8/21/10 (muang ngoi neua)

Muang Ngoi Neua -  Nong Khiaw

I woke up early to catch a sunrise over the beautiful limestone cliff faces in this remote village. It is probably one of the more scenic locations we have visited in a long time. The town consisted of a small path from the dock that intersected with the main road. The path was lined with rustic bungalows and open porch restaurants overlooking the rapid waters of the Nam Ou river. Our group, that had made the boat trip the prior day had agreed to meet at 8am to decided whether to move south or to spend a day enjoying the town. We were hoping to stick together in order to maintain a large group that would possibly be needed to charter any upcoming boats on our way to Luang Prabang. I was feeling undecided because I enjoyed the area for its beautiful and remote appeal but was also looking forward to some of the modern conveniences that Luang Prabang had to offer. Most of the group decided to stay and trek up the local mountains and that put me in a tough spot since I was without hiking shoes. We decided to join our new friend Rick from San Diego for the journey to Nong Khiaw, the next town south to see if we could then catch the larger boat to LP. At 9:30am we boarded the aging teal long boat for our one hour trip to Nong Khiaw. The ride didn't disappoint as we snaked our way through the remote countryside. The river banks were lined with steep limestone mountains covered with freshly cropped lush green jungle terraces as the brown waters of the Nam Ou raced below us.

Most of the boats require a minimum of ten passengers when making the longer trips. The distance from Nong Khiaw to Luang Prabang would span six hours and we needed an additional seven passengers to make the second leg of our journey on this sunny Saturday morning. When we arrived at the dock in Nong Khiaw, we quickly visited the ticket office and were informed that the boat to LP had no other passengers for the day. We could wait to see if our fortunes would be better tomorrow or take a minivan to LP that would take four hours and would leave later in the day. Nong Khiaw was a more populated town than Muang Ngoi Neua but is equally beautiful. The town had a large bridge connecting the two shores and rose high above the Nam Ou. The river split the dramatic mountain range that rose up along the river banks. On the dockside was the local town where most of the natives went about their daily tasks and across the bridge on the adjacent shore was for the travelers and offered several guesthouses, bungalows, and restaurants. Our friends Pete and Danielle from New Zealand informed us that this river trip along the Mekong was the highlight of their trip six months ago. Based on their recommendation we agreed to join Rick in staying one night in hopes of finding some additional passengers for the boat leaving tomorrow. 

Annie and I wheeled our luggage up the muddy river bank until it met the semi-paved road that led to the bridge. It was very hot and and after making our way across the bridge, Annie explored several options for accommodations. We settled on a bungalow next to Rick that cost 30,000kip ($3.75US). The bungalow was an elevated bamboo hut with a bed, fan, and shower and not much else. You could look down at your feet and see through the cracks in the floorboard all the way to the dirt ground. The last two nights have been out of the ordinary from our standard accommodations and I enjoyed the rugged nature of these bungalows. 

We relaxed the remainder of the day and ventured out in the early evening, near sunset to capture some photos of the beautiful terrain. While we were shooting pictures, a heavy rainstorm quickly moved in and chased us back to our bungalow. Later that night we met up with Rick to visit the local Indian restaurant and had a delicious meal of naan bread, vegetable curry, and several Beerlaos. We were optimistic that several friends from Muang Ngoi Neua would catch up to us tomorrow and that would allow us to charter the boat and make our way to Luang Prabang. 

8/20/10 (muang khua)

Muang Khua – Muang Ngoi Neua

A lady at the guesthouse suggested we arrive at the docks by 8am to see if we can share a slow boat with others heading to Muang Ngoi Neua. At around 8:30am the locals started arriving though we didn’t know where they were headed. We checked in with the guys running the boats but no one was headed our way. After waiting another half an hour we started to worry that we would need to come up with plan B or C. Then one of the guys said there were seven other people who were going down to Muang Ngoi and he was going to get them. We were in luck! Long and behold we see Fabrice, the French guy we met at the Thai/Laos border walking down the street with a girl. Long story short, there were seven people at his guesthouse going in the same direction as us. They came down to find out who the other two people were and he was just as surprised to see us.

