A sunny morning, no Mekong haze or fog this morning, at least it was like this when we got up, which was a little late.
First stop was Wat Xien Thong, just up the street from us. Beautiful mosaic work and quite old. There are lots of Chinese people around, they are here in droves, and they speak loudly. We run into Helen at the temple, she’s contemplating the teachings of Lord Buddha on a seat in the shade when we see her.
Next, we walked to the Junction of the Mekong and had a coffee at the River Point Cafe, lovely view over both rivers, shady and seems a step up in quality. Of course the price reflects this a little.
The Royal Palace is a little but of a let down but might be we’re a little weary by now and a little less patient. We go inside but the rules are a little frustrating so we dontcreally see much.
A short, late lunch in an Indian Restaurant on the river then Its chill time for an hour or so.
Between 5 & 7pm Helen and I attend ” Big Brother Mouse” where holiday makers, ex pats etc come to meet locals and converse in English to improve their English up to conversational level.
It was started by an American philanthropist who we met there, he sold a publishing and travel business to sysrt this up. I had 3 Hmong boys, 16 and 17, from northern Lao villages, they live in dormitory accommodation, see their families once or twice a year. They are motivated to learn. The motto they have is “Education is not the filling of a bucket but the lighting of a fire.”
A lazy Sunday is on the agenda after over a week of heavy duty travelling and two lazy days of riverboat life with a mixed group of ages and nationalities.
The Navigator at our front gate
The hotel has a very nice breakfast, we leave some washing to be done, issue some requests to our front desk regarding oil on the squeaky bathroom door, extra pillows and some milk for The Navigators cups of tea. She needs her tea before retiring at night and when she arises, otherwise…… things aren’t good!
We wander down a small ally towards the Mekong, and follow it along the river bank. We stumbled on Dave and Helen at a funky Cafe and decide on a coffee at Le Bennetton, down near our place. A quick check on their Air B&B called ” Homs House” which is very nice then a 5 minute walk takes an hour due to stops at shops and slow walking. A brief stop to withdraw 2 million kip in cash, but I feel safe with the equivalent of $140 AUD in my wallet. When we eventually get to the cafe it’s good coffee and French bakery stuff.
The cool morning is starting to warm up, its muggy so we decide to have a break and reconvene later at the Villa Santi Hotel bar at 4pm.
The weather has cooled, and its pleasant at Villa Santi, Jo from the Phillipines, one of the ” boat people” is walking past, she joins us for a drink and a chat. It’s good to see young people make big life decisions like she has, she joins us for dinner in the local market area as well.
The local khao soi is good, but not up to the standard we experienced in Chiang Mai. We see more “boat people”, Reece from London, Sophie from Devon, Sanjeev from the USA, a blonde woman from the UK ( can’t recall her name) and some other young backpackers, all having a drink and enjoying the food. It’s a nice thing to talk to young people who have the courage and conviction to head off into the world into remote places ( like where we are), experience other cultures, food, people like the Lao people who are less fortunate than a lot of us.
We wander back home via the river down the local market ally ways.
Another early start this morning. We leave Pak Beng at 7.30am, but, not until we look over the misty Mekong with the jungle almost down to waters edge while scoffing down a very nice breakfast. The Sanctuary Pak Beng Eco Lodge is very nice, better than the place Dale and I stayed in a few years ago.
Hotel pool with Mekong in the backgroundLao flag on our boat
During breakfast, Telegram Sam is struggling to recall what day of the week it is, then the jam he liberally spreads over his toast reminds him of a flavour, something from his past, an obscure flavour from the history of his taste buds, “delightful!”, he says, Hbum bursts his bubble by saying its pineapple. We remind him, its OK, its a sign of early mental demise and he should start thinking about making his Tasmanian bolt hole more suitable for an ageing occupant. However his enlightening dissertation on the process of transpiration, while largely mind numbing in its complexity, does demonstrate he can find some of his brain cells at will.
