Chiang Saen – Day 23
Saturday, January 7th, 2006Awoke to the sounds of construction on the guesthouse this morning only t discover the electricity and water had been switched off, so much or the hot shower. Packed up and checked out before 11:00 and went in search of breakfast.
I’ve noticed that people here ‘claim’ their dogs by putting clothes on them to identify them as home dogs rather than strays. Its very cute to walk around town and seen all these dogs with clothes on, but I can only begin to imaging how hot the poor things get during the day. We left our packs at the guesthouse and walked 15 minutes to the Hill Tribe museum. The museum was actually fascinating and I enjoyed reading about all the different hill tribes in Thailand. We spent almost 2 hours there before venturing downstairs to the Cabbages and Condoms Restaurant. So named because its run by the Thai government in the hope to eradicate HIV/AIDS and at the end of every meal you get a free condom. There were cartoon condom pictures everywhere and the motto was “Our food is guaranteed not to cause pregnancy”. Dee and I only had drinks because we weren’t hungry and sadly we received no condoms. I guess they assume that you only deserve them if you eat a whole meal. Its not as though I have any immediate use for them anyway, but it was definitely the most unusual dining experience I’ve had in Thailand.
Walked back to the guesthouse to collect that packs and then headed off for the bus station. Got stopped on the way by a group of students looking for targets for their English question surveys. It was similar to the thousands I completed in Sukhothai except that these children were older and had slightly more questions; they still needed to take the photo though. Caught a sangthaew to the bus station and bought tickets to Chiang Saen. Got to the gate just in time to see the bus pulling out. We probably could have caught it if we’d waved our arms, the drivers in this country will do anything for an extra fare, but I held back because the bus was packed and I didn’t want to stand for the 1.5 hour ride. This turned out to be the right decision since the next bus came within 10 mins and was a luxury coach with aircon and leather seats. The 50B price tag also secured a bus hostess who wandered down the aisles with drinks and biscuits. Dee and I both had two seats to ourselves, it was the most luxurious bus ride to date and an additional bonus was that we refrained from making the standard 40 stops along the way.
About 10 mins out of the city we stopped for a police check and they boarded the bus checking everyone’s ID’s. We are getting very close to the borders now so I guess that explains it, they weren’t even slightly interested in Dee or I though. Arriving in Chiang Saen we again disappointed the waiting tuk tuk drivers by opting to walk to find a guesthouse. Cam across one called the Chiang Saen guesthouse with a nice room and hot water for 200B. It was run by a crazy old woman who owned at least 4 dogs, one of them being the fattest Dalmatian I’ve ever seen in my life, it was almost square, and in addition to this she had about 3 dozen cats roaming around all over the place. She also managed to refrain from smiling the entire time, despite the best efforts of Dee and I.
Went out for dinner while it was still light and ate at a gorgeous outdoor vendor restaurant with tables overlooking the river. Chiang Saen is a really gorgeous town with its amazing view of the Mekong River.
The English menu for dinner was non-existent and the final result was interesting to say the least. Despite Dee’s best efforts to convey her need for no meat she received a soup with every meat under the sun floating in it. My prawns were delicious. Went for a walk around town for an hour or so and came across a Thai aerobics class which was great to watch, they were pumping it out in unison to ‘I love you baby’, Dee and I were captivated.
Nic