Heading for the Border

Rice paddies from the road
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So, Chiang Mai was wonderful, but we have to move on. We hopped onto a mini bus crammed with 10 of us instead of the big public bus. I was sitting in the front seat, which I thought was a good idea at the time (more leg room, great view, nice breeze from the window...), but in reality, put me in the frontline of danger. I don't know how these Thai people do it, but they have found a way to be the craziest drivers and still manage to get you to your destination in one (sweaty, anxious) piece. They pass going full speed around blind corners, and will swerve out of the way of trucks at the very last second before a head-on collision. I just threw on my iPod and watched the scenery, silently praying for my life.

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Kevin was sitting behind me talking to these Australians the whole time, gathering a whole bunch of information on places we're heading. It was one of the guy's first time traveling back to Vietnam since '72, so you know what that means. He declared he was on a "SKIING" vacation. Not the kind of "skiing" you're thinking of, but "spending the kid's inheritance." Haha. Kevin and I got a kick out of that one. Note from both of us: Mom and Dad, please forget about that term. "Skiing" is overrated.

"Skiing" is overrated.

Sunset on the way to Chiang Khong
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The driver stopped a few times along the 5-hour trip at these little local markets in the middle of nowhere. The drivers do this here. Lots of stops at friend's stores, so we have to buy stuff and they get money for it. The bathrooms are becoming more and more horrendous (I'm talking dirty hole in the ground, bugs everywhere, no toilet paper horrendous) and we're finding that the worse the bathrooms are, the more likely you are to be charged to use them. 2 baht for a toilet that rivals the toilet out of the movie "Trainspotting." You can imagine... or maybe you can't. I'll spare you the picture. We caved and bought some snacks and fried bananas and called it a day when I spotted a large pot of things squirming around. "Ew, what is that?" I asked. "It's just crabs," Kevin said, slightly cocky. It was 5 inch cockroaches. Mutant cockroaches. Back to the bus.

Bungalow 7 at Tam-Mi-La Guesthouse, Chiang Khong
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We arrived (ALIVE!) in Chiang Khong in the late afternoon and checked into our cool little bungalow right on the Mekong called Tam-Mi-La Guesthouse. There really is nothing going on in Chiang Khong. Nothing at all. Just people getting Visas for Laos before they head across the river. In Chiang Khong, we saw our first chained up little monkey (which I wanted to pet, but knew it would bite), grabbed a bite to eat (rice, rice and more rice) and called it a night after a beautiful sunset over the Mekong River, as we have to wake up early to get our Visas and catch a boat crossing over to Huay Xai, Laos - Country #3.

Our bungalow's view right along the Mekong
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Note: Kevin is allergic to cats, apparently. He might look happy as a clam petting that fluffy little feline, but we really just set it for a picture before he threw it into the Mekong. No, not really, but he did make it get off his lap. And all it wanted was a little love...

P.S. The computer here is so sloooow that I'll have to add more pictures later. Sorry!