It’s a chill morning on the Mekong, cool in more than the temperature variety. As we’re leaving Pak Beng an elephant wanders out of the jungle on the other side of the river at the Elephant Conservation Park. I missed it, the orders didn’t.
The kilometres melt away to the gentle throb of the diesel motor of our boat. There’s a quietness this morning that wasn’t there yesterday, people have settled into the slow pace, there’s no alternative options, we’re on the boat until we’re not.
We notice the boats owner/driver hands the wheel to his grandson while he takes a pit stop.
Lunch is early, its chicken, rice, a tomato sauce, vegetables and fruit. We are pretty well fed.
The boat is much quieter this afternoon, its so pleasant with the coolish humid air brushing past your face as the boat pushes on.
Pak Ou Caves is a busy place, a bit grubby, a bit disorganised, I’ve seen it before and the Navigator is reticent to climb the steps into the cave. Claustrophobia and the smell of stale urine might have impacted her decision.
Onwards to a village, where we walk from the boat over a jetty of bamboo, old air force metal landing pads, and stringy timber to get to the “Whisky Village”. We do the obligatory look around the shops and head back to the boat.
A short time later we arrive in Luang Prabang. The accomodation is very nice so we unpack, shower and meet the others for a dinner on the banks of the Mekong. A wild eyed beautiful Equadorean girl chats to us, she’s crazy, a higher being sent her to Laos, but not before she was beaten up in Thailand, but that was also part the grand plan for her, apparently! She was a few ponies short in the top paddock, but easy on the eyes.
We braved the night markets before returning to our respective abodes for a long nights sleep. Tomorrow is an easy day.
An early start today, a pretty average breakfast at the hotel, we meet our driver and off we go, one other passenger picked up, a young Londoner backpacking the world after throwing in his job in the London financial world. His name is Reece.
At the border we’re met by the Nagi Mekong people, aggregated, stamped out of Thailand put on a bus in ” no man’s land”, we cross the Friendship Bridge No. IV into Laos. We go through the following steps;
Bags are taken through customs etc by Nagi
We line up at counter 1 to have our visa application taken, no questions are asked regarding our ppaperwork which confused us last night but we’re 40 baht lighter when we leave the counter.
We go to counter 2 where we get our passport back with the visa stuck it.
Near the turnstile we hand over the $40usd, they have to be crisp unmarked notes and then we’re given entrance to Laos officially.
Aggregated on to buses and taken to our boat on the river.
A small boat of chooks comes in and we hit the Mekong heading south.
The morning is cool on the water, sparkles bounce off the brown water, whirl pools toss bits of rubbish and bamboo around and life on the bank goes on. Buffaloes on the waters edge, gold panners, fishermen, children, the water must be too cold for them to swim though.
Lunch is a chicken curry with lots of rice and vegetables. Its pretty good.
We stop at a village, its very quiet, apparently it’s a Friday public holiday for this small regional under resourced school. We leave a surprise for the teacher, a heap of exercise books, pens, pencils etc etc, all stuff for learning.
We tootle on down the river reaching Pak Beng at 4.30, just in time for a beautiful sunset with the Mekong snaking through the layers of mountains.
Our hotel is way better than I expected, not the one I stayed in 3 years ago. Nice rooms, views of the river, good dining room and lovely staff.
We decided not to venture down the hill to the village of Pak Beng, doing nothing has made us very tired.
Currently, we’re sitting on our verandah at the Namkhong Riverside Hotel, right on the edge of the Mekong River. Its cool, we’ve just had dinner at a little local restaurant close by, 150 baht ($7.50 each inc drinks). We run into other people from Townsville doing the Nagi Mekong trip and a young couple from Holland on an adventure.
Over the river, in Laos we can hear a god awful karaoke, its a lot quieter in Thailand tonight.
We had a lovely breakfast in Chiang Mai before we left, Zang our driver arrived early, we said goodbye to the Elliebum staff and Gade who is the owner.
