After what has seemed like an interminable wait at Huay Xai I crossed the Mekong one last time after officially exiting Laos and heading up to immigration on the other side. As I stood there in the pouring rain filling in my entry card who should I bump into (literally) but Kirsti. Turns out we were both heading to Chiang Mai and ended up on the same mini bus for the 6 hour drive to the city from the border town of Chiang Kong.
The driver stopped for lunch about half way and got so excited at the road stop that I couldn't shut up. After spending the last 2 months in the most under developed countries in SE Asia I felt like I had reached civilisation once I entered Thailand. There were proper toilets, and food hygienically packaged, Cornettos and Magnums for sale....I was like a country bumpkin set loose in the city and overawed by the glitz and glamour; and I wasn't even in the city yet! When we arrived in Chiang Mai the excitement only got worse, I even spent half an hour in a chemist just staring at the selection of toiletries. Clearly I had been missing out on a lot of late :P
The guesthouse I stayed at for 300baht a night turned out to be a virtual sauna and with no air conditioning it was still well over 30 degrees in the room by the time I got home at 2am after a few beers with Kirsti. So much hotter here than Laos! Needless to say I hardly slept and finding an air con room was a priority. Coincidentally the guesthouse next door had a free room and it was only 400baht($16) a night for air con and a pool. I was sold!
So I am just taking it easy for a few days (hence the lack of photos), relaxing in the opportunity to experience a bit of the western ways I'm quite partial to but have sorely missed. Its pretty funny how when I've come to Thailand in the past directly from home you notice the lack of creature comforts straight away but after travelling in countries far less developed that Thailand, this country seems like a bustling futuristic metropolis!
The Songkran (Water) Festival, to celebrate the Thai New Year starts officially tomorrow, for 3 days, but already alot of businesses have closed for the holiday and its a bit difficult to find places that are open for internet, laundry, booking tours etc. So its fortunate that I am really looking forward to chilling out poolside for a bit. The Festival involves alot of street celebrations and drinking but the main feature it that each day, all day, people throw water on each other in the street with buckets, or super soakers, cups or anything they can get their hands on. A pretty good idea in this stifling hot weather. I think is would be a great tradition to start implementing for our hot holiday season back home!
