George’s Adventure

Friday 24th November 2006

On our last day in Chiang Mai we did stuff like buy postcards, go on the internet and of course, went to a yoga class.  It was the best one i’ve ever been to.  I felt so good afterwards.  As we were feeling so good we rewarded ourselves by going to a restuarant called Huen Phen which serves some of the best northern thai food in Chiang Mai, and its dirt cheap.  Who could resist!!

The next day 21/11, our adventure into Laos began and boy was it a long hard slog.  We were supposed to be picked up from our guesthouse at 10am but hey we are on Thai time (not Fiji time this time around) and at quarter to 1 a little man popped his head around the corner and shouted Laos.  Horrah!  Janine and I had front seats, great for the view but a bit scary when the driver is doing stupid miles an hour whilst overtaking, going round bends, opening packets of peanuts, on his mobile phone and we didnt have any seatbelts to wear.  Janine didnt worry – she fell asleep. I desperately needed the toilet.  After what was literally 3/4 hours we stopped for a break at a nut place – very weird.  We were driven from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong which is near the Laos border.  The journey to Chiang Khong was hot and sweaty.  We stayed in Chiang Khong that night.  The next day 22/11 it was up early and away to catch a ferry.  We were taken with all our luggage on the back of a ute to the ferry port and then we had to take our passports to passport control.  At this point i had already got my visa into Laos stamped in my passport but the guy wants us to pay 5 baht for the priviledge of seeing this.  Great!  Once we had reached the other side at Huay Xai we had to fill out arrival and departure cards for Laos and show our  passports which they stamp.  It is then up a hill to a tuk tuk which takes you to the slow boat.  Now when Ie say slow boat i mean slow!!  As in it leaves at least an hour late to start with.  Then it makes frequent stops where you are unable to get off but all sorts of villagers want to sell you things from bananas to live frogs.  At one point a man boarded the boat with a monkey on his shoulder.  There were not enough seats for the amount of people so chairs are set up in the aisles and people are lying on top of everyones luggage.  The slow boat left at 12pm and arrived at Pak Beng at 6pm.  On arrival you have to carry your rucksack and all luggage out of the boat, accross some fat logs, then walk a plank accoss the river and then as if that is not enough, walk up a steep sand bank.  Talk about exhausted.

The next morning it is back on the slow boat.  Janine and I thought we would be clever and get to the boat early so we could get better seats.  The seats are wooden and sooo painful on the bottom after about 2 minutes of sitting.  However, everyone else had the same idea and to our dismay they had changed the boat to a smaller one.  Luckily we got a 2 seater again and just thanked our lucky stars for that.  From Pak Beng to Luang Prabang, 8am we were on the boat, 10am the slow boat left, and  at 6pm we arrived in Luang Prabang.  We spent one night in Luang Prabang.  We went to the night market there where they sell local handicraft things.  The ladies that sell the clothes and goods actually make the delights themselves.  So beautiful.    We also got up early this morning and watched the monks at 6am leave their temples, wats, and walk about the town collecting offerings from the villagers.  Very interesting and fascinating to watch.

At 8.30am we were on a local bus from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. We arrived here at about 3.15pm.  We made one stop on the way.  The bus had no air con or fans and was filled with locals and a baby crying.  The music playing got quite monotomos but it was a great experience and the scenery is breathtaking.  You can see locals ploughing their fields by hand and the hills are unbelievable.

Monday 20th November 2006

Our last day in Bangkok on Thursday 17/11 was pretty funny.  Janine has no malaria tablets for Laos but you can buy them pretty easily over the counter in chemists in Thailand.  Of course the ones Janine wanted are not sold in the local chemists but apparently in a hospital right accross the other side of town in a hospital for tropical diseases (nice!!  I did look at everyone in there a bit funny).  Anyway to cut a long story short they dont sell malarone in Thailand and the doctor actually told Janine she didnt need to take anything for Laos.  After much umming and arrhhing, im on my 5th or 6th beer at this point when Janine finally decides she will not take any malaria tablets.  That evening however, in my beer intoxicated state we make our way to the train station and board a sleeper train to Chiang Mai which arrives at 1pm the next day.  The sleepers were great.  We were in a second class sleeper with a fan and about a million other people but I really got used to it after a while.  The ‘trolley’ as i like to call it consisted of people walking up and down the aisles carrying juice and foods.  Great!

When we arrived at the station we took a tuk tuk to our guesthouse, checked in, and went out for some food and walked to Wat Phra Singh.  This is a temple that houses the ‘Lion’ buddah.  The grounds are just as impressive as the buddah itself as the ‘wihaan’ is well known for its mural paintings which are faded in parts but beautiful.  In the grounds there are trees with captions on them which i loved and whilst I was wandering around by myself a novice monk came up to me and asked me if I could spare some time to talk with him and two friends to improve their English.  Of course, I obliged, chatting away.  When Janine wandered around I don’t think she could believe her eyes.  Haha!  That evening we wandered to the famous Chiang Mai Night Bazaar.  Again, a marked where you can buy practically everything. 

The thing about Chiang Mai is not only its cooler temperature compared to Bangkok but it doesnt have that dark edge to it that Bangkok has.  Bangkok is very business and money orientated and you are constantly fighting against tuk tuk drivers and women who want to sell you wooden croaking frogs or men who want to sell you suits (do i look like i need a suit?).  Chiang Mai is less frantic and you do not get hassled as much (those women with the frogs still walk about – i think im going to have nightmares about them).

On Saturday we had an early start as we had enrolled in the Chiang Mai Thai Cookery School.  This was the first cookery school to open in Chiang Mai in 1993 and it is owned by Sompon Nabnian, who is one of Thailand’s international TV chefs.  The da was wonderful.  Now, I know it might be hard to picutre me in a kitchen with an apron on and not burn anything – but I really enjoyed it.  The day was relaxed but informative.  I cooked chicken in coconut milk soup, fried big noodles with thick sauce, followed by  red curry with fish and fried mixed mushrooms with baby corn.  After all that I made a papaya salad and sticky rice AND my favourite favourite……steamed banana cake. Yummy.

After our little day of cookery we decided to hit the town and ended up meeting a group of other travellers, some Swedish and some English who we spent the night chatting and drinking with.  We had so much fun.  I ended up with a flower necklass, bracelet and rose by the end of the evening.  So much fun.

Yesturday we did a day trip to the Elephant Training Centre Chiang Dao.  Our first stop of the day was to the elephant dung centre where they show you how they recycle elephant dung.  Very interesting.  Next, onto the actual elephant camp where we saw them bathing and where they put on a show, carrying logs, hoisting flags, painting pictures, playing football and even dancing to music.  We got to ride an elephant, I had forgotton just how uncomfortable this is, go bamboo rafting down the river, and ride an ox cart – very bizzarre.  The lady kept prodding them with a stick, despite the fact that there is only one way to go. I thoroughly enjoyed the day and we finished off the evening by visiting the Sunday night market near our guesthouse.