Laos - Vang Vieng

Day 135 - Tuesday, June 5

As I mentioned in the last entry, I took the sleeper bus from Luang Prabang to Vang Vieng. It was supposed to get there at 1:30am, but didn't get there until a little after 3. When it arrived, it was raining, and the whole town seemed asleep, with no lights on anywhere. I was more worried than before about my prospects for finding a hotel. I had emailed two hotels earlier that day asking if they would have someone at reception at that hour, but never got a response. I had been told that I could just knock on doors at guesthouses if necessary, which apparently is acceptable behavior in such circumstances, but I wasn't so sure how I felt about that even if I could identify the appropriate door to knock on.

I was a little unsure where I had been dropped off, but eventually found my way to Laos Haven Hotel, which I knew had good reviews on various sites. There was a guy sleeping on two chairs at the bar next door, and I debated waking him up, but wasn't sure that he worked for the hotel. I guess he eventually heard me stirring and woke up, and then he woke the manager/owner, who was half-asleep but extremely friendly and got me a room. Whew, that was easier than expected. I finally got up around 12 or 1, I checked out the view of the city from the hotel:

From Laos - Vang Vieng

I then ventured out into the town to check it out and get some lunch. I didn't see anyone at any of the restaurants I walked by, so it felt like a bit of a ghost town. A photo of the main street, devoid of people:

From Laos - Vang Vieng

Eventually, I stopped at a place that I had read had good/fast wifi, where there was also no one. As I finished my food, it started to rain, so I figured I'd just hang out and use the wifi for a while. Well, "a while" ended being about 6 hours because it didn't stop raining until well after 7 and I had no reason to leave. After some dinner at a different spot, I wasn't feeling very well and I knew that food sickness was a common problem in Vang Vieng, so I headed back to the hotel. Luckily, I was fine - false alarm.

Day 136 - Wednesday, June 6

I woke up early to talk to my parents and then crawled back in bed for a while. Again I wasn't feeling great when I woke up - had a bad headache and just felt kind of bleh. It also looked like it would probably rain that afternoon. So, although I had originally planned on going tubing on Wednesday, I decided to just be lazy again.

That evening, I figured I'd go check out some of the bars by the river, which is where I had heard all the fun was had. I figured since those bars were at the endpoint of the tubing, and tubes had to be returned by 6pm to get your deposit back, that around 6pm the bars would be full. So I was a bit surprised when I walked over to that area around 6 and there was literally not a single customer there. What is going on? There really must be no one here this time of year.

I got some dinner and a couple of beers in a quintessential Vang Vieng restaurant/bar with episodes of Friends playing constantly on TV.

From Laos - Vang Vieng

It seems virtually every restaurant in Vang Vieng plays Friends non-stop (or in some cases Family Guy). By about 9, the place was full (maybe I'm not the only person in this town, after all), and then promotional girls for one of the bars by the river came by and handed out vouchers for free drinks and explained to me that no one goes to those bars until later in the evening. So I went out for a bit, but decided to take it easy because I didn't want to be hungover for the full day of drinking and floating down the river the next day.

Day 137 - Thursday, June 7

Finally, 2 days after arriving in Vang Vieng, I actually tubed down the river, and I immediately wished I hadn't kind of wasted my first 2 days there. I also figured out why the rest of the town had seemed like a ghost town before about 9pm. Turns out everyone is on the river until sunset (opting to return their tubes later in the evening and only get 1/2 the deposit back) and then I guess everyone showers and eats and doesn't go to the bars close to town until later.

