Rory's posts with tag: road trip
| Start: | Aug 23, '08 | | End: | Aug 25, '08 | | Location: | Sagada |
Planning a trip to Sagada with some friends from Station1 (UCM), message me if you wanna come with!
|  | Yes, once again I was stuck in limbo, este Bangkok Airport...
I so love free wifi |
I decided REALLY late last night that since Andrew Quinley still hadn't replied to my emails (his family is here in Chiang Rai and I wanted to go to their church...) I would just go ahead and take advantage of the small group tour being offered. BHB1,100 for the car + guide + gas for the whole day isn't so bad. Told the night guard as much and tried to get some sleep.
Tried...
And tried...
Got buzzed awake by my alarm, just as well as I was in the midst of yet another teeth-falling-out dream. I haven't yet adjusted the clock in my mobile phone, so I reset the alarm and went to sleep again. My phone buzzed my awake again and I realized in my doziness I had reset it to a too-late time. It was 9am, when we were supposed to leave. So I threw some clothes on and went into a garden to see if I had caught the group.
Long story short, the guide had just arrived, so I had just enough time to better pack my stuff and put on my sunscreen. I was going to go around with a young German backpacking couple also staying in Baan Bua Guesthouse and No, our guide, was going to drive us around,
 First stop: Visiting the Hill Tribes.
It was an hour-long drive up, and Dana and I spent the first couple of minutes doing the whole "getting to know you" thing, then the rest trying to get some rest. I just ended up with a crick in the neck, something that always happens to me when I try to snooze upright.
The hill tribes were very interesting. There were the Akha, the Long Neck Karen and the Big Eared Karen tribes all living together in the same area. A lot of the tribes migrated from the Burmese border not far from Chiang Rai. I'd read about the Karen in the book "Eternity in their Hearts," written by the same man who wrote "Peace Child." Very interesting stuff, I highly recommend it.
It was a bit of a tourist trap with souvenirs everywhere, but at least they were very reasonable priced. And it was interesting to see the women in full costume. They have a lot in common with the indigenous people in the Philippines, some of the hand woven patterns are almost identical to the Ifugao's.
 Second Stop: The Myanmar-Thai Border
Another hour-long drive to the border. The Mekong is really small there, amazing that such a piddly little body of water can separate two big nations.
Had lunch here. Bit of a communication fiasco and I ended up with two bowls of noodle soup, the first with pork, the second with chicken. Sigh... At least I hadn't had breakfast so that should fuel the rest of my day.
Third Stop: The Golden Triangle Viewpoint
The Golden Triangle (composed of Thailand, Burma and Laos) was a region famous for opium and so-named because they used gold as the standard currency for opium trading.
Growing opium is illegal now, so there are at least 2 museums in the area dedicated to educating the public about opium, its effects, and its penalties.
 The Mekhong behind the pretty lady in the pic is home to the world's largest catfish, which can grow to around 2.5m. You can ride that baby to work!!! LoL. They start fishing for that monster next weekend, during the Thai new year.
There were 2 old Buddhist temples in the area so got to see those, as well as a new and humongous golden buddha.
We spent another hour in the car going back to Chiang Rai town, had a quick shower and headed over the night market for dinner. Mild green curry with chicken. Mmmm... Had to dig out the Thai phrasebook to make sure it had no beef or pork, or was too spicy. But worth the effort.
Then had my first Thai massage. Just one hour, wanna go for two next time. It was GOOD, and funny because my masseuse and I couldn't communicated, so I couldn't really tell her what I wanted apart from my facial expressions, which under normal circumstances are pretty
comedic anyway. LoL. It was fun.
Then spent a good while uploading pix while trying to get sleepy.
My twit said it best:
Apparently my Thai nightcap is what's keeping me awake. My Brit friend Rob said:
"if i know thailand at all it'll have amphetamines." Dang..
I'm still weighing the pros and cons of heading over to Chiang Mai for the Songkran (New Year Water) Festival... It will be packed with tourists, and although I am one myself, I prefer to go when no one else is there.
| | Or as Stef would say, the LEGENDARY Journey. ^_^ |
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