First stop is coffee and a loo break after the first mountain pass, at a hot spring area. Coffee is good then 6 colourful buses with locals pull up. We move on to Chiang Rai, the White Temple, the Blue Temple and a black museum, then lunch at a funky leafy little place somewhere in Chiang Rai.
Onwards over more mountains before we come to the Mekong then Chiang Khong. Our hotel is the Namkhong Riverside, all rooms look over the Mekong.
We left at 9am arrived at 4.30pm, so a fair bit of travelling in our luxurious mini bus today.
Our border crossing paperwork is waiting for us, which we mostly get right but I think maybe some is not right. We need the paperwork , one passport photo, $40 USD and we should then be in Laos and then the boat heading south on the Mekong.
Thankfully all gummy bear residual effects have disappeared and we all seem ready for the next part of the adventure.
First thing I have to mention is my confession regarding ingesting, last night, a full gummy bear of the “stoner” variety, complinents of a friend, I should have known better, a half gummy is better for amateurs.
About 1am, I awoke, restless, trying to work out where the fish, elephants and camels had come from as they flew around our room, and why the curtains were pulsing like they were a lifeforce! I couldn’t walk straight, felt crook and fainty. It was terrifying. The Navigator chastised me, severely, for my error of judgement. Then hovered making sure I was still breathing, and asking questions, that I wasn’t in the mood to answer, plus I couldn’t work out where her face was to talk to her. It took until about 11am ( this morning) that I felt sort of OK. Maybe I should have smoked a reefer or two of Buddha Heads to do a clinical comparison, surely you’re meant to feel pretty good, I felt awful.
After workshopping the issue with Hbum when I finally made it down stairs, I’ve concluded she handled it ( gummy bears) way more maturally than me, with no real issues as a backlash, apparently.
I’m resting, the others head off to Wat Doi Suthep on the mountain above Chiang Mai. Great views from up there, the temple is about 700 years old, but I’m sitting in the hotel garden in the shade, sipping an iced latte.
The mission to Wat Doi Phra Sep is successful and they return mid afternoon in a red songthaew ( red ute taxi)
Late lunch before a decision about dinner is made. Bus for Chiang Khong tomorrow is confirmed and paid for 5660 baht ( about $67 /head) for a private mini bus strait to our hotel.
Dinner is at our hotel.
Tomorrow at 9am we head to Chiang Khong up on the Mekong near the Thai/Burma/ Laos border, are area formerly known as the Golden Triangle, formerly one of the major drug production capital of the world.
We’ve really enjoyed Chiang Mai, food has been exceptional, the shopping has hooked the Navigators attention as well as the other travellers I think.
Righto readers, today was a slow one. Chiang Mai demands more time, theres no way we can fit the things in to get a proper bead on this place. Where we are staying, The Elliebum Boutique hotel is lovely, a quaint older style hotel, beautiful timber floors, nice rooms, sort of French colonial style, with a nice little lawn fronting the street. The woman who owns it is here all the time, she has great staff with a welcoming feel.
Breakfast is really good. We take our time, we’ve got a bit of it ( time that is) up our sleeves. Hbum and I ingest our canabis sativa gummy bears, strictly medicinal. I think they work!!!
Dave better known as Telegram Sam goes off on a walk by himself, prospecting the Ping River, searching for long lost flora and fauna species, but finds himself ( for a short time he says) in an area where the massages may be a little more detailed than what they have on the board outside.
We, that is Hbum, The Navigator and I go in search of spiritual enlightenment at the Silver Temple. Which we find after a 19 minute walk, plus 30 minutes for looking in shops of the clothes and jewellery variety. Hbum is pissed that the silver temple only allows men inside, because women can’t become monks. I don’t think I’d become a monk, saffron doesn’t really go with my hair colouring.
The ladies are allowed in the gold temple just over from the silver temple, where a monk sits in consultation with Lord Buddha, dispensing sage advice, putting a little bracelet on your left wrist and smacking your head with a half arsed little broom like thing, all for a monetary donation.