So anyway, I did some floating and did some drinking and did some ill-advised jumping off various raised platforms into the river. I met a lot of cool people and had an awesome time. Definitely the highlight of my time in Laos. And I got to put my waterproof camera to use:

From Laos - Vang Vieng

From Laos - Vang Vieng

From Laos - Vang Vieng

From Laos - Vang Vieng

From Laos - Vang Vieng

From Laos - Vang Vieng

Day 138 - Friday, June 8

So. Incredibly. Hungover. I kind of felt like death when I woke up. Maybe death warmed over. It was not pleasant. I had debated staying in Vang Vieng another day after having so much fun the previous day and hearing that there wasn't really anything to see or do in Vientiane (my next stop). But I knew with the way I felt that if I stayed there I'd just spend the day in bed nursing my hangover, and staying 2 extra days wasn't an option because I had already booked a flight out of Vientiane for Sunday, so I decided to take the afternoon bus to Vientiane.

On the way we saw the fallout of a pretty nasty moped accident, where a moped had collided with a large semi truck, the moped was totally smashed and the driver was apparently alright enough to be sitting up on the side of the road, though he was covered in blood. Hope he was okay. This was the second moped accident I had ridden past while in Laos, so I'm sure they happen somewhat frequently.

Laos - Luang Prabang

Day 133 - Sunday, June 3

Unlike elsewhere I had been in southeast asia (with maybe one or two exceptions), Luang Prabang was a cleaner, quieter city that seemed to go to bed early and wake early. There was less traffic, less touts, and it was a quiet, pleasant town. I stayed at Riverside Guesthouse, which was okay, but I think there's probably better options.

On Sunday, I first checked out Wat Xieng Thong which is a 16th century temple, and supposed to be one of the highlights of Luang Prabang. Unfortunately they were doing a lot of preservation/renovation work when I was there, so there was scaffolding and other such things set up throughout, detracting at bit from the experience:

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

Then, against my better judgment, I decided to climb up the couple hundred steps

From Laos - Luang Prabang

to the temple at the top of Phousi Hill, which has nice panoramic views of Luang Prabang and the surrounding countryside.

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

The top was a nice place to relax for a while, and I read for a bit and made friends with this very pregnant cat that appeared to live at the temple.

From Laos - Luang Prabang

When I got back to the bottom, I checked out a few other temples around town:

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

Day 134 - Monday, June 4

Monday, I headed to Kuang Si falls on the outskirts of town. The multi-tiered falls were beautiful and the lower tiers provided a good spot to swim.

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

Located near the waterfall was an Asiatic Black Bear sanctuary filled with rescued bears that were entertaining to watch. Sadly, they are farmed for their bile, which is supposed to posses great healing powers.

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

On the way back from the the falls, we stopped by a Hmong village, where I watched some village boys play a Hmong/Lao version of bowling involving flip-flops instead of bowling balls and a pile of empty plastic bottles instead of pins:

I had been trying to decide whether to do an overnight sleeper bus to my next stop, Vang Vieng, or to spend an extra night in Luang Prabang and take the daytime bus the next day. Even though I had heard it was a pretty drive, and I was worried that finding a hotel in Vang Vieng might be difficult if I arrived in the middle of the night on the sleeper bus, I opted for the sleeper mostly because I really wanted the extra space provided, and I was ready to head on after 2 days in Luang Prabang.

While I was waiting for a ride to the bus station, I had perhaps my favorite experience in Luang Prabang. One of the Lao guys working at the guesthouse where I was waiting asked me if I knew how to use Excel. I'm no expert, but I figured I probably knew enough to answer his questions. Over the course of the next 15-20 minutes, we went through some very basic operations in Excel, and I never imagined someone could be so excited about knowing how to use Excel. When I taught him how to use the "sum" function, he was as excited as a kid at christmas. It was a pretty cool experience.

That night I got on the sleeper bus, which had an interesting layout, with 2 aisles and 3 seats across the width of the bus and then kind of a top and bottom bunk for each seat, except that it wasn't flat like a bed. The seats reclined to about a 30-degree angle because the feet of the person behind you were meant to fit beneath the back of your seat. Can't seem to find any pictures online - probably because it's a brand new bus.

