Ari's Planet

I uploaded all of my Laos photographs and pretty much all of my Cambodia pictures. There are a bunch new pictures that didn't make it up the first time from Angkor, so even if you looked through them it might be worth a second glance.

White flowers fall from trees seared in the sun. They entwine their roots into the black volcanic stones that climb to a heavenly spring. I am walking in the thickness of the humid heat. Though I pour into me waters still I am burning in the sun. The air is too thick for me, in the shade I become a spring. The flowers will carry good luck for me, so say ladies who have made artefacts of prayer, but I reply I am good luck, for I have walked through the lane of Shiva's sign and flowers fall at the spring at my feet.

I added some more photos. A few remaining photos from my last days in India in Jaisalmer and Delhi. Also photos from Thailand and Laos. I'm still in Laos so more photos from Laos will make their way up to the site.

In the morning in Huay Xay I wait for the minibus to Luang Nam Tha where I plan to do some trekking. There are not enough tickets sold for my minibus, so the driver shifts us to another one behind it that is already fairly full. Apparently, the tour shop that said there was only one bus in the morning wasn't quite on the money. He shoves bags in the "trunk" all the way to the roof. It doesn't look like the door will close. Somehow it does close, with a sigh of compressed baggage. It's a bit packed. We ride up to Luang Nam Tha over a winding twisting road, up and down, back and forth.

Been off the air for a bit. This post is a shortie. Finally figured out 1. guidebooks suck; 2. the LP southeast asia guide especially sucks; 3. I really needed to get away from cities and typical tourist attractions. Looked up info on travelfish.org. Got to Ban Konglor village which has a well-organized homestay. The attraction is a 7 km underground section of a river, but the real treat is the far-away village and homestay, the delightful people, the beautiful karst landscape.

Took the bus from Chiang Rai, where I stayed at Ben's. Why Ben's?

Tomorrow I move on from Chiang Rai in Thailand to Laos via Chiang Khong on the Thai side and Huay Xai on the Laos side. Then it's some trekking in the north around Luang Nam Tha, maybe up to Muang Sing, before heading back down toward Huay Xai for a slow-boat on the Mekong to Luang Prabang followed by gradual travel south toward Cambodia.

Hmm, my experience in Chang Mai wasn't too great. Getting a little wiser? I Googled and got a few posts of interest.

Maybe I should go to Mae Hong Son (MHS) or Pai? But then getting over to Laos is a schlep.

How to get from Chang Mai to Chiang Kong border crossing. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=1561862&tstar...

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/message.jspa?messageID=13294145

News
US Embassy in Laos
US State Department
Maps

Trekking, Mountain Biking, Boating in Luang Namtha
http://www.theboatlanding.com/trekking.html

Warnings

FCO Warnings