We all hopped into the slow boat with our luggage and off we sailed down the Nam Ou River. On the boat was a Chilean couple, four people from Switzerland, Fabrice, and us two. It was a beautiful sunny day and the scenery was magnificent. Huge limestone mountains and rolling fields lined both sides of the river. We sat on wooden plank so our bottoms were sore but the fresh air and view made up for the soreness. Small villages were scattered along the river and we stopped at a few of them to pick up more passengers. I am not sure how the locals know if there is a boat since there may not always be one everyday. They must phone ahead to find out since they are at the bank ready to hop on the boat when we arrive.

After four hours on the boat we arrived at Muang Ngoi, a quiet little town. We all settled into our guesthouses. Jon and I decided on the guesthouse closest to the dock since we were only planning on being there one night. It was the most rustic place we had stayed at with bamboo walls and wooden planks as floors. But it was also charming in its own way. There were mosquito nets above the bed and Jon looked as if he was in a cocoon when he laid on the bed.

We joined a few others for lunch at a restaurant next door. It had a beautiful view of the river and there was something peaceful and serene about the village. During lunch we found out about a cave a couple of kilometers away and a few of us decided to check it out. Jon opted to relax on the hammock outside our room. When we arrived at the cave we were told that we had to pay 10,000 Kip to enter the cave, which was only $1.25USD. Fabrice arrived before the rest of us so he had already checked out the cave. He said it wasn’t anything spectacular so half of us decided to turn back around. There was thunder in the distance and I decided it would be safer to go back before the rainstorm hit us. 

After a cold refreshing shower, we met the gang at the same restaurant for happy hour. The sun was just setting and emitted a reddish-orange hue over the mountains. We didn’t do much research into Laos and were pleasantly surprised at the amazing scenery surrounding us. Over a Beerlao we started talking to Rick, an American who lived in San Diego. He had been traveling for a few months and was on the same path to Luang Prabang. He was also looking to leave on the slow boat tomorrow.

For dinner we ventured to another restaurant and met Penny, a twenty-two year old Laos entrepreneur. She owned a guesthouse, which some of the people from the boat were staying at, as well as the restaurant. Her goal is to build a restaurant near the guesthouse and make enough money so she can retire at twenty-five. She was spunky and ambitious and we all took a liking to her. Jon read somewhere about a falang roll, which was banana and peanut butter rolled in sticky rice cut up into sushi pieces. Falang refers to westerners/foreigners and we often hear Thais and Laos use the word.

After a full meal, we headed back to the bungalow and snuggled underneath our mosquito nets just before the electricity went out at 10pm. 

8/19/10 (udomxai)

Udomxai – Muang Khua

Udomxai was a dusty desolate town with not much going on and we were excited to be heading closer to the river. As usual Jon waited by our suitcases while I went to buy the tickets. I was concerned about having our suitcases on top of the bus in case it rained and crossed my fingers for good weather. Once we settled into our itty bitty seats I bought breakfast for us. A lady was selling sticky rice inside a tube of bamboo. I was intrigued and bought one to try. I had a hard time figuring out how to get the rice out of the tube and was told to peel back the bamboo. It was hard to peel the bamboo since the rice was so sticky. I broke the bamboo in half and peeled the top layer off to use as a makeshift spoon. We were the only tourists on the bus and the couple sitting next to us were intrigued at my method of eating the rice.

Promptly at 8:30am the bus left the station and we chugged along the road following the river. All was well on the road and for a moment we were secretly smiling that there was no Laos music over the speakers. But our peace and quiet was quickly replaced by Laos music and of course we just happen to have sat right next to the speakers. We tried to stay positive and enjoy the beautiful scenery. About half way to Muang Khua the bus stopped at a village where women dressed in traditional village attire swarmed our bus to sell vegetables. It was a great photo opportunity but we realized they didn’t like their pictures taken. Or didn’t mind their picture taken if we gave them money. We decided to put our cameras away and enjoy the interaction between the locals.