I tried to fall asleep, but that was somewhat impossible, both because it was very early still, and because I was terrified. I had a seat at the front of the bus such that I could see out the windshield, and it was one of those bus rides in developing countries that you read about. We were on a winding mountain-side, half-dirt, half-paved road. It was so foggy, you couldn't see more than 50ft in front of the bus, and the driver was flying around turns, inches from careening off the the edge of the road, narrowly missing head on collisions when cars came from the other direction. Eventually I decided that the best bet was to just not look.

Thailand to Laos - Slow-boatin' Down the Mekong

Day 130 - Thursday, May 31

As I mentioned in the last entry while describing my frantic morning in Chiang Mai, I had booked a transfer from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang in Laos that involved a minibus ride from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong (on the Thailand-Laos border), a night there, then, after crossing the border, taking a slow boat for 2 days down the Mekong to Luang Prabang.

So Thursday afternoon was spent in the minivan, traveling through rural Thailand. We stopped briefly in Chiang Rai to check out Wat Rong Khun aka "the white temple"

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

There's basically nothing in Chiang Khong, so once we got there, I just relaxed and caught up on some sleep.

Day 131 - Friday, June 1

Crossing the border was pretty painless, and then we headed to the "slow boat." The slow boats actually move at a pretty good pace, but are slow compared to the longtail speed boats that move very fast. I had seen pictures from other people's slow-boat trips and was looking forward to a leisurely boat ride down the river. I was expecting a boat like this:

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

Unfortunately, I guess because it's slow season, instead of a standard size slow boat, we got put on a smaller boat because there weren't that many people going that day. And the smaller boat was really cramped with virtually no free space. The ceiling was really low too, so there was nowhere on the boat that I could stand up, nor anywhere that I could sit and stretch out my legs. Kind of like this:

From Laos - Luang Prabang

And contrary to what we had been told, there was no food or drinks for sale on the boat, and I was starving the last couple of hours. So it was not exactly the most enjoyable 7-hour ride. The ride did, however, provide some nice scenery; the river was lined with impressive rock formations and boulders and rolling hills off to either side.

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

That night we stayed in Pakbeng, which is a tiny town on a hill with a few hotels. The sole function of the town appears to be as a break point on the 2-day slow boat ride from Chiang Kong to Luang Prabang. The view of the river from our Pakbeng hotel:

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

Day 132 - Saturday, June 2

The second day on the slow boat, we actually had a regular-size slow boat, which made the whole experience vastly better. I could stretch out a lot more, could actually stand up on the boat, and there was food and drinks for sale. So that made for a very pleasant ride down the river the 2nd day. Some more photos:

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

From Laos - Luang Prabang

Leg Injury Update

I realize that I never provided any more info about my leg as I had intended in my last post. After the x-ray showed nothing was broken, I figured it would be sore and bruised for a while, but I was still having the cramping sensation in my calf that seemed odd. When I talked to my parents the day after the spill, my mom (a physical therapist) mentioned that it might be some minor tearing of the calf muscle causing that cramping sensation. I figured that wasn't a big deal, and would heal within a week or so if I didn't do anything too strenuous to aggravate it. Well, after the long slow boat ride on Friday, about 5 days after I injured it, I noticed that, moreso than in the couple of days after the accident, my ankle was really swollen and the whole area around my ankle was purple and severely bruised. I did a little bit of research and decided that my mom was probably right, but it was probably a somewhat more severe calf strain (i.e. tearing of the calf muscle) than I had initially thought. All the bruising and swelling in my ankle was likely a result of the internal bleeding from the tear, and the blood was pooling down by my ankle. It probably also didn't help that I remained somewhat active in Chiang Mai the previous several days, including walking 18 holes of golf. So, as of Saturday, a week after the injury, my ankle was so swollen you could hardly see my ankle bone (I had cankles), and my leg wasn't really feeling any better. So when we arrived in Luang Prabang, I went out and bought an elastic (i.e., Ace) bandage to use to compress the leg and help with the swelling, as well as some ice, and decided that I should probably take it a little easier until my leg felt close to normal again, which if the internet can be believed, could be a month or longer.

