Week 19 (Burma and Thailand)

10/26

Woke up at 7, breakfast at the hotel, packed, waiting for Moyo (Burmese tourguide) to return with the applicable documents to leave the province. Laterz.

Not too long a drive. Arrived in a great hotel (Golden Sunrise Hotel) in Kinpun.
We're supposed to see a big rock here, but... for 10 US$. I think not. Just did a stroll through the small village. Had (again) the most fantastic food, just at a small market (for 50 cents; will eat there again tonight for sure).
It's humid and hot though, so... relax! Laterz.

17.00 bought some cheap supermarket stuff (no money left for expensive hotel food (well, expensive.. compared to Holland...)), showered, tried the wifi (nope), sipping a Singha (Thai beer) on the veranda of our hotel room now.

19.00 Went back to the market for one of those great meals. Strolled through the village, even found a little carnival. When i entered the carnival place i was suddenly surrounded by 6 young girls and they were all asking for "paka", whatever that means...
On the veranda again now with a second Singha. Laterz...

Listened to music until midnight, slept like a log.


10/27

Rose at 7, hotel breakfast, updating blog, but first shower. Laterz. Short drive to the hotel. Brand new hotel. And very comfortable. Even good wifi, so... updating now. Outside it's a comfortable 48 degrees, so... airco rulez!

Did two strolls through the village here (Hpa An). Used my last Kyat's ending up in sipping a beer next door (don't have enough money left for the (relatively) expensive hotel beers). Updated blog, replied to all emails, watched premier legue football. All in my airco-ed room. Went to sleep at 10.30 or so and slept really well.

Burma really stole my heart (is that a dutchism?). I love this country. Incredibly friendly people, food tastes like beyond comprehension (can't compare with any other food, but really tasty). Some strange habbits: people paint their faces white (as a kind of sunblock) and you are always helped. Always. Like it's the natural thing to do. And isn't it? Something to learn from them i guess.

10/28

Rose at 6, best breakfast ever (hotel is expensive, but fantastic), on the road to the Thai border now. Laterz....

Did some stops on thew way (checking tyres, lunch). Shaz and I also saw the very rare Thai green buffalo...

Arrived at the border around 3 PM. Took an hour to cross and drove into Thailand around 5. Feels a bit like coming home, since this is my 6th or 7th time i arrive here. Hotel (in Tak) is fantastic again. Shared a room with Greg and had a nice evening, with good wifi over a Chang beer (thanks Greg). Slept good as was to be expected.


10/29

Rose at 7, good breakfast and on our way to Chiang Mai now. 300 KM, but (hopefully) good roads. Laterz...

It were good roads. We arrived in Chiang Mai at 2 PM. Great hotel. I recognized so much of the city (been here 4 years ago). Did a long stroll in the afternoon, starting with a great coffee, ending up at the night bazar. Wanted to go for another long stroll in the evening and i did, but... it started to poor and poor and poor, like unbelievable. So, found shelter on a big foodmarket in the old part of town, where i ate too (in stead of a big whopper at Burger King). Then wandered around, got lost, found this place where they were Thai kick boxing. Unbelievable painfull sport. Made the classic mistake to hang around, do a few drinks, shared some with Som, ending up having to pay too much. Did a few more games of pool, and finally went to bed late (i think). Expensive, but memorable night. Wish i had pics. Thanks for a fun time Som.


10/30

Woke up, hung over... like... too much!, at 8. Breakfast, update blog, ... Going for a coffee now. At 11 the man with the hammer came. Still feeling lousy. No beer for me today. Although Will will leave us tomorrow, so.. I'm invited in the Red Lion (English Pub). We'll see.

Still hung over, so ... 9 PM: to bed. Yeah.


10/31

Slept good, breakfasted good, on the way to Lao now. There's only 14 of us left. The rest is doing smal trips on their own (temporarily). Will and Canadian Alli left us. Will see them again, either in London, Canada or Meppel.

The drive to the border seemed ok, Nice lunch stop, and passport control was going smooth ... we thought. Then... Brenda and Adam were taken apart for interrogation. Pasports taken from them, threatened to be fined up to 200.000 million kips (more than Lao's GBP i think), and so... long wait, scary moments, but.. finally we came through (no fines, but... we still have to have insurance).
The hotel was crappy, coz the hotel we booked in advance was not ready. That is: still beng constructed! Can you believe that? So, found this dump here in Houyx Xay. Well i don't mind that so much (i've been in worse accomodations), but the tourists among us... eeeewww, a cockroach. We did some dinner in a restaurant (where the frogs and eels (alive in a fishtank) could be prepared for you) and a Lao beer, which did not taste as good as i remember from my last visit here. Good wifi in our crappy hotel though, so.. did some updating.


11/1

Woke up at 8 or so. Chatted with Lynn, Cornetto as breakfast, packed and on the road again. First try to get some insurance, then a 4 hours drive to ...Luang Namta. Laterz...

Arrived in Luang Namta around 1.30 pm. Nice place, good food, cheap, nice hotel. Love it here. Too bad we're leaving tomorrow already, coz there's lots of things to do here. Just had a tuna sandwich for 1,5 euro. It was half a meter long and the bread was still warm.... drewl!

Laterz.

Checked mail, (good wifi).

Took along stroll through the village at the end of the afternoon, ending up at the nightmarket, where i had a beer and ate half a duck. Chatted with two american backpackers and went for a shower.
Went for a second visit to the nightmarket (yes i like the place; does it show?), chatted with Marian, Adam and two very nice Slovenian travelers. Felt sorry we had to say goodbye. Facebooked in the hotel till midnight.