On the infamous bus ride from Luang Nam Tha to Huey Xai I was talking to Remi about distances in Thailand and how I felt that the book was off when it said it would take 3 hours to get to Chiang Rai from the border. I decided it would take around an hour since, according to the scale, we were less than 50 miles away. Remi agreed and it was settled that the time would be around one hour as the roads are much better in Thailand. The next day, our last in Laos, the original plan was to just cross the border and spend a day or 2 in Chiang Kong as we did not want to do much traveling after that marathon journey. First we had breakfast and then on our way back to the hotel we met Remi who said he was going to Chiang Rai today as it was only an hour away. Amie and I talked it over and decided that it would be a good idea to go to Chiang Rai today as well especially as it was only an hour away (completely forgetting the conversation I had with Remi the day before). We also met the Swiss guys from the bus who said they were also going to Chiang Rai as they heard (from Remi) that it was so close.

With our minds made up, Amie and I grabbed our bags, paid the 50 cents each to hire a boat across to Thailand and with one final look at Laos we got on the bus to Chiang Rai which, of course, turned out to be a 3 hour journey since we did not travel as the crow flies. This would have been fine except for the fact that I started to get stomach cramps half way through the journey and I had to ask Amie to get the bus to stop as I was about to crap in my pants. After an emergency stop I was back on the bus for two more uncomfortable hours. I was fine once we got off the bus; maybe I'm just allergic to comfortable buses that travel on good roads in speeds of excess 30 miles an hour. Luckily we did not see our fellow travelers after supplying them with such bad information. When we got off the bus in Chiang Rai there were a few locals offering hotels and we decided to go to the Chat House which had nice doubles for $5 and the best chicken sandwiches this side of the Mekong. After 2 nights in Chiang Rai we got on a bus (with air conditioning and drink service) for Chiang Mai, leaving our biggest bag at the Chat House as we would be returning in a few days for our flight to Phuket.

It was nice being back in Thailand with all the amenities but suddenly I started suffering from sticker shock. $2 for a beer “Are you kidding me?” We once left a bar in Laos because one of our traveling partners refused to pay $1.10 for the beer there. I have this thing that I do where I put a price on the value of everything and if the price is too high I refuse to buy it (or at least enjoy it). Luckily in Thailand they have Chang beer which normally costs less than $1.50 as it an inferior beer to Singha. Food and accommodation is also a little higher but the real difference is in the beer. I’m sure I will come around to paying $2 for a large bottle of Singha. After all, I would pay $5 for the same bottle back home. Unfortunately, it was also at this time when we were about to spend a lot of money on different activities that I suddenly started to feel poor with all my hard earned money being spent and no money coming in. Admittedly we have a pretty good budget, especially that we are traveling for so long and Thailand is still pretty cheap compared to back home. Laos turned out to be much cheaper than we expected and we are well under budget after doing everything we wanted to do. Amie has determined to break me out of my careful spending habits and insisted on staying in a nice hotel in Chiang Mai with a swimming pool. Luckily we were having a cool spell and she did not insist on air conditioning which would have nearly doubled the price (phew!). For the record we only used the pool once and that was just for a few minutes due to the afore mentioned cool spell.

We enjoyed our time in Chiang Mai thanks to the wonderful night market where we would go each night to get a massage and watch the world go by. We also spent one day at the zoo which was huge and we saw this sun bear that kept walking on the barrier wall as if he was trying to find an escape route. We also really enjoyed the hippos as there was this baby that was swimming in the water like a fish and also it was close to feeding time when we were there and this one big hippo tried to climb over the wall when he saw us coming. He must have thought we were the zoo keepers. Luckily the keepers were right behind us and all animals were well fed. Speaking of food, we did not have great food in Chiang Mai but that was more of what we ordered rather than lack of options. We did do a lot of walking to try and find a certain restraunt recommended by the Italians but we never did find it. The one thing that stands out in Chiang Mai are the girlie bars where all these beautiful women were sitting and they would call out as we pass by. Amie did notice that I walked a little slower on that stretch of road so instead of being a few steps ahead of her as normal I was always a few steps behind.

We arrived back in Chiang Rai on Sunday and decided to check out the night market there. It was nice and not as touristy as the one in Chiang Mai even though they did have shows every night. We watched a show and had a nice meal at the restraunt and then ordered this huge dessert that had 7 different types of ice cream. The dessert was even more expensive than the beer but who cares it was my birthday after all. We are now off to Phuket so I will be happy to update everybody on how it has recovered after the tsumani but first I'm ready for a beer and who knows I might even order a Singha.