Northern Thailand

After spending three days in Chang Mai - where the Elephant Nature Park was the definite highlight - we decided to take the long route to Laos. Ignoring the option of a simple four hour air-con mini-van, we decided to spend three days checking out some of the smaller towns on the way. We headed north to Thaton, where we spent a night. It's a very picturesque town on the river, but very slow. 24 hours was definitely enough! We hired a motorbike and headed up to each tier of the seven-tiered wat. Massive golden buddhas glistened at every level and the views from the mountain stretching across the farmland and Kok River were spectacular. Nightlife was definitely not something the residents of Thaton were familar with. Bol and I spent several hours meandering around the empty streets in hysterical fits of laughter, claiming how ''I'm really glad we decided to come to this place''. Eventually we found a 70-year-old Aussie who was more than happy to share a couple of tales over beer at the local ''bar'' - a few wooden stools surrounding a bench, with a toilet in the paddock.

From one of the tiers of the wat overlooking Thaton

We then caught the boat to Chang Rai, which made our ''long route'' to Laos worth it. The four hours travelling down the Kok River was very comfortable (a big plus for these parts) and we travelled through gorgeous farmland, orchards, rice fields, mountains and many children swimming in the river who were so excited to see foreigners.

We spent a very simple night in Chang Mai - found a guesthouse for $4 - and wandered the streets, fed our faces and went to bed pretty early for our morning bus ride to Chiang Khong. The ride to Chiang Khong was again very scenic, made even more scenic by the CDs made for me by my gorgeous Australian girlfriends (you know who you are). They provided the perfect backdrop to the jungles we drove through. Made me think of home while still loving where I was. A weird mix of feelings. Anyway .....

At Chiang Khong we crossed the border into Laos and we are already loving it. We can see Thailand across the river but although so close, Laos has a completely different feel. So relaxed and spacious. Like a country town but with so much colour and the people are so friendly. Tomorrow we'll catch the two-day slow boat to Louang Phabang. Write more soon XX