Jan 14, 2013 - Last Night in Thailand

As Night fell the valley got misty and it was harder to see out the van. We arrived 7 pm to the Nam Khong Guest House in Chiang Khong. It was a 6 hour drive. The rooms were rustic with twin beds and wooden shutters in the windows. You walked out onto your screen porch to get to your washroom. We ate at a local restaurant. Since there was no beer there, we bought our beer at a nearby 7-11 and brought it into the restaurant. They don't mind you doing that. Our sleep was very good even though the mattresses were rock hard!

Mar 11, 2012 - Il lungo viaggio verso Luang Prabang

Mentre scrivo mi trovo su una slowboat, discendendo lentamente il Mekong dopo essere partiti da Houayxai questa mattina, una volta passato il confine con il Laos. È già il secondo giorno di viaggio e ancora uno mi separa dalla meta, Luang Prabang. Ieri mattina mi è passato a prendere il minibus diretto a Chiang Khong, la città di confine in cui avremmo passato la notte, raggiunta nel pomeriggio dopo una sosta a Chiang Rai per visitare il White Temple, un tempio decisamente pazzo costruito da un artista occidentale convertito al buddismo....

Feb 27, 2011 - On the road

Sunday Feb. 27 After a skype chat with Stephanie and Jack we wandered around Chiang Mai and got just a little lost. Breakfast this morning was our most expensive meal so far. Go figure. I found some funky pants in a market and some ladies doing massages so we sat and let them do their thing on our feet, which turned into shoulders and arms. Wow! We met up with Dara who found a market with jack fruit and papaya salad. No wonder she loves it here! The food is awesome. We checked out and headed out. First stop was a cashew farm. There's a lot...

Jul 29, 2010 - An der Grenze

In Chiang Khong, direkt am Mekong mit Blick auf Laos, haben wir fuer eine Nacht nochmal Halt gemacht bevor schliesslich die Grenze ueberschritten werden soll. Unsere Unterkunft ist ein etwas heruntergekommenes Zimmer, das aber einen traumhaften Blick auf den Fluss hat und man , bei klarerem Wetter, vom Bett aus den Sonnenaufgang beobachten kann. Den Abend haben wir nach endlosem Regen genutzt, um in einem Internet Cafe mal wieder Kontakt mit der Heimat aufzunehmen und zu ueberlegen wie es in Laos weitergehen soll. Der Wochenmarkt am Freitag...

May 29, 2010 - Chiang Khong

29th May On a boat, early, again. Still absolutely loving it though. The family who live on the boat cooked us lunch, again, like the tea cooked by the Cambodian family, it is some of the tastiest et simple food I've had. I want to find a cubby hole and live on this boat. We just made it to theborder before it closed, got stamped out on the Lao side and then we got a tiny boat to take us accross the river to get stamped into Thailand again. We stayed in a tiny town again at a guesthouse which loved the king and had a multitude of pictures...

Feb 5, 2009 - At the Thai - Laos Border

Randy For weeks I have been anticipating a two-day boat trip down the Mekong River from Thailand to Laos’ number one tourist destination, Luang Prabang. Meandering down a river through the jungle in Southeast Asia should offer a relaxed glimpse into Laos. This I could contrast and compare with my city and bus experiences in Laos later on. We have the luxury of time on this ten-month trip which we use to our great advantage when reaching a tough decision spot. As we approached Huay Xia, Laos, the boat starting point, we began to understand...

Jan 11, 2009 - Chiang Khong

Hey Folks, Chiang Khong has been our next stop, and things seem to be getting better and better as we go. Bangkok was this massive city, Chiang Mai was a pleasant step down, and Chaing Rai was delightful. Chiang Kong is just the perfect small town meandering along the banks of the Mekong river. Its sleepy and has the most wonderful walkway right along the waterfront. On our evening stroll we saw fishermen fishing and a farmer farming. His crops were right along the shore of the river. The soil looked very fertile and the little lettuce...

Jun 24, 2008 - Chiang Khong

On Tuesday I travel to the Thai/Laos border by minibus to cross the Mekong into Laos and arrange my 30 day visa. I arrived in Chiang Khong after a 6 hour minibus ride during which I had my head in a book for most of the journey mainly because the view outside was always a pretty scary one: the wrong side of the road with oncoming traffic, or just screaming around one of the many mountain bends at suicidal speed. Chiang Khong was small and friendly, nothing like South American border towns although the guest hose rooms were quite similar. I...

May 8, 2008 - Abschied von Indochina

Zum letzten Mal haben wir in einem einfachen laotischen Gasthaus uebernachtet und machen uns nun auf den Weg zur Grenzstation. Da es in Laos nur relativ sporadisch Geldautomaten gibt, hatten wir uns Tage zuvor nochmal reichlich mit Bargeld eingedeckt, wovon wir nun immernoch ziemlich viel uebrig haben. Da der laotische Kip ausserhalb von Laos nicht gehandelt wird, muessen wir also noch sehen, dass wir unsere Reserven in thailaendische Baht umtauschen. Da die Umtauschstelle am Grenzuebergang geschlossen hat, machen wir uns auf den Weg ins...

May 5, 2008 - Chiang Kong

Now at Chiang Khong which is a lovely little town right on the Laos border beside the Mekong River. Our guest house is directly on the river front with uninterrupted views of the river. From our room we step on to a deck with the river on our doorstep. it is about 150 m wide and quite fast flowing. Small boats go back and forth ferrying people across to the Laos side of the river. Today we did one of our favourite activities leisurely bike riding along new routes. We rode about 15 kms out mostly following the river. It was the most...

Apr 18, 2008 - Chiang Kong

Sitting on the dock off the bay... Arrived in Chiang Kong and spend all day looking at the other side of the Mekong: LAOS. In evening I meet Barish again and some more people from Pai and Chiang Mai. Nice evening in TEEPEE bar,with the brother off the one in Chiang Rai. Next day border crossing.

Feb 21, 2008 - Left Chiang Mai & spent the night in Chiang Khong (near Laos border)

We left Chiang Mai this morning in 2 mini busses.. First stop was a Thai silk factory - for a tour... very informative and interesting to see the process and final products.. The drive was about 5 hours - with a break for lunch at the Museum for Hilltribe People -also interesting.. (The head shaman in one tribe gets to sleep with all village girls prior to their marriages.. sounds pretty suspect to me!) Over the years tribes have sold garments used for specific ceremonies, and which take many months to make, to tourists for incredibly cheap...