Maingam Resort Tak

It was inevitable, we were going to take one of those behemoths through the night at one stage or another, don't get me wrong, I don't mind them but given half a chance I'd rather take a sleeper train or break the journey up a little bit but this one just had to be done. More on that later.....<br><br>Getting up today had a little bit of sadness attached as it was to be our last day in Chiang ...

... I might be calling Mae Sariang home, four hours south of where I lived last time in Mae Hong Son. There I will most probably end up living for at least the first three months working on programme management and funding for the Karen Woman&#8217;s Organisation, which is funded by the TBBC. If all goes well it could turn into a paid position. But in the mean time I first need to go to the small town and meet the director and make sure we want to work together. If so, the ...

Right-o-, so, where was I? Oh yes, on the way to Bangkok! Gee golly wiz I'm behind on these blogs, which means I'll skip the small trivial details about our farewell to Liz, or the 3 hour car ride with a driver named Chewy, or our long search for Collin and Beau. These events, although annoyingly hilarious in retrospect, do not seem worthy of your attention. I would even go so far as to say Bangkok in general was a bit anticlimactic. I mean, Thai people go ball to the walls for ...

... the dark side of the tourism industry in Chiang Mai, Pat (my partner in crime for this venture) wanted to create a project that symbolised the opposite of this. So far, I think we're on the right track. My apologies beforehand, for in this blog there are no fancy trying to impress writing styles, just me and my thoughts as they enter my head, the experiences and stories I pass during my journey through sustainable travel!

... don't want (or it isn't safe) for the car behind you to overtake. Once we got out of Chiang Mai, we found the roads excellent to drive. They are usually two lane, dual carriageway roads, and the driving is generally OK and predictable. The biggest dangers are the bloody dogs all over the roads as you go through the smaller villages, and the crazies in the oncoming traffic that overtake on blind corners. Argh! We ...

Almost 10pm, ancient, old capital of Thai (Lanna) kingdom-Sukothai. Cool, bright fluorescent lights, timer program on PC showing cost minute by minute, uploading videos of elephant riding Mood: glad to be here, missing company, twinge of sad on bus Today I had a leisurely morning as didn't sleep wel last few nights. Mattress was thin and hard, and actually got chilly under the fan. Thinking about ...

... cookies, he decided it was time to try his English out on us. He turned out to be Burmese, and he explained he was in Thailand because his government at home was very bad. I agreed with him... which may not have been the best response (as there are apparently many Burmese spies in Mae Sot)... but he seemed very honest and had a shy smile that was disarming. Anyway, no one arrested or abducted me... so it was a nice encounter with a very friendly individual. I hope ...

... calls on an average of ten times per trip down my street. But this was different. It wasn't just the attention of young guys and perverted old men. EVERYONE stared at us. And they felt no shame in it. They would stop whatever they were doing and nearly break their necks straining to keep us in sight. They gawked like we were some kind of mutants with two heads. Our guidebook made it sound like this was an unordinary excursion for tourists ...

... Westerners don't come here much. So the people didn't seem to know what to do with us. In our week there, we saw fewer than a dozen Westerners. Also, because of the several day festival, the town was full of people from outlying villages who have even less contact with farangs (foreigners). So it was clear that we were somewhat of a novelty. But not a novelty like the hot Swedish nanny ...

... to announce dawn. It's an incessant barking that last from the hours of around 4 a.m. to 8 a.m. I didn't understand how a single rooster could have so much energy or so much breath. It was endless. But it turns out that our little jungle bungalow is adjacent to some sort of cock-fighting breeding grounds and there are several dozen roosters living just a few feet way. Needless to say I didn't wake up refreshed or terribly happy to be ...