A boat trip down the Mekong

Crossed the border into Laos pretty smoothly for here we are told, and boarded our boat for a two day trip to Luang Prabang. Some great scenery on the way; villages, fisherman and produce/tourist traffic, vegetables and fruit growing on the sand banks and further up the hills, a few children playing and water buffalo. It was very relaxing and a bit nippy in places - a couple of times we were all huddled in blankets! We stopped for a night in the middle of nowhere, accessible only by boat, with a bathroom from which you had to remove the toilet paper before you showered! Basic room but a v good curry dinner, thank goodness because a walk round the local market gave us the choice of wriggling cat fish and frogs or dried rat and bat! The Lao people waste nothing- even eat buffalo tendons ughh! Next day on the boat we stopped at some caves, the first Lao temple. Lots of Buddha statues given as offerings inside.

 

 

A fishing rod left for the day

 

 

 

Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai

A long but scenic train journey to Chiang Mai. The flat rice plains dramatically shifted to jungley hills about 90 minutes into the journey. Lots of backpackers on this train and we stuck out a bit with our two big suitcases! Biked our way around the city again, definitely the way to do it in Thailand, and visited more temples and a great little fair trade shop with crafts made by the hill tribes. Spent a bit of time at the night market; there were some lovely pictures made from thin leather, soaps cut into detailed flowers, among lots of colourful clothes and "rolexes!" If you visit bring a half empty suitcase with you!

Caught a bus to Chiang Mai (very comfortable- like going business class on a plane!) Not quite as enamoured with this city but we did have a trip out to " the white temple", a modern one designed and painted by an artist who we don't know much about yet! No info there. It was like a fairy princess' palace on first sight- Eve and Isla I think you would have been taken with it.

Met up with our tour group tonight for our trip into Laos. 5.10am wake up call tomorrow!

There's a lizard hiding behind the fridge in our room tonight!

 

Sukothai bike tour

We'd booked a bike tour for Tuesday mostly because it had such good reviews on TripAdvisor. Our guide, nicknamed Miaow because her Mum liked cats!, made it a really enjoyable day. She brought along homemade snacks (always a way to my heart!), took us for lunch at a local market (veggie stir fry, chicken and a papaya salad) and stopped off in villages on the way to the temple park. In one of the villages we met a lady who makes charcoal to sell as a way of making a bit extra and visited a cooperative furniture factory for a peak at their work - some intricate Sukothai designs on them including a flower and trailing leaves. We cycled along the edge of rice, veg fields and canals and felt like we'd had a good workout once we got back to the hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Illegal cock fighting with the mayor looking on!

 

 

 

Decorations in a temple

Ayutthaya

Used some bikes today and yesterday to get to the sites in this town which is an island, surrounded on 3 sides by rivers and on the 4th by a canal.These were mostly older religious and royal ruins built in the 14th to 16th centuries. Saw a huge monitor lizard in the river that I at first thought was a croc!

Heading East

On 12th Jan we set out on our big trip to S.E. Asia, New Zealand and Australia, with a larger second suitcase!

First stop Bangkok.

A friendly taxi driver dropped us at our hotel, chatting most of the way in Thai, sometimes to us, sometimes to the traffic, radio and on the phone - we think! He smiled a lot so that was fine.

Bangkok has lots of modern buildings interspersed with colourful, shiny temples. They're quite incongruous. We've visited several, one with a 46m "reclining" Buddha and another with a solid gold one! The Grand Palace was really impressive. I said "wow" far too many times! There were some beautiful murals there, some parts painted in gold, with flying elephants! And Gods and Devils and mythical creatures.

Today we visited a Throne Hall which although a bit of a trek was definitely worth it. The audio tour referred to "works of art" and that's just what they were! Amazingly detailed, beautiful and lavish things. No photos allowed unfortunately. I particularly loved 2 huge silk embroideries, some parts a bit 3D, with gold thread and sequins too. Neil's favourite was the irridescent beetle wings that are used to embellish some objects. Displayed here are objects made by impoverished farmers and their families who are given training in traditional crafts. This is just one of Queen Sirikit's many initiatives.