Thailand - Chiang Mai

Day 124 - Friday, May 25

The train ride from Ayutthaya to Chiang Mai ended up being about 15 hours rather than the 12 it was supposed to be, but I didn't mind too much as it allowed a few hours in the morning to see a bit of the Thailand countryside as we made our way into Chiang Mai, and I wasn't sure whether I'd be able to check into my hotel that early in the morning anyway.

Though I did get a bit of sleep on the train, I was still pretty exhausted when I arrived, so I opted for a nap and ended up sleeping until late afternoon. That night I went out and explored a bit, checking out the city center and the night bazaar that was close to my hotel. I also checked out a few other hotels and decided that there were better options than where I was at.

Throughout my time in Thailand, I've used agoda.com pretty heavily for booking rooms. Though their fees are quite high (often 20% or more), even with the fees, the prices are always the same or less than the hotels' advertised price, and often a lot less than the best price I can otherwise get. Even after mentioning that agoda has a lower rate, some hotels refuse to offer the same price, forcing me to pull out my ipad and book through agoda in the reception area of the hotel. One such occasion occurred Friday night at the Anoma Boutique House. One of the nicer hotels I checked out while walking around, they quoted me a rate of $40 US and weren't willing to come down at all when I first checked it out. When I returned later after checking agoda and mentioned the agoda price ($20/night including fees), the guy said he'd have to ask the manager, who wasn't there. Not wanting to miss out on the agoda rate, I just went ahead and booked it.

The rainy season made its presence felt again later that evening as it started to rain while I was walking around and I ended up walking back to my hotel in the rain, an experience I'm getting quite used to.

Day 125 - Saturday, May 25

Saturday morning I packed up my stuff and moved it over to Anoma, and it was definitely the nicest place I've stayed since leaving the US. A few pictures:

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

While exploring the city, I had seen quite a few advertisements for cooking classes. As much as I love Thai food, the few times I've tried to prepare something at home, it's been pretty mediocre and a pretty far cry from what you'd get at a restaurant. So I figured a cooking class might be a fun way to meet some people and learn how to make all the delicious dishes I'd been gorging myself on the last month or so.

I decided on Baan Thai Cookery School, which would allow me to make all the dishes I wanted and was conveniently the lowest priced as well. I'd definitely recommend it to others. It was a good group too, and we had fun learning how to prepare some of my favorite Thai dishes (green curry, pad thai, tom yum and papaya salad). A photo of me in my sexy apron - how come no one told me we were being photographed?

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

After the cooking class a few of us went and checked out the saturday markets, where they close off one of the main streets and vendors line the street, not unlike many of the other markets in SE Asia:

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

Day 126 - Sunday, May 27

Just outside of Chiang Mai are two peaks - Doi Suthep and Doi Pui. After doing some research on hiking trails for climbing to the top of Doi Pui, I came across a trip offered by Mountain Biking Chiang Mai which includes climbing up the mountain and then biking down on off-road trails (details here). This seemed like a really good option for a couple of reasons: (1) I had gathered that the trails were not well marked, making it easy to get lost, so having a guide would be nice (2) I much prefer hiking up than hiking down, so any situation where I can climb up and then avoid climbing down is ideal for me, and (3) I had never really been downhill mountain biking, so figured it'd be a good way to try it out.

It being the low season, I was the only one signed up for the "hike and bike," so I had a personal guide, lets call him Dewey, because that's sort of what his name sounded like and I have no idea how his actual name is spelled. I had mixed feelings because on the one hand, I could move at whatever pace I wanted, which was nice, but these sorts of trips are also good ways to meet other travelers, which is always fun. I did meet a few folks that were doing only biking, but only briefly.

The bikers, the guides, and I jumped in a songthaew and headed towards the mountain with bikes strapped to the top. Dewey and I got dropped at the bottom of the mountain and the others headed on up. Dewey led the way and I did my best to keep up with his pace. I guess he is instructed to keep moving faster as long as the customer(s) is on his heels, which he didn't tell me until we got to the top, at which point we blamed each other for going way too fast on the way up. It was quite an exhausting workout. A photo of Dewey trying to act tough on the way up.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

At the top it was really foggy/misty/cloudy, so there wasn't much of a view, but it was still a nice spot to relax for a bit before heading down.

