Journey to the World

January 18, 2007

I rented a light motorcycle that day to tour the area. On the way to Vang Vieng I managed to get the idea about the quality of the roads and knew I had to be careful. The main road that connects Vientiane and Luang Prabang (Vang Vieng in the middle) doesn’t have paved margins. There’s only one lane each way. From time to time there are holes and bumps in the road so you have to pay attention while driving. Along the road there is no street light and therefore it’s dangerous to ride there after dark around 6:30 PM.

The road from Vang Vieng To Luang Prabang

Even though I have some experience with ATVs, that was the first time I tried it with a light motorcycle. I paid $5 for one day without insurance. I didn’t look for an automatic gear but for a manual one.

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January 21, 2007

An organized tour started an hour late at 10:30 AM because the organizers forgot to pick me and other people up. The way to the elephant camp isn’t paved. It takes thirty minutes getting there from the city. The elephant trek goes through a Laos-style jungle and is much better than the commercialized one in Kanchanburi. Its price is $20 USD and includes one and a half hour elephant riding. You can combine it with a kayak tour, a bicycle trip, a small waterfall and other stuff. You just have to pay some more money.

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January 22, 2007

In the early morning hours we went sailing on a long tail boat toward the Pak Ou Caves north to Luang Prabang.

Villages on islands on the way to the caves

On the way we stopped in one of the villages for a fifteen minutes and arrived in the caves after an hour and a half. There are two caves in the compound which are not so special. We got out of there after half an hour, visited two more villages and came back to Luang Prabang at noon. The price for this boat tour, not including entrance to the caves (10,000 kip) is $5 USD.

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January 25, 2007

That day I crossed the border from Laos to Thailand. I went from the border city Chiang Khong to Chiang Rai. I rented a motorcycle and toured the mountainous area of Doi Tung and to the Queen’s Gardens.

7:00 AM in Huay Xai and I already woke up toward the crossing to Thailand. The border gates are opening at 8:00 AM and are located one hundred meters away from the guest house where I was staying. A short walk and stamping my passport on the way out from Laos didn’t take more than ten minutes.

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January 28, 2007

The map I got for free from AYA turns out to be useful. Not only does it show the town’s map and the surrounding region, but tourists attractions are marked along with a couple of routes suitable for a motorcycle.

On a motorcycle around Pai

While crossing the bridge at the exit from Pai I noticed a large bulldozer which attracted the locals. From there I continued to Mae Yen temple which is located close to Pai (you can pass), and went on to the elephant camps zone.

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January 30, 2007

That day I went looking after the Long Neck Karen tribes. I rode on a motorcycle in the lovely Mae Hong Son area. I visited a small natural park and kept riding toward Huay Sua Tao village on a road crossed by streams of water, which later on turned into a trail loaded with dust and sand. I checked a hot spring and a waterfall, after which I took a turn from the main road to watch local women working in rice fields and drove to a remote village far in the mountains.

I woke up late at 9:00 AM and took a shower. There is hot water but you have to take a course in order to make them work. This was the first time I’ve seen a boiler operated by gas. First, you have to get outside to open the gas faucet. Next you need to turn two buttons on a device that has four different buttons whose reason for existence is unknown. The advantage of a gas boiler unlike other electric boilers is that the water are not just warm, but hot. This is much better.

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January 31, 2007

Right now I’m staying in a remote bungalow, high up in the mountains, close to the Burma border under two down blankets, two wool blanket, wearing a coat, an angora shirt and a wool hat. My rechargeable NiMH AA batteries died because of the heavy cold, probably between zero to three degrees celsius.

The guest house is far away from civilization, disconnected from electricity. It wasn’t connected because of its distance. The government gave the owner solar collectors which enable him to produce electricity sufficient enough for light a couple of bulb for a a few hours in the evening, none of which are inside the bungalow (200 baht, toilets is outside. There’s no need for a fan).

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February 1, 2007

About two hundred kilometers I passed with a motorcycle that day. Almost half of them was in complete darkness on the mountains on my way back to Pai.

Mr. Parla’s Coffee

I started driving at 10:30 AM from Mr. Parla’s guest house, an old man who managed to surprise me with his English level. I was the only one who stayed that night. The night before two tourists from Denmark stayed in this guest house. Parla gave me an update about the temperature the night before. Only nine degree, not three as I thought. He also gave me directions to villages in the area.

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February 3, 2007

That day I planned on going to Doi Inthanon National Park, where the highest mountain in Thailand is located.

Flowers Festival

The main roads in Chiang Mai were jammed. It seems I arrived right on the day when the flowers festival began. The flowers festival in Chiang Mai occurs once a year. Thousands of people go out to the streets to watch a sight of exhibits wrapped with hundred of thousands of colorful flowers creating live statues and writings.

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February 4, 2007

That day I went riding on a motorcycle from Chiang Mai to visit nearby Doi Suthep temple which is named after its mountain. The temple is very close to the city so you can see it from the top. On the way to the temple I visited the Huay Keaw waterfall. I continued riding from the temple to the hill tribes in that area. One of them was close and touristic. The other one is remote and deserted. I got there on a muddy road which was being prepared for future construction.

I skipped the Chiang Mai zoo (located on the road leading to Doi Suthep) after I heard bad things about it from other travelers. I was told it’s a neglected place, and that the animals are miserable there. The price isn’t cheap either so there’s no reason to go inside.

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