Central River House Resort Chiang Rai

... Apart from a nice night bazaar and the usual temples there wasn’t much to see in Chaing Rai and our main purpose was to see if we could arrange some trekking. After visiting a couple of tour agents the prices put us off completely and must have put others off too as we were the only ones that would be on the trek, which was even more of a disincentive.

We found a great alternative on the web. This was the Akha Hill House ...

... another big grin and another thumbs-up from me!



What’s really interesting about all this is that I haven’t really gone to any great length to seek any of this out. It’s all come and jumped straight in my lap. It’s all presented itself at just the right moment in just the right place right on cue, as if by design. I reckon that in itself ...

... guides and the potent local white rum!!

The next day we went bamboo rafting down the river which was a laugh, and pointless trying to stay dry as the raft sinks at points!! I did fall in when I was helping to punt - we hit a rock and everyone fell forward but as i was at the front there was nowhere for me to fall but in the water, but it was nice and warm so I didnt mind!!!

Then it was back to Chaing Mai for a much needed shower!!

... da vi var på trekkingtur i bjergene. Vi var afsted i 3 dage og 2 nætter og gik 3-4 timer om dagen gennem junglen og op og ned ad bjergsider. Vi sov i små Lahu-landsbyer og lærte en masse om bambus. Bambus er faktisk rigtig spændende, for det kan bruges til stort set alting. Når bambus er helt lille, kommes det i maden som bambusskud, og efterhånden som det bliver større, kan det bruges til kopper, askebægre, knive, hytter, måtter, tag på husene, opbefaring ...

... t even come close!!! it was not helped by a toothless woman, slumped asleep, presumed dead, untill she began with the piglet noises on my shoulder for the whole journey. i was dribbled on and was considering a marriage proposal, seeing as how close we had become!!. pai was interesting enough, but jam packed full of tourists and what seemed a once unique mountain town, has turned into a big tourist trap (a seemingly unfortunate fate for most of ...

... regretting. We had purchased our bus tickets back to Chiang Mai earlier that day, which we needed to honor if we were going to use our overnight train tickets from Chiang Mai to Bangkok later that day. It turns out that Chiang Rai was having a big event that started that day, the 5th annual Chiang Rai Flower Parade and Regional Beauty Contest. Although we did not see any promotional materials for this event, some investigation afterward shows that it was scheduled to ...

... has anyone seen Kath and Kim? Cause that is exactly what they are like, its uncanny. So we had one on the bus along with a few other OK Aussies and a couple of Mexicans. So after the hot springs we headed towards one of the oldest temples in Chaing Rai. It was quite amazing and couldnt even be ruined by the "streuth mate" every 10 seconds from the lovely Bruce!!! Then it was on to the Golden Triangle. This is the area at the top of ...

... wondering throw the mountains of Laos staying with Hill tribes all by him self. Their are a number of all inclusive resorts and a lot of packaged tour buses. On the Laos border I tried to rent a canoe to paddle across. Everyone wanted to take me on a 1/2 package tour including a boat trip and markets in Laos. All trips started at 500B ($15) maybe I should have done this... I did see a lot of markets both Thi, and ...

... bamboo sections for the rest of the food, inserting tomatoes, cucumbers, pork, eggs, fiddlehead ferns, and lemongrass into the tubes, then sealing them up with banana leaves to cook. We ate with newly-carved bamboo chopsticks, and if we wanted tea, we could use our bamboo cups. Our "plates" were a combination of a few particularly large leaves and the now cut-open bamboo sections. Talk about an easy meal to clean up! Now ...

... outside of Chaing Rai (Rai Mae Fah Luang) -- it is a cultural center for Thai artifacts and the grounds there are quite nice -- looks like a cross between a golf course and an elite destination resort.  I met a Pyrennese dog there too.  After our border foray, we ventured down river to the "Golden Triangle" which exists at the joining of the Mae Khong and the Ruak rivers.  From there we went to a beautiful museum on Opium ...