. You can stand up when you want. This boat isn't going to fast and stays pretty level so it's so nice to be able to stretch your legs and go for a bit of a walk up an down the middle to keep the blood flowing.
2. The scenery is amazing and constantly changing. You can't always be looking out but occasionally I would look up and be pleasantly reminded how amazing this part of the world is.
3. I didn't get motion sickness even when reading, or watching Gilmore Girls. On the first day, I managed to read an entire book, Number 11 by Jonathan Coe (Great book btw). This is something I would not of been able to do if I was on a bus. On the second, I watched 5 episodes of Gilmore Girls until my laptop was about to die. Also something I can't do on a bus (I tried, it was horrible).
4. You can go to the toilet when you want to. Although the word toilet is used loosely here, it was nice to be able to go when you need to go, which in some bus trip situations, isn't possible.
5. You had space to yourself. I'm guessing due to the low season and the direction I was taking the slow boat, I had two seats to myself on both days so I could spread out and even lye down for a bit if I wanted.
Once we arrived in Huay Xai which was the Laos side of the border, I was able to share a tuk-tuk with three Spanish girls and a Swiss man, to the border crossing.
Border crossings. These two words together could give the right person anxiety when mentioned. I met a lot of nice people turn angry very quickly when the words 'border crossing' gets mentioned. That, or, laughing and shaking the head in total defeat.
We arrived at the border crossing after 6 pm, on a Saturday so of course that came at a cost (nothing really but again, its the principal).
Aside from the obvious money scam, nothing else went wrong! Seems I must have good luck with these things because I have crossed three boarders now, all without too much drama.
I always worry a bit when travelling alone when it comes to getting from place to place cheaply. As we were a group of 11, all going to Chaing Rai, I was happy to pay 240B for the minivan rather than staying in Chiang Khong for the night and then booking a bus for the following morning.
I arrived in Chiang Rai last night with no internet and no hostel booking but thanks to the limited information from MapsMe (an app suggestion from a good friend Grace) it was able to guide me to a hostel for 175B for the night.
That really brings it back to the present time!
A bit of a ramble post really but, a post nonetheless.
Most of you will be following my Instgram, Instastories and facebook posts which I am trying to get better at. I am far better at taking photos than I am writing blog posts.
If you have any suggestions on things my mom and I could do in South Thailand and Malaysia, let me know.
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Kevin
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Water Rong Khung
Better known as the White Temple. A Buddhist version of the Familia Sagrada in Barcelona. Worth a visit when in Chaing Rai, but you have probably moved on by now!