It is now Sunday march 6th and I have been in Thailand since feb 18th, 16 days total. I have been asked how long I have been traveling and feeel as though I have been saying 2 or 3 weeks since February so I guess I've compacted alot into ny time. Since I last posted a few interesting things have happened to me. After a great motorbike ride around chaing rai and it's vicinitys with Maude I stayed the night at my couchsurfing friend Catys house. I didnt plan to leave for Laos after the first night but planned on staying 2 nights and leaving extremely early the next morning. That plan started on Thursday march 2nd. The vortex of awesomness that is chaing rai kept me three until sunday morning when I caught the bus (again as you will soon read) to get to chain kong, the Thai departure city to Laos. I by no means regret anything about my stay in chaing rai and I probably would t change much of anythig if icould, although ny nikon point and shoot did have quite q healthy and growing relashonzhip going before it's demise. Anyway...
On Friday I spent most of the day blogging and riding my (catys) bike around the city. A great and productive day that culminated with me buying a usd camera from a very local camera shop. Caty used the guy when Doing all her photography stuff ( she was a photo journalist as her major at art school) althogh a little bit more expensive than i would have liked to spend, the price of convienance, that it was a canon powershof elph (a step above my previous 2 digis), and the fact the guy was a friend of catys made my decision for me and I was happy about it when I walked out with it. That night I went out to dinner with caty and her awesome roomate amber for dinner. Together there were about 6 farang ( foreigners) but it was great conversation because 4 of them were English teachers. Boom! I racked there brains for information and they were super helpful and we stayed together for yet another night at the peace bar. I am never an advocate for going to the same bar so often but this one was different and every night was uniquely special. Also, my tatoo artist friend pinoit lived and worked supremely close so it was easy to hang out with him throughout the night. Although everyone told me there was no way I was going to wake up I the morning to catch the early bus to the border I told them they were wrong and that although I loved it in CR i was off the next morning. In the end we were both right.
The next morning I was out ofthe house by 7am with a ride to the bus staion from amber before she headed off to teach. I fell immediatly asleep but when I awoke about 2.5 hrs later I was surronded by beautiful and lush green fields surronded by mountains. As I grabbed my camera and inserted the memory card a message read "memory card missing" that's strange I thought but maybe my high def cars wasn't compatible. I tried my other card but to no avail. Worrying, I asked some of the ohe passengers around me If I could try there cards. 4 differnt cards later I accepted defeat. The camera was defunct and I now knew the Thai words on the screen yesterday translated into English perofectly once I reset the language. Getting off the bus a little later I plopped down on a set of steps in defeat. I knew what I had to do but that did t make it any easier. I grabbed a piece of chicken to eat and boarded the same bus I had just got off. It was back to chaing rai to try and plead my case to the camera man and try and find a new one. Sleeping the 3 hours back I was rejuinated and recharged when I arrived. I walked about 2 km back to caty and ambers house but took a pedi cab the last km, telling myself I deserved the ride. It was a perfect tension easer and reminded me how excited I am to move back to Boston and ride a bike again.
Sparing some details I was eventually able to get my money back from the camera man after much discussion in Thai and English. While he accused me of breaking it I assured him I had not and that if it had been my mistake I wouldn't have come all the way back losing a travel day, etc. He eventually gave methe money back and, after a tip from a fellow bus passenger was able to get a brand new camera from a Thai shopping mall. ( an experince in itself the malls upstairs were filled with elementary school students using cyber cages, karaoke rooms, video game rental rooms, dance studios, and a breakdancing room....wild place butessentially a big shopping mall)
I ended up with a sony that was a little cheaper and better quality than the canon and I was also able to use my visa, saving in the ATM fees and keeping my refunded cash for future needs.
amber and her bf Nek-
That night was spent relaxing with the girls, a yoga instrutor names siri, (. A yoga guru and maseuse from sweeden:) , and ambers boyfriend named Nek. When the girls went to a more formal dinner nek and I hung out drinking some beers and listening to him at guitar and have complete and total man talk. A great experience to try and understand what he was saying and also to discuss normal things with a person from such a different culture. Really awesome. We contiued the chillout session on the porch when the girls arrived back but when nek, amber, and siri headed to the bar I decidied to stay back, knowing a 5:30 wake up would come soon enough. Caty stayed too and we hung out a bit longer listening to music and watching some stuff on her computer before crashing. A nice relaxing end to a pretty wild day. When I woke up the next morning and walked all the way to the bus I was extremely grateful to amber and caty for all their hospitality and kindness. They are exactly what couch surfing is all about (in the ease of meeting a new friend via the www) and I will never forget how helpful and just plain fantastic they were to me.
-caty on the right amber on the left-
Arriving again In Chaing kong, I felt very well prepared for my foray into Laos. Many people get confused and overpay or do unnecesary things to cross over the border but I felt that ihad done enough research to save myself from getting nickle and dimes... It was a process that could include a bus, a taxi, a ferry, a taxi, a ticket office, and then the boat but could be much simplified with some walking and shortcuts. I knew places I could walk, avoidable fees, cheap places for food, and that I had plenty of time because a 10am departure ran on Thai time. (Very similar to Paul time.)
Going through immigration was a breeze and when I got to Laos I instantly became a millionaire. (well i had to trade $200 for the experience) Yup, you heard me right. 1,200,000 Kip rested securely in my pocket.
When I arrived to the area where the boat would take off I felt overwhelmingly good about myself and my future. Around me sat about 50 or more young travelers awaiting departure, all in search of thir own adventure. From all over the world it was an inspiring sight. The topper was when I was speaking with a few guys from california and thy remarked about how many hoops there was to jump through and how difficult or imossible it must have been for someone to get to where they were solo, wihout a group package I jokingly thanked them for the Accolades and enjoyed my first sanwich in 3 weeks as celebration.
Getting on the boat was a great experience and much more roomy and enjoyable than I thought. 6 hrs the first day, a pit stop for a night, then 7 hrs the second day, before arriving In The city of luang prahbang.
The views from the boat traveling on the Mekong were incredible the entire time. Napping, reading, and listening to the many conversations around me was a great pleasure. When the boat docked in the small village you could immediatly tell tourism was the citys major revnue as the dock was riddled with young boys and pushy men trying their best to get you to stay at there guesthouse. Knowing not to get overwhelmed I walked past them all and walked up the street full of guesthouses and restaurants in laos and English. Remarkably, on the boat I had met a man I had seen the previous days attempt into the country. Arjun, from india, and I decided it would be cheaper to share a room and so we did, finding a place for 20,000 Kip, approximately $2.50 each. We got to know each other over a long walk down the main street ofhe city and a great dinner of buffaloe and rice and vegetables. Arjun was traveling for 65 days and was about 2weeks in. From Calcutta he loved to trek and backpack and our conversation seemed to constantly be about the himilayans and his many adventures. A great connection for future travels for sure!!!
I retired pretty early that night as I was heavilly into angels and demons, by Dan brown. After blowing through the DaVinci Code I had picked up Angels and demons at a used bookshop in CR and jumped headfirst into it as well. I typed up this post on the boat only after reading it in it's entirety in less than 24 hours. Awesome, awesome, awesome read.
The boat is soon to be Arriving in luang prabang and my goal is to find the spicy Laos hostel somehow. A new adventure in another country will begin extremely shortly and I anxiously await the challenge!!
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