When we arrived at the Muang Khua bus station a look of fear spread across Jon’s face. He thought what we were looking at was the center of town which didn’t have much. The station consisted of a small building with a Laos man who didn’t speak much English. We didn’t even see any houses. We were trying to figure out if there was a boat that would take us to the next village on the Nam Ou River. Luckily a shopkeeper came to help us. He explained it was too late to take the boat and we would need to spend one night in town and directed us to a guesthouse close to the river. He told the tuk-tuk driver where to take us. I squeezed in the back with the locals but there was no room for Jon. He was fine standing up on the back of the truck but the driver insisted that he sit in the front. The driver was a funny man and used hand gestures to make sure we didn’t get out of the truck before our designated stop.

We checked into our guesthouse, which offered modest accommodations. We grabbed lunch at a nearby restaurant along the river and were surprised at how expensive it was. And when we say expensive we mean $4-5/dish, which by Laos’ standards is very pricey. Muang Khua is a small town and we learned most of their items came from Udomxai. Then we walked to the river to arrange a boat ride. We were told that it would cost 1 million Kip to charter a boat for the two of us and then it was bargained down to 700,000 Kip (roughly $88). It was an exorbitant amount and all we could do is hope there were other tourists/locals who were heading down river tomorrow.

As we walked back to our guesthouse there were ducks and pigs on the side of the road. It was like we were in the middle of a farm.

8/18/10 (luang nam tha)

Luang Nam Tha - Udomxai

We had a short transport day ahead of us and woke up at 6:30am. If we got up early enough, there would be hot water for a shower at our guest stay and Annie jumped in first. Once I showered we checked out and went to the main street to find a ride to the bus station. We immediately met an eager tuk tuk driver and Annie went to work haggling with him. When we had an agreed price, we located a fresh baguette at a nearby restaurant for breakfast. The tuk tuk driver picked us up and we made the five minute drive to the Luang Nam Tha bus station. We are starting to get off the beaten path while in the remote Laos countryside and this was evident from the selection of ragged buses on display in the large muddy depot. Annie grabbed our tickets while I helped some locals load two bags of rice onto the roof of an ancient bus. It was unordinary to see the locals loading their motorbikes onto the roof of the old buses. We grabbed two seats in the rear of the bus and were on the road by 8:27am. We were under the impression that the trip would be two and a half hours but learned in reality that the it would take four. We had hoped to catch the 11:30am bus from Udomxai to Nuang Khua. We had heard that the trip along Mekong river from Nuang Khua to Luang Prabang was beautiful and were eager to get our boat trip underway. Since our bus would be arriving after 11:30am, we would have to catch a bus for the second leg of our trip on the following day.

The bus ride was typical of Southeast Asia, bumpy roads, load Asian music, hot, and uncomfortable. The nice thing is that the mountainous scenery in Laos is spectacular. The mountains are etched with vibrantly green rice paddies highlighted by lone bamboo huts along the horizon. The mist in the mountains had yet to burn off from the day's sun and I was pleasantly surprised at just how scenic the drive was. At 1pm we arrived in Udomxai. Udomxai is a transport town that houses many Chinese workers who are contracted labors in the area. It is the hub to further allow you to explore the more remote mountains of the north or make the turn off to the south and head to Luang Prabang. When we got off the bus we visited the local tourist information center to make sure we had the correct travel details for tomorrow's bus schedule and then visited several guest stays to find a spot to rest our heads. Annie visited five before settling on the Lithavixay Guest House based on a Lonely Planet recommendation. The place was good and had free wifi. We ate at a local restaurant and then took a nap for three hours.

Transport days can be a drain and we were surprised at how long we slept. Since there is not a lot to do in Udomxai, Annie and I decided to work on some upcoming articles for the blog and spent the next several hours on this task. At 8:30pm we went out to explore the area to find some food and stumbled upon a small restaurant along a side street that had good food for very reasonable prices. It was funny to see the entire staff mesmerized by the local Asian soap operas as we ate our dinner. When we returned to our guest house, I worked on getting the Cambodia recap video going while Annie read. We felt a little guilty that we have not done much while in Laos but are hopeful things will pick up as we make our way to Luang Prabang. 