Sounds like our Christian churches a bit I feel
A Bolt taxi gets us home for 92 baht.
We reconvene at our hotel after the morning activities.
Dave lunches at a little place over the road, 70 baht gets him a piece of fish, vegies and some spicy salad.
Dinner is back where we were last night, khao soi is king. We all try different desserts tonight, all up dinner cost is about 130 ($6.50) baht per person
For the early readers, please accept my apologies for the typo’s, the grammar etc etc, on my blogs, I blame fat fingers, ineptitude, and a tiredness when I finish writing and a mininal edit while nodding off to sleep. And tonight the possibilty that the gummy bear I’ve just eaten may dull my senses, but more about that later.
Today we fly to Chiang Mai. We booked a tranfer at the front desk for 700 baht ( $35au), a bit cheaper than the one we booked from the airport on the way in. We fly at 12.35
There’s a big crowd at breakfast, a tour group called World Face, from where I don’t know but its a southern European accent I hear, maybe Czech??? I enquire and they are actually Italian, so much for my language skills!
Bangkok Sum Up
Hotel is good, old part of town is well located for travelling around the city, the river, the klong boat. The underbelly of the city is fun and pretty safe to walk around, places like Talat Noi are wonderful and eclectic. Food is great but I’m looking forward to Chiang Mai, it’s more laid back, and calmer, I think. Time to move on.
The 700 baht car is on time, it takes about 45 minutes to get to Bangkok airport. Our driver is unwell, not sure what his affliction is but his breathing is laboured, it sounds like a cross cut saw, maybe it makes him a little aggressive because he changes lanes regularly for no apparent reason.
But, all that aside, we arrive, go to Bangkok Airways check-in ( manned by humans), watch our bags disappear and then we proceed into the bowels of Suvarnabhami Airport for a coffee.
As predicted earlier by moi, Telegram Sam has misplaced his new expensive sunglasses and has a furrowed brow and the look of a man who has just flushed $200 down the toilet. Which he possibly has. We can’t ring the hotel but decision is made to wait until Chiang Mai to check his main bag.
Gate A6 is relaxed, very few Asian faces are present, maybe a sign of the ex pat digital nomad population in the city.
The plane ride is good, a quick trip and the passengers give the pilot a round of applause for the soft landing. Our driver has us at the Elliebum Boutique Hotel in no time.
A bit of planning after checkin, a rest and then we head out our own ways exploring. Telegram Sam finds his sunglasses in his check on bag and the furrowed brow smoothes out.
I find a weed shop and after a medical consultation with a nice young lady at the counter about my leg pain, I’m prescribed a batch of cannabis gummy bears for 300 baht. Not to be taken until bed time, which I agree to. I’m tempted by the more trippy cookies, but maybe later.
We end up way down east near where I stayed a few years ago with my nephew, but many stops at jewelly places and womens clothes shops gets to me and we get a tuk tuk (150 baht) back to the hotel for drinks with H and Telegram Sam. H is drinking a cocktail called something “bum”, it has a scorpions sting, and after a couple I’m not sure I’ll give her a gummy bear, it could tip her over the edge? I’ve decided to name her after the drink, from now she’ll be referred to as Hbum.
A young musician sets up near us in the hotel garden and plays some accoustic songs, he has a very pleasant voice.
