Fahthanin Hotel Nan

... come to it. You will see everyone dressed in colorful traditional dress, as well as many performances throughout the day, good food, and the traditional "throwing of the ball", a common courting tradition. The celebration goes for about 5 days. It usually begins Dec 26th. This is the day everyone stays at home and do the rituals that will bless them for the next year. Then the four days following is the actual celebration.

... of bus tickets going the same distance. Do make your train arrangements at least a week or two ahead if you are planning on taking a night train and want your own 1st compartment. These compartments go first. Also, if you are interested in the 2nd class bunk, the lower bunks go first because there is more space and lower to the ground.

... Rains Retreat. The long boats themselves are made of dugout tree trunks and they can accommodate up to 60 oarsmen all dressed in colorful uniforms. Once a race has begun, it is amazing to watch the oarsmen work and how in sync they are with their movements. The races go on for about 4 days and thousands of people come to town for the event. All along the Nan river, where the races take place, there are mazes of markets selling anything and everything.

... pigs, ducks and buffalo and they have small vegetable plots and are also (according to the map - although I didn't see it) making their own organic fertilizer. When I asked them about their food they seemed happy that they had enough and they were eating meat at least every day if not at every meal. They are producing a large amount of their own meat and food ...

... Water buffalo munching along side the road. Chickens standing guard right in the center of the road. We stopped out at an Akha village, and saw the famous temple out there, and then talked to the ladies who do the weaving in town. Ended up buying a really beautiful sarong, made right there. It's nice to the hand the money to the person who is making it. We lunched by the river ...

... of banditry mean that the roads near Nan were very rarely used. They are in even better condition than the average Thai road, which are on the whole far better than American roads. This works out well for anyone with a love of riding. John explained all of this as he took us to buy supplies. He gave each of us a leather jacket to use, and the motorcycle rental included a helmet, but we'd need gloves. That's right, Mom, we were as safe as possible ...

... in Chiang Khong in the late afternoon. We stayed in a traditional wooden guest house with beautiful views over the river Mekong looking across to Laos. We wandered along the main street where there were a few scattered shops and food stalls, but in general it was a really quiet town. After dinner we got caught in another rain storm on the way home, a fine way to end a day of mainly travelling.

... daylight: we were about 60 km from Chiang Mai, and we had less than an hour of sunlight left. I held on as tight as I could, and Konrad zoomed us through the hills as fast as possible, constantly checking our mileage against the sinking sun. I usually kept my eyes off the speedometer (1. I didn't want to know how fast we were racing -- don't worry ma, I wore a helmet!, & 2. I couldn't see much w/my head pasted to Konrad's back), but I know we may have ...

... races, which take place one weekend a year here and happened to be going on during this, my one weekend of my life, in Nan. As soon as I can, I'll post a few pictures of these amazing boats. The rest of the day was spent looking around the town and trying to find food. The rain put a damper on my mood and I ended up back in the room reading and taking a few naps during the course of the day. I also made arrangements to have my gal come up from ...

... the theatre!) The next morning we were on our way to Nan on what I would describe as a pretty cushy bus. You know it's a pretty good ride when you're reading (always a good start, some roads are too rough for that) and then you realize that you've arrived and your first reaction is, "What? Damn, already? I was just in the middle of a good part." Fortunately, though, the trip wasn't entirely without its oddities. The guy who got on late and had to ...