8/17/10 (luang nam tha)

Luang Nam Tha

Luang Nam Tha is a town known for trekking and kayaking into the Nam Ha National Protected Area (NPA) and boasts eco-tourism. We were interested in a two-day trekking into the Nam Ha NPA, which included an overnight stay in a village chief’s house. We hadn’t done an overnight stay in a village and were intrigued by the possibility of learning more about the villagers. The challenge was finding Jon a pair of trekking shoes since he threw away his Salomon in Bangkok. We were hoping to find a new pair along the way.

We visited the morning market in search of shoes for Jon. The morning market sells everything you need from clothes to food to toiletries to bike tires. A tour guide recommended Chinese army shoes since it was unlikely we would be able to find good trekking shoes. After some searching we finally located the army shoes but they were all too small for Jon. I guess the Chinese army men have small feet. Without any trekking shoes we weren’t going to be able to go on any treks. We left the market disappointed.

We passed by a local restaurant packed with people. We ventured in and to my luck found out their specialty was noodle soup. I couldn’t resist and ordered a beef noodle soup. Before the noodles came out a plate of bean sprouts, a bowl of sweet and spicy fermented bean dip, and a plate full of veggies were brought out. Then came a huge bowl of sizzling hot noodle soup. All this food for $1.25. Jon suggested I start to rate the noodle soups based on a five noodle scale and I would definitely give this one four noodles. If you are in LNT I highly recommend this place. I couldn’t find a name for the restaurant but it’s located on the main street next to Green Mountain internet cafe. Look for the shop with all the people eating noodle soups.

We returned to our hotel to come up with a new game plan. Since we weren’t going to be able to go trekking we decided to leave the next day and start heading toward Muang Khua. Our plan was to take the slow boat from Muang Khau to Luang Prabang with a possible stop somewhere in between for one night. We heard from our friends Pete and Danielle that the boat trip was the highlight of their adventure.

It was amazingly cool outside so we sat on the balcony reading and enjoying our down time. We didn’t get the chance to explore much of the area but knew there would be more adventures ahead. 

8/16/10 (chiang rai)

Chiang Rai - Huay Xai - Luang Nam Tha

Transport day. I must say that I really enjoy traveling the world but transport days are rough especially when you get into the more rugged countries. Annie and I were headed to Laos on this day and we had a lot of kilometers ahead of us. We woke up at 6:00am and quickly packed. We planned to take the 7 o'clock bus to the border town of Chiang Khong for entry into Laos. The bus was first come first serve and left every hour. It is easy to see why people use backpacks for extended travel because it can be difficult to navigate with roller suitcases. The wheels get caught in street cracks and we are constantly lifting up and down on staircases and curbs. Not the most ideal and our bags have taken a beating as a result. Annie quickly made each of us a peanut butter sandwich before leaving for the bus station and then we made the two block trip to the old Chiang Rai bus depot. All the buses we have ridden to this point have been large VIP buses. You see similar luxury buses roaming the countryside in the US. The buses from here on out would be what looked like an old converted school bus not built for my six foot two frame.  We loaded our suitcases in the back and squeezed ourselves into the springy seats. The bus ride lasted a few hours as we stopped in many remote villages to pick up passengers along the way. The trip went smoothly. When we arrived to Chiang Khong, the bus dropped us off in the center of town and we had to catch a tuk tuk to the Mekong river to cross into Laos. Annie quickly jumped into her negotiator role and grabbed an additional French backpacker named Fabrice to get us a better rate. The ride was 40BHT ($1.33USD) for the both of us. We loaded our luggage into the tuk tuk and made the short trip to the river. We went through immigration for our exit stamp from Thailand and then rolled our luggage down the concrete bank to the river. We were directed to a narrow long boat and loaded our luggage. The long boat ride was 80BHT ($2.66USD) The river was a muddy brown color and we were quickly shuttled across to Huay Xai, the Laos border town.

Our first stop was to get an entry visa at the immigration office. Getting the visa would give us some foreshadowing of our experience with money in Laos. Annie handled all the details and actually had to negotiate a price with the officer. This is traditionally a cut and dry experience but in Laos, it is open for negotiation. The visa was supposed to cost $30USD each but the officer said it would be $35. Annie tried to argue with the officer but didn't want to cause problems. When the officer returned our passports he gave us an extra $5 back so in the end it costed us $65.