A decision is made after I challenge the others to try an iconic northern Thai dish called Khao Soi, so I Google ” Michelin Star Khao Soi Chiang Mai” . Number one to come up is a restaurant ” Best Khao Soi Chiang Mai”, its 10 minutes away, rated 4.6/5 and has no bad reviews. Its a lovely walk ( Google Maps helps) through the back streets and we come out into what we think is Chiang Puek Gate Night Food Market. The place is a street food market, plastic stools, atmosphere a plenty, busy as anything, I order a crispy pork khao soi add a few things to the bowl and it is delicious. Best meal so far and will be hard to beat. Hbum and TS ( Telegram Sam) choose the same dish, but TS spices his up, he’s coughing, eyes are watering but he has a smile on his face ( but that could be as a result of hin finding his sunglasses – not sure?), and I think Hbum enjoyed her meal as well. Cost 70 baht each ($3.50), insanely cheap for such good food. We follow up with some Thai Coconut Pancakes at another street food place for 20 baht ($1). Dinner cost $4.50, and it was so bloody good!
Its a relaxed walk back, TS takes responsibility for navigating us home. Not sure he enjoys this though.
Now, the first cannabis gummy bear has been savoured and I’m feeling quite relaxed. The leg pain is easing, and I’m thinking there might be something in the medicinal properties of cannabis, other than the recreational use of the past. My cannabis consultant suggested start with one, then step it up if needed. Tomorrow I might try two and buy a cookie with the good stuff in it to have with a bedtime cup of tea.
Tomorrow is a chill day, not much planned. Go gummy bears!
We walk to pier via a new track that I’d suggested. The weather is still pleasant but a bit warmer than the last few days. Theres a crowd at the ferry station, a bit of jostling for position and no Aussies that I could hear. The Navigator isn’t smiling, she’s not happy with me making her walk so far, but I’m assuming she’ll get over it, unless she’d like to try and find her own way around with Google maps.
The 150 baht Day Pass on the Chao Praya Tourist Ferry is good value, basically a hop on hop off boat. There are huge barges on the river, we assume rice going one way with 4 tugs pulling and 2 trailing, then coming empty back up river with one tug pulling and one trailing.
One full lap on the ferry then we stop at Wat Arun, I rest in the shade, they walk. A good arrangenent for me, I’ve been here twice before.
Back to Ratchawong Pier and we explore China Town, find a nice restaurant for a late lunch. Its a busy area, and has its own vibe.
We walk 10 minutes to Talat Noi area, its an old fusion Chinese/ Portugese/ Vietnamese area, there are murals, colourful man hole covers painted all colours. The river is right beside it.
We decide a tuk tuk ride home is the go and as we agree to do this a tuk tuk pulls up and disgorges his customers, we negotiate 300bahtto get us home. We probably needed him to pay us danger money, we drove on wrong side of the road, fast, disco lights and doof doof music blaring. But, we got home in one piece.
A walk to Khaosan Road, a massage and dinner finishes the day.
Dave has a new nickname ” Telegram Sam”, its a long story!
Bangkok isn’t as hot as expected. The temp is really pleasant this morning. Breakfast downstairs is pretty good.
First thing, we wander up to Phanfa pier to catch the khlong boat up to Hua Chang pier, the one near MBK Centre. These are more local transport than a tourist thing. 12 baht (50c) gets us there, its a wildish ride, a few stops like Bobae market, but its fun and cheap.
A short walk to MBK so Dave can buy some sunglasses and The Navigator can distact us by vereing off on other shopping tangents. Which she does, buying a mini fan and other nick nacks. She also guides H into buying some weird looking dress up things, presents I think? Dave buys a set of expensive sunglasses, which he’ll probably lose somewhere between here and Luang Prabang. I buy a cup of tea and a sit down.
Next stop is the Jim Thompson house and museum, but not before I lead us up a dry gully into National Stadium BTS Station. This is 250 baht per person but its well worth the time and effort. Architecture and art, silk design, all from a former WWII OSS officer (forerunner to the CIA) who then disappeared in Malaysia. Cue spooky music.
Dinner is next to a Michelin Star restaurant with a huge queue , good food but next door is more popular. This 70 year old woman cooks great food every day and has people lined up every day.
Then its is back to The Golden Mount, 300 steps to the top.
A short rest at the hotel then off to Khaosan Road, and out the back lane for a foot massage, a good dinner and home by 10. A 12 hour day.
reidy55 