Chiang Saen River Hill Hotel Chiang Rai

We all had been lamenting about how close we were to two other countries that weren't on the itenerary. For bigtime travelers that's like having beautiful presents sitting in front of you but not being able to open them!

So our guide was gracious enough to let us have a quick stop across the river at a little market ...

... sideways. So she tied it again with the fabric all in front. Lovely.

We were taken to the elephant camp, and the excitement level was very high. We all had been looking forward to this. We were introduced to the baby and got to feed her. She was so cute. In the center tent, I saw one of the mahout's wives weaving silk and there was even a flat basket that had silk cocoons in it hanging on one of the poles.

They brought out one of the elephants to ...

... a bit changeable but we got there around 3pm and after getting stamped out of Thailand and a quick boat trip across the Mekong we were getting stamped into Loa at the town of Huay Xai.

We didn't have anywhere to stay booked so had a look at one of the first places we came to – 200 baht she said so we had a look and decided to take it. It was only when we were checking in it became clear it was 200 baht per person so the bags were back on our shoulders and we were off towards ...

Opted to cross the border into Lao by the slow boat. It'll take 2 days chugging down the Mekong, just taking in the views, with an over night in Pak Bong. And thats exactly what I did. On day 1 anyway. I read, took pics and relaxed.

But by day two I was bored of this so decided to get drunk. I positioned myself at the back of the boat, near both the bar and the toilet. The boat was a little over crowed and a big session required multiple access to the rest rooms. Stepping over hoards ...

... and the concentrating on getting through this hike became the issue of the moment. It got to the stage where I need to stop every 20 or so steps to catch my breath and rest my back. Again every hopeful corner turned into disappointment as the hill continued up. In fairness to me we were all struggling but as I have said before I was the only idiot with a full and very heavy pack! The walking I do with the lads every couple of years pales into a skip to ...

... a short time the trees stopped moving and Pheng told us they had gone down to ground. We waited a while and then zipped back along the return line and went trekking through the undergrowth in search of these amazing animals. Black Gibbons were thought to be extinct until they were discovered again here in 1996. That is the purpose of this project to protect their habitat and enable there population to grow. We did ask how many were thought to be out ...

23rd February 2009 Pieng Dao Hotel, Chieng Doa, Thailand Blisteringly hot Chiang Mai - Chieng Doa (80kms) I think the weather is hotting up, Dave disagrees, either way, I'm relieved to have escaped the room we have at the Pieng Dao for the cooler balcony overlooking the courtyard. The road today was undulating with a few sweeping hills, but nothing major. It took us about 30 kms to leave the Chiang Mai traffic behind, it really is ...

... able to do all of Vietnam on one visa, so we'll do the south and take it from there. Going back a few days (to the 20th), we cycled from Lampang to Chiang Mai, the road was undulating with a couple of climbs, but nothing in comparison to the ride to Lampang. The main highway was as dull as ever apart from the ride over the hill where there were lots of spirit houses and a little shrine, all the drivers honk their horns (unusual here in Thailand ...

... Beatrice, Steph, Dave, Si and Joe. I've spent almost all my time in Laos with them. It was really great.

The first night of the boat trip, you sleep in a little village (I don't remember the name by the way), there's just a few guesthouse there, no electricity (except a few generators). And there we learned that there was a curfew in place in the Whole Laos. At 10 pm, everything is dark.