3 countries in one day!

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Okay....where did I leave off? Oh, yes. We'd arrived in Chaing Rai, done the home stay and boarded the farm tractors....

The tractors took us up into the hills as far as they could - then we got out and started walking. The first day was almost all up hill for about 14 km. We went up about 1300 feet to the first village. I was totally exhausted and reaffirmed my belief that I'm not really an outdoors person. I was so glad I hired a porter to carry my bag, I probably would have kissed him at the end. :-)

We arrived at a sort of guest house at the first village. It had definitely been built for tourists and over looked the village rather than was inside it. it was almost luxurious - by that I mean it had a seat for the toilet (although it was a bucket flush, a place to wash your hands afterwards, a floor and pillows. Cold showers though - and it was probably about 10 C at night. They made us dinner - including a lot of choko. If you've never had it, don't bother.

Then the village kids came and did a song and dance show for us. The village was a mix of the Lisu and Akha tribes and it was very interesting to see them interact and learn the difference. We had a local guide - who babbled constantly (he seriously made Samantha seem reserved!) but who shared some interesting information. I'll share with anyone interested live.... :-)

After an in room massage - did I mention that all 10 women shared a room and the men had their own place? - we went to bed early. We got up at the rooster's crow. Really. There have been chickens everywhere and as they pointed out to us in the orientation, there are a lot of things you can control, but you can't control the chickens.

Anyway....after breakfast, we packed up and started the "easy" day of hiking. Only 7 Km - up and down steep hills. I thought I could carry my own pack but ended up passing it off. Ah, well. I gave it a go. We arrived in the next village to find that our accommodations were much different. We were staying in a big hut right off the village square where everyone gathered so we were right in the middle of things. We slept on the bare floor, the loo was primative, the showers were buckets and the food, well, I was glad to have brought power bars. And there were more chickens everywhere. Bird flu isn't here though....

After dinner, I went to bed where I was freezing all night and deathly afraid of trying to navigate the squat toilet in the dark. So....I didn't. Urgh....There was red clay dust everywhere and by the end of this day, we were all trying to ditch the local guide as he was getting on our nerves because he repeated everything at least 3 times. Things like....those are pancakes. You have to make pancakes one at a time. you put in flour and sugar. To make pancakes one at a time. They're sweet. You add sugar. Pancakes....

So, recognizing my own limitations, I hired another porter so the day was reasonably pleasant. Only 10 Km mostly downhill with frequent stops at such high points as the orange grove and a hill overlooking an opium field. We went through a chinese village, fed their dog, and drank cokes before loading back up into the mini van which drove us to our hotel in Chaing Rai last night.

The countryside was gorgeous and it was interesting to see the villages up close. But it did reaffirm my preference for vacations with hot showers, pillows, and flush toilets. I'm glad to have done it this way - but wasn't exactly thrilled at the time.

Once we arrived in Chaing Rai last night, we put in our laundry and took long hot showers. Athena and I decided to ditch the group and just hang out. We found a dutch place for dinner and had our first western meal - cheeseburgers and fries - and a couple of beers. Something disagreed with me which explains the sidewalk incident. :-)

We were in bed early, thank goodness, and slept amazing well. Of course, the fact that we no longer were covered in red clay dust and had an actual bed really helped.

This morning, we got up and took converted trucks to the Burma (Myanmar) border. We walked across with very little fanfare and went to the Burmese market which looked suprisingly like the Thai one. :-) We stayed about an hour and came back - another stamp for my passport!

From there, we went to the Golden Triangle which was really cool. The view was fantastic. We had lunch, then went to the opium museum. I didn't realize that opium didn't reach here until the 19th century and that it was brought here primarily by the British (darn them!). It was fascinating.

Then we took a speedboat over to Laos. This seemed like an unofficial type of trip....no customs officials met us or stamped our passports. They gave us a little piece of paper that said we paid the 20 baht entrance fee (about 5 cents). We saw the strangest whiskey.....said to increase male potency. Didn't buy any - sorry, guys - it was too odd. We also saw a moon bear in a cage....it was very cute but a bit sad.

We took the speedboat back, got back on the truck and did a detour to pick up our laundry. We came back to the hotel and Athena, Sheri, Rachel and I hit the night market and finished all of our shopping. Things are much cheaper here than in Bangkok.

Now we're on the internet and watching Gilmore Girls in English...Its been an odd, but fascinating day. :-)

Okay....tomorrow we head back to Chaing Mai by bus and then take the overnight train back to Bangkok. We're on the return trip now - and I have to say, I'll be glad to be heading home.

Miss you all.

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Photos

Athena and I at the Golden Triangle
Great view!

Crossing to Burma
More stamps for our passports!

Speedboat to Laos
On the speedboat to Laos!

Laos Market
At the Laos Market, we saw the most unsual thing - Cobras and scorpions marinated in whiskey. If you drink the whiskey, its supposed to increase your sexual prowess!

Comments

[Greg]

The big O
Finally figured out how this thing works (Thanks Deb!) Fully expected your journals to land conveniently in the ATS -- Lazy, I know. Oh well, at least I'm caught up. It's quiet without you. Can't wait to hear the stories behind the blog -- see the pix too. Continue to travel safely and ... Bring home a kitty like the one in the photo, wont you :)

[SouthernRedBone]

Glad to see you are well
Sounds like quite an interesting or adventourous trip. Can't wait to hear more upon yor return- Miss ya