Mar 15, 2012 - Chiang Rai

A two minute ride across the Mekong river took us into Thailand.  Here the currency is Baht, 30 to the US $, so our mental calculations change once more.  We also now greet people with sawadee ka (Caroline) and sawadee kap (Sven) and say thank you korp kun ka/kap. Upon arrival in Chiang  Rai, we were directed to the Centre mall to get SIM cards for the phone and iPad.  What a culture shock!  A huge 3-storied mall about 6 times larger than BayFair.   So different  from the little local shops we have got used to over the last couple of...

Mar 8, 2012 - Thailand - Day 59 - Boat ride down the Mae Nam Kok river

On our walk to the main pier to board our boat at 12:30pm we were stopped by three young Buddhist monks. They had a sheet of paper to which they read off in English, “Can I ask you to feel out this form for us please”? and handed us piece of paper with such questions as our name, age, nationality and signature. Once done the form (1 for each of them) they asked in English (by reading off the sheet of paper again) “Can we now ask you to take a photo with us”? and 1 photo for each of them with each of us. Once done they read off their sheet...

Feb 2, 2012 - Cooking Course

We attempted to wash our dirty clothes this morning-- wearing the same t-shirt for 2 weeks gets... old... But it proved more time-consuming than expected, washing by hand in the shower, so we ended up giving them to the owner of the guesthouse so as not to be late for our class today. We were supposed to get the clothes early this evening, but we didn't return to the guesthouse until after 9pm and no one was around. Hopefully we can pick them up in the morning no problem! Anyway, I'm really glad that we decided to take the cooking class...

Jan 29, 2012 - Buses

Today was mainly a day of travel. Tomorrow morning we leave for a 3-day hill tribe trek, and our pickup is in Chiang Rai, 8 hours on buses away from where we slept last night in Pai. So we packed up early and left our upside-down house before 7am. We ate what is my favorite breakfast thus far at a street stand near the bus terminal-- it was a rice porridge with a soft boiled egg, bits of pork, and what I think may have been cilantro. Delicious! Sadly, Blaire's breakfast made a return visit on the very windy ride to Chiang Mai. Thankfully,...

Jan 16, 2012 - Tentative de voyager par le bateau (long tail boat)

A l'approche du Laos où nous prévoyons voyager régulièrement en bateau, 1er essai aujourd'hui. Nous avons fait le trajet Chiang Mai-Chiang Rai avec un bus (4 heures) et ensuite un "long tail boat" (bateau typiquement thailandais vu dans certains James Bond) pour environ 3h30. Un succès certain, le trajet d'autobus fut un peu pénible (froid car la porte arrière était ouverte et il était très tôt (départ à 5h30), par contre, le village de Thaton où on prenait le bateau était bien (bon déjeuner, atmosphère relaxe, etc). Le bateau était...

Apr 23, 2011 - The prison cell hotel room

After a pleasant bus ride north we disembarked in Chiang Rai and made the mistake of booking one of the first hotel rooms we came across. After we had paid and tried to settle in we quickly realized our mistake. As Caleb fumbled with an air conditioning unit that refused to stay on for longer than three minutes I laid down on our box-spring posing as a mattress bed and stared up at the blank white walls with glaring florescent light overhead and read in our guidebook that there is virtually nothing to do in this town unless you have a few...

Apr 2, 2011 - Chiang Rai then back to Bangkok

Oh great, we had to get that lovely bus back over the mountains from Pai again. This time the bus was being driven by a wonderfully mental driver! Kat couldn't look and read a book the whole way nearly. Thankfully halfway through the conductor took over the driving and things felt alot safer then! We had hoped to just get straight on a bus to Chiang Rai but had to wait 4 hours! Great! That was fun! Alot or research time for Cambodia. Bus to Chiang Rai was thankfully much calmer. Someone clever decided to build that road between the...

Jul 25, 2010 - Chiang Rai

Wir kommen immer weiter in den Norden Thailands, mit Chiang Rai sind wir in der Provinzhauptstadt der noerdlichsten Provinz angekommen. Nach einer eher ungefaehrlichen Bootsfahrt mit einem Longtail Boat von Thaton aus sind wir durch Sonne und Regen, in einer ganz ordentlichen Stroemung und einem extrem hohen Wasserstand nach all den Regenfaellen, heil in Chiang Rai angekommen. Bei der Fahrt haben wir zwei total nette Australier kennen gelernt, mit denen die Fahrtzeit gleich noch viel schneller rum ging und wir abends auch noch in einer Bar...

Jul 25, 2010 - Chiang Mai / Chiang Rai

Well I have now moved up to Chiang Rai in the far North of Thailand where I will be spending the last 3 nights in Thailand before I move on to the next exciting phase of my trip. I have just arrived from Chiang Mai where I spent an enjoyable time completing the second week of my massage course. This week, we focused on massaging people in the side, back and sitting positions and when combined with last weeks training, I am now able to complete a two to three hour massage. The second week was even more fun than the first as everybody had got...

Apr 6, 2010 - Chiang Rai.

6 April. Time to hit the road again and back in the heat again, 38°C. The trip to Chiang Rai took me about 3 hours and I have to go with 3 song-thaews before I finally arrived. I have been in Chiang Rai before, but it was 12 years ago. I must admit that Chiang Rai have changed very much. To begin with, I had some problem to get orientated. I only had one guesthouse on my list, the North Guesthouse, there I also checked-in. The North GH, I suppose are a rather new place. It is very small, but it gives a very fresh impression. In the evening...

Mar 28, 2010 - Chiang Rai

Laos uit, Thailand in... Dit gaat snel en makkelijk, het enige nadeel is dat je sinds kort maar een visum voor 14 dagen krijgt... We moeten het dus een keer verlengen, want max 14 dagen in Thailand, beetje weinig. Voor veel mensen is het een probleem, deze regel is er pas sinds kort, hiervoor kon je 30 dagen het land in. Maar goed, we hebben het uitgezocht, waarschijnlijk kunnen we in Bankok een visumrun doen naar Cambodja: Met de bus naar de grens, een paar uurtjes in Cambodja blijven, nieuw stempeltje in het paspoort en je mag 14 dagen...

Nov 25, 2009 - Chiang Rai Rant

Note: Entry while sleepy in Seoul- all names have been changed to protect the innocent. After a nice start in Chiang Mai we headed north to spend the night in Chiang Rai. En route we had several stops to a orchid farm, elephant camp, a boat ride on the Kok River, a a visit to two hill tribes. The orchid farm, while a short stop, was really beautiful and educational. I don't think Albuquerque had the right weather to grow them as robust as thailand- we should stick to sage brush. THE remainder of the morning was spent at a Elephant camp, ...