I'm not a biker. I can navigate a beach cruiser through a crowd on the boardwalk with the best of 'em, but I haven't done any serious biking...well...ever...I guess. But how hard could it be right? Dewey gave me some basic instructions on posture and shifting and off we went. For the first 10-15 minutes, all i could think was, "I have no idea what I'm doing; we're going way too fast; I'm probably going to die." But I didn't want to get too far behind Dewey because the track was really rough with a lot of places that seemed quite perilous. So I really wanted to stay close enough to see the line he took, so I could follow. Though I never felt anything close to comfortable, I started to feel a little better after 10 minutes or so without crashing. Little did I know, we were doing the "easy" track. We continued across a ridge along the top of the mountain and stopped to steal some lychees (it was harvest season, so they were delicious) and snapped a few pictures of Chiang Mai down below:

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

It was about at this point that I think Dewey mistook a basic ability to follow directions -- I am stellar at following directions -- for an actual ability to downhill mountain bike. And by that I mean that I probably looked like I knew what I was doing because I positioned myself on the bike exactly as he had instructed (pedals level, weight back, body low, etc.) But I still was screaming obscenities in my head constantly, just hoping to make it to the bottom in one piece. Perhaps I should have expressed this uncomfortableness to Dewey.

As we started making our way down the steeper part of the mountain Dewey asked if I wanted to go down some "single track" trails. Assuming he was the guide and thus had a better idea of what I could handle than I did, I responded with a reluctant, "sure, why not." Unlike the trails we had been on to that point, which were rough, rocky, dirt roads, that winded back and forth and were wide enough for an ATV, the single track trails were steeper and more like hiking trails weaving through trees with large obstacles, drops, etc. Kind of like this, though I remember it being much steeper and scarier.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

The first two single track portions we went down, I managed to make it unscathed, but I'm pretty sure that was a miracle, as I felt out of control most of the time and probably survived based on sheer luck. But when Dewey asked if I wanted to try some more single track, all I could get out was another reluctant, "sure, why not." As it turns out, I was about to quickly learn the answer to my question the hard way. I successfully made it about 3/4 of the way down the next track, with an increasing level of fear corresponding to an increasing speed and decreasing level of control over the bike. While trying to make a turn to get around a tree, I hit a giant root with the front wheel a little sideways, and the front wheel turned sharply rather than going over the root and the bike came to an abrupt halt. Unfortunately my body had other ideas and it kept going over the front and off to the side. But the front wheel had turned so much that the handlebar was all the way up against the frame. Well not quite; my leg got caught between the frame and the handlebar, and I could feel it bending in ways that it shouldn't as I fell. When I came to my senses on the ground, I looked at my leg and was relieved to see that it was all still there in one piece, and wasn't bent in any unnatural directions. But it still hurt a lot, and I was worried that I had messed something up pretty bad.

After a few minutes of just trying to overcome the sensation that I was going to pass out, I tried to evaluate the severity of my injury. It looked like my lower shin had taken the brunt of the force, and my whole lower leg was very sore and it felt like I had a really bad cramp in my calf. I didn't think it was broken, and though I was a bit scared of the prospect, trying to bike the rest of the way seemed better than any alternative options, so I got back on the bike and we moved back to the "easy" track for the rest of the ride down the mountain. The pain had subsided a bit a few hours later when we piled back into the songthaew for the drive back to town, but I decided that it was still probably best to get an x-ray and make sure nothing was broken.