Next we needed to coordinate a bus to take us to Luang Nam Tha and at a concrete table next to immigration we met a friendly Laos man who offered to take us for 400BHT. Annie and Fabrice decided to walk down the street to see if they could get a better offer while I chatted with the bus broker. Annie came back after five minutes with tickets for 300BHT each and we were on our way. Luang Nam Tha is a remote hilly region in northern Laos who promotes eco tourism. They offer many jungle treks and kayaking tours and it made for a good first destination. The bus trip was going to take three and a half hours and we were assured the roads were good. Annie had paid extra money to get us on a minibus, which is basically an extended mini van. The bus crammed  twelve people inside and it is a tight fit. Annie and I made our way to the back and we were on our way. Much like our other rides, the bus played very loud Laos music over the speakers. It is so loud, it is often difficult to hear music played from an iPod through headphones. We started our ascent to the hilly northern region and one of my favorite new sayings is there is no straight road up a mountain. The area was very beautiful and the road was lined with bamboo houses elevated on stilts and domesticated animals such as water buffalo and pigs. The road twisted back and forth with many sharp curves that our diver raced around. The asphalt was broken up by many large potholes and huge chunks had completely eroded into gravel. The back of the bus was stuffy as the load music blasted in my ear. I started to get queazy as we bounced and swayed along the rough road. Everyone was asleep around me as I started to get the familiar sensation as my mouth began to water uncontrollably. I was going to be sick. I quickly woke up Annie and moved her out of the way to stick my head our the rear window and surprisingly deposited my morning breakfast along the Laos countryside. This was the first time car sickness had gotten to me and caught me off guard. Fortunately no damage was done and I felt better after the experience. After another hour we arrived at the Luang Nam Tha bus station. The English speaking guide stood up and told us we were to get off here. If we wanted a ride to town, it would cost an additional 10,000Kip ($1.25USD). Annie and Fabrice quickly challenged this informing him they had been assured we would be dropped off in the center of town. They went back and forth until the whole bus was silent and after a few minutes we were on our way again. Power to the people, we avoided another Laos money scam. After a short drive we arrived in the town center where all the passengers exited and went their own directions to find accommodations. Annie had located a place via her internet planning and we quickly identified it and settled in. The rate was $8USD for the night and it was a fairly modern guest stay.

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8/15/10 (chiang rai)

Chiang Rai

Our true final day in Thailand. Jon and I extended our trip by one day to come up with a game plan for Laos. Our friends Pete and Danielle from New Zealand had given extensive notes and their Lonely Planet guidebook from their visit five months ago. I had also spent many hours researching online routes and possible activities of interest. We originally planned on heading to Luang Prabang via a two day slow boat down the Mekong River with an overnight stop in Pak Beng. During my research i had heard of horror stories on the fast boat where people had to wear helmets because the noise of the motor was very loud and because the boats are going at an incredible fast speed that they sometimes capsized. Definitely not what I call fun. I found another way for us to get to Luang Prabang that would take longer but allow us to see more of northern Laos. I was still hooked on the notion of visiting more hill tribe villages and had read that Muang Sing, a town north of Luang Nam Tha, had various ethnic tribes. We figured it was a viable route to consider and we would be able to get to Luang Nam Tha in one day. It's hard to know exactly what route to take since the information quickly changes depending on the season. We felt good about the research we had done on the Luang Nam Tha route but were ready for the slow boat to Luang Prabang depending on what the situation was like when we arrived in Huay Xai, the border of Laos.

With that taken care of it was catch up day for us. We wrote three daily details, which can take a surprising amount of time even when we split it up between the both of us. Jon had to work on photos to match each of the articles. Being the professional that he is, there is always a bit of color correction involved in each photo. it was also time to face reality and look at our finances. With the hard drive crash we lost all of our Quicken information. During our travels we had been recording all of our expenses on Quicken so we had an accurate account of where our money went. We created an excel spreadsheet to track our finances for the remainder of the trip. After a quick glance at our accounts and expenses we came to the realization that we were close to the final leg of our journey. It is always a bit sobering to look our finances but it's good for the soul and also teaches us how to communicate openly about our finances. 

