Ari's Planet

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.

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.

For my overnight trek in northern Thailand I signed up with Back Trax in Pai. In all we were 6 tourists and two guides. Our nationalities: Swiss, German couple, Belgian, Canadian, and American, Burmese and Thai guides. Quite a language mashup. The swiss could speak 5 languages. Switzerland is amazing. We met up in the morning, left our bags with the trekking company, and left at 0930 in a pickup truck. Any trip that starts with a ride in a pickup truck must be exciting!

Well, tomorrow I'm going on a short overnight trek north-east of Pai. Found a local company, Back Trax, that had 6 other customers for an overnight. Shorter than I had wanted but better than nothing. Cost 1500 B.

After giving up on Chang Mai, I took a morning bus to Pai. There are plenty of buses during the day, many of which go on to Mae Hong Son, with options including fancy AC buses and cheaper fan buses, which is what I took for 80 B. The problem with the cheaper bus is there is no knee space, talk about uncomfortable. The ride is only ~4-5 hours, though, so no big deal. The bus actually stopped after three hours for lunch, I think it was more for the driver than the passengers.

English-language books: yes
Nice people: yes
Good food: yes
Burn your mouth off food: yes

Pyrethrin spray for clothes, netting: no
Mosquito coils, e.g., d-alethrin: yes
Mosquito net: crappy ones yes, nice ones resold by tourists in khao san bangkok
Bug spray, various kinds: yes
Bug repellent, deet ~50%: yes
Malarone, antimalarial (prophylaxis, field treatment): no
Doxycycline, antibiotic/antimalarial: yes
Lamisil cream, fungal infections: yes, hopefully not counterfit crap
Any toiletry under the sun: yes

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

It just rained. This was far more exciting than Vin Diesel in XXX (action, not porno). Walking back from the post office I crossed a river. A black river. Black with decaying matter, filth, dead things. Within the dark water swirled darker shades of dust, which had taken itself into the water, perhaps the air was too clear, the houses too brilliant in the light of the setting sun, the jealous black waters.

Today is a day for random thoughts.

Update: Well, my trekking was short lived. The van came around a few minutes late, then we stopped to pick up a few more people. When everybody had clambered in, Ben, our guide, said the trip would be "we drive to three waterfalls, have lunch, drive to mountain, drive to karen village, do something else, back to chang mai". I thought the trip was "drive to park, hike up to mountain, hang out on mountain a bit, go down to village or elephant or something, then back". So, I said it wasn't the trip I thought it was going to be and got out. Then I walked back (1/2 hour, so much fun).

Today I traveled from Phitsanoluk to Chang Mai in the north of Thailand. This is a jumping-off spot for exploring the hill tribes and other adventures. After my free breakfast of tea and toast, butter, and jam, I took the taxi from the hostel (60 B) to the bus station and hopped on the 10:00 bus to Chang Mai (242 B). A few stops later, including snacks and water (90 B) we arrived at Chang Mai at 17:00. On the way I kept on reading the incredible book Voss by Patrick White. What an author.

The LP guide says many people stay in Phitsanoluk and do a day trip to Sukothai. I can't think of a worse idea. Now, the hostel I'm staying at is fine and has dorms for 120 B or singles for 200 B, but it is about 3 km from the bus station, so you either have to pay 60 B each way or walk half an hour. Then, you have to wait for the bus to Sukothai, which costs about 50 B and takes an hour.

In the morning I took a short stroll down to the bridge for some shots with fewer people mobbing the span. On the way back I checked out the Japanese memorial to the people who worked on the construction of the railroad. This memorial was constructed in 1944. It seems so odd, to cause the needless deaths of so many people and then, while still engaged in the war, build a memorial to them. The memorial is a simple concrete pillar surrounded by beautiful blooming trees and plaques and four corners of the concrete platform on which the memorial stands.

The River Kwai. Famous for its history in WWII when the Japanese forced thousands of prisoners to build a railway, killing some 100,000 people in the process. You might have read the book or seen the movie, A Bridge on the River Kwai. I'm staying in a guest house about 500 meters from the bridge in the town of Kanchenaburi. I took a 2 hour bus ride from Sai Tai Mai station in Bangkok. I had to cross town so to save on taxi fares I took the skytrain from Thong Lo to the river (40B), then took the express river taxi to stop 10 (20B), then took a taxi to the station (70B).

In a land full of mosquitos and travelers you'd think it would be easy to find a net. Hah. A posting to a LP forum recommended a bedding store in the Banglampoo shopping area surrounding the Khao San tourist ghetto. I couldn't find bedding stores and my search of stores in the area turned up a few large and heavy nets designed for use at home and costing 160 to 200 BHT. I asked thailandguru.com but they also were stumped. There are a few companies that manufacture nets in Thailand but finding a store that sells their wares is another matter.

Bargaining for goods in Thailand has been proving a challenge. I did fine in China, Nepal, India. The Thai even start going through a similar routine as in China, "no, is too cheap", but I don't translate that right. In China they don't give up. Really, they'll do almost anything to keep you there bargaining with them. Here in Thailand they start off with the same crazy mark-up, but when I counter with an offer they'll go down a bit and then give up. I figured there were two possiblities, both of which could be occuring at the same time: 1.

Based on my prior research, I thought I could get a visa to Cambodia on arrival. However, this may not be possible for land crossings from Laos and some crossings from Thailand. There is contradictory information on the Internet, with some people saying it is possible and others it is not. To be safe, I wanted to get a visa to Cambodia while in Bangkok. This turned into a full-day affair on account of needing to find the embassy.

I took a taxi from Thong Lo to Bang Lam Poo, a shopping area in Bangkok, for 100 BHT. The taxi driver wanted to chat, but it took me about 4 tries to understand he was saying "George Bush" when I said I'm from America. Yes, this is the pathetic state of the world I live in: when I say America, the response is usually one of: powerful country, rich country, or George Bush. The Bang Lam Poo area is basically the same area as Khao San road, the local tourist ghetto. Wow, a lot of tourists. Hot babe tourists, too. Too many tourists, though never too many babes.

In my first two days in Bangkok I learned a few small things. Bangkok in February is hot and humid, similar to Tokyo in summer. The AC didn't work in my dorm room the first night, but the second night it got going which made sleeping a bit more comfortable. Street-corner noodles and pork are everywhere and cost around 30 BHT, or about $1USD. Bangkok is clean. The airport is modern. The roads are modern highways. The skytrain looms over the city at a respectable hight. The skytrain is clean, quiet, comfortable, efficient. People are polite, they don't shove or shout or get in your way.

I arrived in Bangkok lastnight, the 7th of February, on an Air India flight from Delhi. The flight was supposed to take off at 0845 and arrive at 1400. My plan was to head to some tourist ghetto, get a guidebook, figure out where to stay, etc. What happened instead...