So after we got back to the shop, Dewey took me on his moped to the hospital, waited with me and acted as my translator as necessary. Dewey was pretty awesome. The hospital didn't look too different from any other hospital:

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

I knew medical care in Thailand was cheaper than the US, but I was still shocked when the receptionist told me it would be $10 for just an x-ray and about $20 if I also wanted to see a doctor. So I opted for the latter, but probably should've asked more questions of the doctor. Instead I told him that I just wanted to make sure nothing was broken and so he sent me to get an x-ray, which showed no broken bones. Other than venturing out for dinner at a nearby restaurant, I spent the rest of the evening in bed with ice on my leg.

Day 127 - Monday, May 28

I figured a day of rest would be a good idea, so I took it easy on Monday. I met up with an old friend from Clemson, Adam Lynn, who has been living in Chiang Mai for a while, and got an awesome lunch with him, and then some dessert at a cool and quirky coffee shop.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

I probably should've gotten a taxi back home after lunch, but my leg was feeling pretty good after walking around a little bit, so I decided to walk the couple of kilometers back through the city to my hotel and check out the western part of the city, which I hadn't really seen yet. In retrospect, that was probably a mistake.

Day 128 - Tuesday, May 29

I rented a moped for the day and headed north to Mae Rim to check out the Tiger Kingdom, where they basically breed and raise tigers to be tame, such that tourists can come and pay money to interact with them. It's super touristy, but I figured an opportunity to pet and play with tigers would probably never present itself again. Unlike the Tiger Temple in Kanchanaburi, the Tiger Kingdom didn't seem to have the complaints about mistreatment, black market sales, drugging, etc., so I didn't feel bad supporting it. I understand that there might be complaints about using tigers to make a dollar, and none of the tigers can be released into the wild, so they aren't really helping to prevent extinction. But I think the tigers there lead happy healthy lives and aren't abused, and they're providing people like me an unforgettable experience, so I'm okay with it.

So anyway, they separate the tigers by size and seem to keep siblings together. I got to spend about 15 minutes with a group of 4-month old tiger cubs, while the handler snapped a bunch of pictures with my camera. Apologies in advance for all the pictures. Blame the handers for taking so many - I deleted more than half of them and still ended up with like 100 tiger pictures.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

After the youngest ones, I went and played with some adolescent tigers that were about 14 months old. The first guy had just taken a bath and didn't seem to appreciate me disrupting his post-bath nap, as you can probably tell from his expression in these photos.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

After him, I moved over to his sister who was attacking a defenseless tree limb but didn't seem to mind me joining the fun:

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

After that it was on to the full-grown tigers. The first was Lana, who was pretty awesome. It's crazy how much these giant tigers resemble typical domesticated house cats in mannerisms and personality.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

Lana didn't seem thrilled about me messing with her tail and stared me down a couple times, which was kind of cool. I probably should've been somewhat scared of being ripped apart by a tiger, but they seemed so much like a giant pet housecat, that I was quite comfortable and wished I could've been more playful with them.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

Then I hung out with another full-grown adult, who was playing with a stone and wood ball toy, and ripping into it along with another block of wood.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

I was amazed that the handlers let me grab her hind legs to roll her on on her back to rub her tummy. At one point, he pushed my arm away in the way you or I might brush off a fly, and I could feel how incredibly powerful the muscles were in their hind legs - a small reminder of what an adult tiger is capable of.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

The last of the full-size tigers seemed a bit exhausted and was enjoying a serious nap on a table, so I tried not to disturb too much. You can see the little twig the handler is holding that's no bigger than a drumstick. That's what they train them with and that's the only thing they have to restrain the tigers. I don't think that twig is going to be a lot of help if some 500-lb tiger decides to go rogue, but what do I know.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

It's probably tigers like this guy that lead people to assume the tigers are drugged/sedated, but in addition to the center stating clearly that the tigers aren't drugged, it should come as no surprise to anyone that has ever spent much time around cats, that some of them of sleeping or lethargic. Cats sleep a lot. Especially in the heat of the day. On top of that, interacting with the other tigers who were quite playful only further leads me to believe that no drugs or sedatives are being used on the tigers. After playing with all the tigers, I walked around and snapped a few more pictures of the tigers, including this guy who seemed to really want a belly rub:

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

And this cute little guy who seemed sad that his siblings were sleeping and he had no one to play with:

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

After hanging out with tigers for the morning, I took the moped up to the temple at the top of Doi Suthep. Apparently there's a saying, which I heard from a few people while in Chiang Mai, that if you haven't seen Doi Suthep, then you haven't seen Chiang Mai. There was a nice view of Chiang Mai from the temple:

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

and the temple itself was beautiful

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

Unfortunately it was a couple hundred steps up to the temple, which probably wasn't so good for the bum leg.