After a nice meal at nearby restaurant we both craved something sweet so we walked to a rottee stand and ordered two chocolate and sweet condensed rottee. It hit the spot. We called it an early night and packed our bags for our next big adventure. We are going to miss Thailand, where we called home for a month and a half. She has been good to us and we hope one day to return to her for some more adventure.

8/14/10 (chiang rai)

Chiang Rai

Have we talked about the amazing people we have met on our travels? Maybe we should emphasize this again. Our friend Pai from Bangkok who hooked us up with his father Mr. Sak in Chiang Mai, came through again big time. I had been able to install 99% of the software I lost on my computer crash via download while we had fast internet in Chiang Rai. I use some pretty specialized software to handle the photos and videos you see on this blog and the missing piece for my rebuild was the video editing software that isn't available via download. This was key in me finishing up the New Zealand recap and working on any videos in the near future. We asked Pai if he could hook us up with a copy of the software and within two days he had a package on an overnight bus to Chiang Rai scheduled to arrive at eight this morning with everything I needed. I am not sure what I would have done without him and will repay him in the future as our paths will cross again. I know he reads these articles, so thank you Pai. I owe you big time for all your help.

We still had our jeep for the morning so Annie and I drove to the bus station and picked up the package. We returned and I installed the remaining software and put the finishing touches on the New Zealand recap and posted it online.

One of the more handy things we have encountered while in Chiang Rai was a mysterious map that broke down the downtown areas with insightful knowledge of the best noodle soup, good vegetarian, and massage parlors with no hookers. The hotel gave us this hand drawn map upon arrival and we were instantly curious who authored it. One of the prime destinations on our mystery map was Orn's Bookshop. It was labeled the best in town and Annie and I have become connoisseur of used book shops on our travels. In the afternoon we thought we would go check it out. The bookshop was located on the second floor of Orn's house who was a kind, middle aged Westerner who guided us to the English section. We swapped stories on guidebooks and then explored the selection for the next fifteen minutes. Annie exchanged an old Cambodian book with Orn and in what was a brilliant marketing move, we discovered that he was the creator of the mystery map. He quickly gave us his latest copy that he updates every few weeks and provides to the local hotels.

Later that night we returned to the night market intent on trying a very popular hot pot we have seen many Thais eat. Annie handled the ordering and within a few minutes we had a bubbling clay pot heated by red hot coals on our table. This is a very old world version of something you would get at a fondue restaurant and we had a large selection of seafood and fresh vegetables to cook and enjoy. After diner we headed to the Chiang Rai clock tower that has a daily evening light show promptly at 9pm. I thought it would be nice to capture as a final time lapse in Thailand. After a half an hour we headed back to our hotel to plan our departure to Laos.

When we got back, instead of planning, we decided to get a late night Thai massage. I had yet to try this in Thailand and with Annie's encouragement we decided it was now or never. When we arrived at Pai Massage (no relation to our friend Pai) we were warmly greeted but they are a little confused as to what to make of the Asian and the whitey together. This is compounded by the fact that they can't figure out where Annie is from. Two ladies escorted us up to the third story of the building into a dark room and helped us get situated with our garments and mattresses. For the next hour my Thai masseuse went to work relieving a week's worth of intense stress built up from my computer crash. She contorted, pulled, squeezed, and massaged me into all angles. I couldn't help but break out into uncontrollable laughter as this small woman hoisted my entire body on her bent knees while attempting to crack my back all the while asking in broken English how many kilograms I weighed. It was pretty wonderful and excruciating all at the same time. When we returned we decided to push our Laos trip off another day. It is a nice luxury to have time on our side and we will extend our trip in Thailand by one day to dial in the final details of our departure. 

