Last stop in Thailand

Trip Start May 06, 2007
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121
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Trip End Jul 24, 2008


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Where I stayed
Akha Hill House
Pam's Guesthouse
(Chiang Rai hotels)

Flag of Thailand  ,
Tuesday, February 19, 2008

There's not really much to see in Chiang Rai.  It's a small city with a couple of nice wats and a medium-sized night market.  After a day of walking around town discovering that there wasn't really much to see (though there was a very interesting small museum about the different hill tribes in the area), I decided to go stay at the Akha Hill House for a couple of nights.

The Akha Hill House is in the jungle on the edge of an Akha (hill tribe) village about a 45-minute ride from Chiang Rai.  It was nice to be away from the city for a couple of days.  I was able to do a couple of short hikes nearby, one to a really pretty, three-tiered waterfall.  I had thought I might do a trek from there, but I would have had to wait two days until there was a group ready to go (or else I would have had to pay a large chunk of change for a private guide).  After doing a couple of day-hikes, I was okay with not doing a trek now.  I got a chance to experience a bit of the jungle anyway.  Plus, the owner was quite rude to me since I wasn't interested in spending a bunch of money on treks, tours, and upgrading to a nicer bungalow instead of the shared room, so I was perfectly happy not to give him any more of my cash.  But even with the crap owner, I enjoyed my time there.  There were a number of nice people to hang out with by the fire in the evening and the scenery was gorgeous.

When I had my fill of pseudo-jungle life for a couple of days, I decided it was time to head back into town and catch the bus to Chiang Khong, the Thai side of the Thailand/Laos border.
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