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

I was planning to stop by a couple of waterfalls on the way back, but it started to rain, so once-again I was caught riding a moped in the pouring rain.

Day 129 - Wednesday, May 30

Despite a job, a wife and two kids less than a year old to keep him busy, my friend Adam was able to make some time to entertain me on Wednesday. We headed to Alpine Golf Club a little south of Chiang Mai to play some golf. The course was beautiful, and like everything in Thailand, a fraction of what a similar course would cost in the US. Some photos of the course:

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

Though the weather was pretty nice when we arrived, some rain moved in on the second hole:

From Thailand - Chiang Mai

So we stopped golfing for a bit, but that just meant more time for drinking beers. After golf, Adam gave me a lift back to Chiang Mai and we got a few beers at a few bars popular with locals that were a little ways away from the main touristy area. We were the only white guys, so we kind of stuck out like sore thumbs.

When I got back to my hotel, I realized I had left my hotel room key in the golf bag I had borrowed from Adam. Luckily, there was someone at reception, so I was able to get in with a spare key. I sent Adam a quick email before falling asleep trying to figure out if there would be a way to get the key from him the next morning.

Day 130 - Thursday, May 31

Earlier in the week I had booked a transfer to Laos on Thursday that included transportation to the border, and then a 2-day slow-boat ride from the border to Luang Prabang. The bus was supposed to pick me up between 930 and 10 Thursday morning. So I got up at 8:30, and I hadn't heard back from Adam yet. But I didn't even know if he was coming into the city that morning anyway (he lives about 20 minutes south of the city) and had sort of resigned myself to the reality that I was probably just going to have to pay $5 or $10 to replace the key. I started packing all my stuff up, and a little after 9, I realized that I didn't have my running shoes and had left those in Adams car as well. Crap, that's a much more significant item than the missing room key. I started to panic a bit at that point because I really didn't have time to get it all sorted out before leaving. I was debating what to do, because the whole transfer package to Luang Prabang was only about $50, which is probably less than the value of the shoes, especially factoring what a pain it would be to find replacement shoes. So I quickly sent Adam another email about 915 asking if he had my shoes and if he was in the city. At about 925, just as I was finished packing, Adam wrote back saying he was in the city.

Upon realizing I actually might be able to get my shoes and make my bus if I was super quick about it and got a little lucky, panic mode once again set in. I realized that sending emails back and forth wouldn't work as my bus to Laos was supposed to be there to pick me up any minute. So I headed down to the front desk to check out (at this point its 930) and told them that my friend has their key and asked if I could call him on their phone. So I called and talked to Adam, and he said he could meet me at his car in front of his work in 10 minutes. I convinced the hotel manager to let me borrow a moped. I told him that I was supposed to be leaving for Laos on a minibus that's supposed to pick me up any minute, and if he sees it, to have them wait on me. And then I raced out the front door and jumped on a moped. I drove like a crazy person on the moped (so basically the same as your average thai driver) and got to Adam's car at about 945. I was excited to see he was there with key and shoes in hand. Sweet! Ten minutes later, after a few near-death experiences on the moped, I was back at the hotel and they said the minibus hadn't come. Whew! All I could think was that it was a miracle that somehow everything seemed to have worked out, and at about the 10:05, the minibus showed up - finally someone showing up a few minutes late when I actually need them to.

Much thanks for Adam for entertaining me in Chiang Mai!