Blogs from Chiang Rai, North-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 28

Went to the border region and the golden triangle yesterday, just forgot to write it in because i was writing about the trek. We had a lot of time in the minibus which was god for the girls from our trek that were on the trip with us because theyt'd got in at 5.30am and the trip started at 7am! We went on a speed boat over to Laos and saw a monkey and a bear and some little crafty places. We saw some hot springs and some temples (quite a few and cant remember athe names off the top of my head) but they were all lovely, it was the kings birthday yday so there was alot of people off work wearing yellow tshirts and fireworks in the town, i think theres a procession tonight ... read more

Well the time has finally come to depart from the refuge. One of the workers at the refuge needed to go to Chiang Rai so we decided we may as well make use of the free ride and move on. For this leg of our journey however we have gained a third Dangleberry, his name is George 'Chip' Harrison and he's from Deep South Alabama. However don't hold that against him, he may love his Kentucky Bourbon but he's still up for a bit vino with his pizza, beer with his pool and margarita's in the afternoon. As you can probably tell from the pictures we used our time in Chiang Rai to relax and do pretty much nothing other than eat and drink, the three of use were so keen for pizza and wine after ... read more

At the Lisu village, joined the children in school. First played with the youngest children. Taught them the Hokey Cokey (having argued with Aussies and Americans that it was NOT the hokey Pokey!!). Taught a few of the older children some English in one of the few classrooms. Even had to sing!! Hahaha! Poor children. Played volleyball. The school field had the best view of any I think I've ever seen. Absolutely incredible scenery surrounding the village. Started the trek across the ridge of the hill to the second village. Here we stayed in a traditional Akha hut. This was more rustic and more similar to the actual huts the village people lived in. Village faced the other side of the mountain, so this village was great for a spectacular sunset! Got dark by 7pm. No ... read more

Our first stop on the way to Chiang Rai was Ayuthaya. We took a tuk-tuk round to see all the sights - ancient temples and "chedi", bell-shaped treaure troves where kings and past rulers have been buried inside. We then took a bus from here to Sukhothai (rising happiness) - it was only a six hour journey so not too bad. We were the only non Thai people on the bus - a grandmother was walking her restless grand-daughter up and down the aisle, when she reached us the little girl wanted to get up on my lap, where she was smiling and touching my face..she then noticed Sam out of the corner of her eye and promptly burst into tears! Sukhothai has an old town consisting of many temples and historical sites which we biked ... read more

Yes, the year here is 2549 owing to the Buddhist Calendar but there are no spaceships or time machines here, just good old tuk tuks and local buses with swirly fans. And it was via both of these means that we began our journey on the same day as leaving the forgettable Pakbeng in Lao to Chang Rai. For some unknown reason the first 5km of the journey were driven at about 3kph but once the driver had found 2nd gear with a crunch we cruised our way through farmland to our destination. Parting company at the bus station with Phil and Kate we haggled a price on a tuk tuk to the Akha Riverhouse, an out of town but beautiful collection of small riverside bungalows with en suite bathrooms. After a well deserved shower we ... read more