Back to Isaan

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Geo: 16.392, 103.924

Up with the alarm at 05:00 and have checked out and are sat waiting outside Kong Court when our 'taxi' arrives on the dot of 06:00.We are soon leaving Chiangmai behind us with no idea when we might return. We stop for breakfast at a strange place just short of Lampang which is decorated with windmills, red phone boxes and even a few Eiffel towers ! Lampang is famous forits ceramics made from volcanic deposits and Jai and Max cant resists a walk around the huge outlet next door. Also cant resist buying a few things. We will soon need a trailer for ther pick-up.Make a quick toilet stop at Denchai then change drivers before we head into the mountains. It is very dusty everywhere at this time of year and the views which should be great are hugely disappointing.We drive through Uttaradit and pass signs to yet another border crossing into Laos that has just opened at a place called Dhu Phu about 170km away.Continue south to Phitsanulok then turn east onto Route 12 and back up into the mountains. This is where they are constructing a four lane highway and the dust here is even worse. We stop at another strange place that has modeled itself on an American roadhouse complete with gasoline pumps, an old school bus and even a sherrifs office ! Quite well done but way out of place here. We stop again just a few miles further along the road at a food market that ax likes but I dont see the girls buy much here, perhaps the truck really is full ?!Continue into Khon Kaen which at this time in the evening is heaving with traffic. We pass through surprisingly quickly then start looking for places to eat as we are all hungry. Dave is dreaming of KFCs and McDonalds but will have to keep on with the dreams for a while yet as there is nothing like that along this road. Just passing Yang Talat and we finally pull into a small place by ther side of the road and when I go to see what they are cooking up am pleasantly surprised. Enjoy some duck and sticky rice washed down with a glass of beer then we continue the last leg of our journey in the dark.Arriving in Phon Thong Dave decides to kill us all by not seeing barriers across the road and I am sat shouting at him before we come to a stop. Drive around the hole in the road that was our destination and into town for a brief stop at 7/11 for bread and milk for breakfast. Then out to Khamnadie arriving about 22:00 after a long day.Not surprisingly we have no mains water so its cold showers to welcome us back. We are all really tired so we leave most of the stuff in the truck till the morning. Have a quick clean through the house then to bed.

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