Foreshadowing with respecto to my stomach in the not too distant future. This mini bus trip was pure misery. 10 hours of non-stop turns - and bumps... though not brutal bumps, just constant, and dusty.
The guy in the white shirt foreground was the ring leader on the "tour", to Luang Prabang. Here he has just convinced me and several others to take the mini bus for 7 hours, rather than two even longer days on a potentially uncomfortable boat. Turns out the mini bus was 10 hellish hours, while folks said the river boat was 2 long days, as advertised, but it was apparently very comfortalble, and beautiful. But I was pressed for time, so I really needed to do the mini bus. Next time though...
ATMs in the "middle of nowhere". This one didn't work for me. My 5/3rd bank card didn't work in Laos, but did in Bangkok. My Chase Visa card worked, good thing I remember/had set a code for it. But they charged a $10 transaction fee - I just found out, for taking out $88. Plus they are probably hitting me with 20% APR on it as I type. But I got me money....
Taking boat across the river to Laos in the morning.
The entrance way to my flat in Huay Xai.
My bedroom at the guest house on the river border in Huay Xai. I didn't even leave this room for dinner or a beer, just slept from 8pm till 7am.
Typical pic of downtown Chiang Mai. I was just here to get a mini bus to Huay Xai, the Thai/Laos border. Folks all said they had a great time trekking around Chiang Mai, so it's worth a longer stay than my 2 hours.
Foreshadowing? Lots of yellow, but surprisingly up in Chiang Mai, the base of the government, the Red guys, the enemy of the yellow PAD. But that's not PAD yellow, anyway.
Closing in on Chiang Mai, Thailand from Bangkok.
Foreshadowing with respecto to my stomach in the not too distant future. This mini bus trip was pure misery. 10 hours of non-stop turns - and bumps... though not brutal bumps, just constant, and dusty.
The guy in the white shirt foreground was the ring leader on the "tour", to Luang Prabang. Here he has just convinced me and several others to take the mini bus for 7 hours, rather than two even longer days on a potentially uncomfortable boat. Turns out the mini bus was 10 hellish hours, while folks said the river boat was 2 long days, as advertised, but it was apparently very comfortalble, and beautiful. But I was pressed for time, so I really needed to do the mini bus. Next time though...
ATMs in the "middle of nowhere". This one didn't work for me. My 5/3rd bank card didn't work in Laos, but did in Bangkok. My Chase Visa card worked, good thing I remember/had set a code for it. But they charged a $10 transaction fee - I just found out, for taking out $88. Plus they are probably hitting me with 20% APR on it as I type. But I got me money....
Taking boat across the river to Laos in the morning.
The entrance way to my flat in Huay Xai.
My bedroom at the guest house on the river border in Huay Xai. I didn't even leave this room for dinner or a beer, just slept from 8pm till 7am.
Typical pic of downtown Chiang Mai. I was just here to get a mini bus to Huay Xai, the Thai/Laos border. Folks all said they had a great time trekking around Chiang Mai, so it's worth a longer stay than my 2 hours.
Foreshadowing? Lots of yellow, but surprisingly up in Chiang Mai, the base of the government, the Red guys, the enemy of the yellow PAD. But that's not PAD yellow, anyway.
Closing in on Chiang Mai, Thailand from Bangkok.
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