8/13/10 (chiang rai)

Chiang Rai – Mae Salong Valley – Chiang Rai

After having spent some time at the hilltribe museum yesterday we decide to explore the northern areas of Chiang Rai where many of the hill tribe villages reside. I set an ambitious schedule that included the Maesalong Valley to visit the villages, Mae Sai to explore the caves and the Burma border, and the Golden Triangle to visit the Hall of Opium. We rented a four-wheel jeep from an ad at our guesthouse for 1000 BHT (about $33 USD). The guy showed up with a rigidity jeep that looked like it had been through warfare. As we were leaving he mentioned that fuel tank was on empty and we would need to fill it up. When we returned the jeep we could return it with no fuel. We thought it was a bit of a scam since we really didn’t know how much gas we were going to use and could end up putting more in than needed. I guess we could have fueled up half way but since we were going to be gone all day we decided to fuel up all the way.

We made on our way to Mae Salong Valley, about seventy miles from Chiang Rai. Once we entered the valley it was beautiful. There were small settlements along the hillside with corn, rice paddies, and tea plantations. We read there were security checkpoints around the region though we really didn’t know what they for until we went to the museum yesterday. The Thai government had cracked down on opium growing and distribution. The Royal Thai police set up the checkpoints to ensure that people weren’t smuggling opium. Most of the time we were just waved through. I guess we didn’t look like the opium smuggler type. At one point I asked them for directions to the hill tribe villages, which Jon laughed at because they were pretending to take their job seriously and weren't tour guides. I figured it didn't hurt to ask.

One of the challenges in venturing on our own was that we didn’t know exactly know where the hill tribe villages were located. We read our guidebook, bought a map, and hoped there would be signs. Anytime we saw a sign that had “ban” on it we stopped since we guessed that meant village. We moved at a glacial speed along the mountainside because of our powerless jeep. It was a tank to drive not to mention the difficulty in making u-turns, which always happens when you are on unfamiliar roads. There were many steep turns and at one point I was afraid that we were going to roll down because the jeep didn’t have enough power. All part of the adventure.

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8/12/10 (chiang rai)

Chiang Rai

This was our first full day in Chiang Rai and I was happy to find out that the internet at the Orchids Guesthouse has blazing fast speed. It was probably some of the fastest we have had since leaving the states and it couldn't have come at a better time. I spent the morning rebuilding my computer from scratch and was surprised at how fast it went. Most of the software was available for download and by lunch time I had set the wheels in motion to get myself back up to speed.

In the afternoon Annie and I visited the Hilltribe Museum and Education Center. Annie has a soft spot for what she terms the natives and we had visited some Hmong villages while in Chiang Mai. I really didn't know much about the tribes other than photos I had seen of the tribespeople in there colorful clothing. The museum was very interesting and a highlight of our visit in Chiang Rai. We watched a slideshow breaking down the demographics of the five local tribes and then toured the museum. The area the tribespeople inhibit is called the Golden Triangle and it is the region where Burma, Thailand, and Laos meet. The Golden Triangle has a long history of opium production and the tribespeople have been involved with the poppy fields since their arrival over hundred years ago. The museum had a historical timeline of opium over the last several thousand years and it is was fascinating to see the evolution of morphine and codeine that comes from the opium plants. The colonization of the Asian region basically came as a result of controlling the opium trade by the British Empire. It was also interesting to see the US involvement in modern day. I read an article about Western backpackers who visit Laos to hit the opium dens because it is something exotic while many of the young Asians consider it their grandfathers' drug. We also learned more about the tribespeople and their history. They each have their own distinctive form of traditional dress and traditions. The clothing that takes a year to make. Each is very beautiful and based on silver and vibrant colors. The hilltribes are not recognized by the Thai government and the people are not entitled to medical coverage and other social programs. They live a hard life living off the land in the higher elevation subsiding off of farming and are somewhat cut off from the rest of Thai society. The younger generation are more exposed to modern traditions and it is a little sad to see some of the hilltribes traditions fading.

Later that night we returned to the night market for some cheap food and beer and were entertained by the people watching and Asian stage entertainment. Annie also discovered a new Thai dessert that proved to be very popular with the locals. Usually when searching for food we go to the long line and it is a safe bet. The dessert had a consistency of tapioca and looked like colorful marshmallows. It came hot or cold and wasn't too sweet but very refreshing.