December 26, 2006 Mae Tang – Chiang Khong, Thailand

December 26, 2006
Mae Tang – Chiang Khong, Thailand

B and I woke up this morning at 6:30. It was so cold outside that we stayed in our sleeping bags until the last possible second. At 6:45 we jumped out of bed and quickly packed our things. We met up with the others at 7:00.

Alicia borrowed an SUV from her school and drove us into town so that we could catch a white song tao back to Chiang Mai. Once we got into town we said our goodbye’s to Alicia and thanked her for letting us stay with her during Christmas. We quickly found a vehicle heading for the big city. We piled in and got what we thought were the last seats…Not surprisingly, the we continued to add people throughout the journey. Still, it wasn’t such a bad thing because the crowded atmosphere made it easier to stay warm.

We arrived in Chiang Mai at around 8:00. We then said our goodbyes to Lisa and thanked her for convincing us to stay and experience the holiday spirit. It has been fun to see Lisa over the last few weeks. I hope that we can meet up again while we are still in Thailand.

It was then just us boys again. We decided to grab some food while waiting for the internet cafes and post office to open. Breakfast took a surprisingly long time. We did not leave the restaurant until 9:00.

From there I hurried to the post office and sent a purse and wallet home for the Koehne girls. If there is one universal custom in the world it is that the post office will always be crowded and will always take a long time…

Since it was still Christmas in the USA I spent the rest of my free time making phone calls and wishing my loved ones a happy holidays. At 10:00 I had to hang up (with Jackie) and hurry to the M.D House for a tour pickup.

The bus arrived at around 10:15. We jumped in and then cruised around the rest of Chiang Mai picking up other tourists. Once the bus was full we stopped at an agency to obtain our Laos Visas (1,600 Baht!).

Everyone then piled back into the van and began our journey to the border. It was a long day in the van. We only had two stops during the 5.5-hour drive, one for lunch and the other for snacks. Not unexpectedly, I slept for the majority of the drive.

At 16:00 we arrived in Chiang Khong, a city right near the border. We checked into our pre-booked guesthouse and tossed down our things. The room was very simple (only beds and a bathroom) but had an awesome view of the Me Khong River.

After settling into the room the other boys headed to the restaurant to read their books and have a fruit shake. I decided to explore (the very small) town. I wandered down the street our hostel was on.

There was not much to see. The only thing that was of any interests was a soccer field where a large party was going on (it seemed as though all the soccer fields we passed today had lots of activity). I walked to within 200 meters of the Loas border and then headed back to the guesthouse. I grabbed my book and joined my boys.

We relaxed at the restaurant reading our books until sunset. After a quick dinner we returned to the room and got into our beds to escape the cold (19:00).

We will probably spend the rest of the evening reading and might watch a movie. We are getting up tomorrow morning and heading up the river to Laos.