Namaste Mekong

On the 31th of December I decided I'd like to visit NYE in Pai. Having heard so much good about the town already I was just very curious. I got on a local bus which took me there in about 4 hours. It wasnt the most comfortable ride I've had. My knees were killng me, the bus was NOT designed for my leg size. So apparently Pai was in the hills... About 200 crazy road curves later we arrived. I noticed I've developed a little habbit into travelling at the most impossible times. (during the biggest festival in Nepal, during election time in Nepal, the kings birthday in Thailand, now on 'oldyears' ) it does however add to the travel experience. This time it was rather hard to find a place without having to pay 20 euros a night (Im on a budget afterall) Still it didnt take me to long. So there I was in town I knew nothing about (yet again) I went out to scout. I ended up getting invited to a campfire (loved it) continued from there into town. While I was strolling around the streets I noticed some Thais playing good music. (Some dance which was what I needed) Before I knew it I had a beer in my hand (with icecubes, despite the fact that it was already pretty close to 0 degrees) and snacks. Around midnight we head out for the concrete bridge of Pai. This is the crossing over a river from the town into the jungle. The place was scattered with tents, which at first I thought were tourists but turned out to be Thais. There was a true invasion of Thais and they easily outnumbered the tourists. At midnight it was a truely insane display of fireworks all over the place. It beautifully lit up the river, the jungle and the bridge. It's really one of the best NYE's that I've had. The day after was just chilling down.

The second of January was a different story. I woke up not feeling to good. I was literally drained. No energy at all. Insane headache. Could hard move. I needed help! Luckily I was at the best place possible for that matter. Nua, the manager of the Guest house (Darling in Pai) where I was staying at, really took good care of me. Getting me drinks, food, blankets etc. The owner, Darling, of the guesthouse also dropped by and she spoke about some Thai Herb medicines. I was willing to give that a go! A few moments later 3 guys stood in front of me. Darling had sent them to check up on me. 2 of them being German doctors. It was wellput when I heard them say ' Immune shut down' I tried the medicine and after that with the help of the guys moved up to another guest house which Darling owned. The funny thing was that it was the place where I was on old years eve for the campfire! Darling had prepared me a room. 'Holland Bungalow' (They odds) I got my own silent space and could do as I pleased. Which was sleeping. I had several people checking up on me. Getting food, drinks and whatever I wished for. On the advice of the doctors I did go to the hospital to be sure. They feared an infection. Darling herself drove me down. It did turn out to be an infection .. in my foot. That thing kept on going. I got antibiotics and was asked to show up daily at the hospital, for a week, to have bandages refreshed. So I did. Meanwhile I was just taking it really easy. Enjoying loads of fires, evening Markets, meeting beautiful people, watching a movie. By the time I realized I actually started to like the routine of my visits to the hospitals to get my bandages refreshed it ended. The nurse took of the bandages, had a little consult with her colleague, and said; ' Finish' My mind was like noooo, I still resisted a bit but there was no more need for me to come back. I started planning what next to do. I hadnt explored around Pai yet, and it had loads of possibilities to do so. A Japanese WWII bridge, hotsprings, elephant camp and much more!

The next day I noticed things would not go as planned (ha!) I found out that i was overdue on my visum, by 2 days already. I was facing a fine of about 12 euros a day. I didnt actually check the visa that I got (rookie mistake) I was under the assumption it would be 30 days. Which I heard from several sides. It's true, but only when your a citizen of a G8 country.. At the moment I received my visum there was the thought of checking it but I was just to tired to do it. Anyways.. I had to move. Luckily my last visit to the hospital (just to be sure) was a saying goodbye one. Doctor said I was good to go. So I had 3 options as far as I could see at that moment. Visum run to Birma, already done that didnt feel like repeating. (on top of that the ride for that day had already left) Extending my visum in Thailand, would turn out to be a expensive endeavor, nah.. So it would be slowboat.. into Laos! I never had Laos on my list, but now it was just the best thing to do. I went around and was able to get a ride that would start the same day. I would have a 11 hour ride to the border with Thailand. Spent the night there. Get into customs, pay the stupid fine and get to slowboat. Just before we did so we had a talk by a friendly guy with a mustache. Ill refer to him as ' mustache guy' The thing was that mustache guy had a very interesting approach to welcome people into Laos. In order to ensure that we would enjoy our stay to Laos and tell our friends how great it was, he had prepared a little speech. I was amazed by the fact that he knew so many words. Untill that moment his vocabulary seemed to be not bigger then; ' Sit down' Which was a genuine answer to pretty much every question you asked. Questions were to be asked after he did his speech. So to sum up. We would be on the boat for 2 days and spent a night in Pak Beng. A local village which consisted for about half out of restaurants, shops, bakeries and hotels. There would be no ATM (there were 2) there would be hardly any guesthouses (there were at least a dozen) seats on the boat for the next day on the boat better be reserved (didnt mean shit anyone just got on the boat and it fitted) his guesthouse was good and the others were bad (it was actually his I heard the most disturbing stories about) had to be carefull for people stealing things (I lost my drivers license and creditcard, of which the first was returned without questions. It was actually really kind of the guy who brought it back. So I thanked him and gave him some money for it. The creditcard however could have been found with the support of the finders of my drivers license. At some point they talked about a 'finders fee' of about 100.000 Baht (about 2.500 euro) which for me was enough reason to just block my credit card and not care about it any longer)

Slowboat! Yea the slowboat on the Mekong river into Laos. Starting from the border town of Huay Xai in Laos towards Luang Prabang. It is without doubt one of the best, if not the best, ways of travelling. Sliding through the mountainous area. It had hills that were totaly covered with green. Varying from banana to coconut and other different trees. The speed wasnt actually that slow. I've had 2 beautiful sunny days. Loved the sunsets. My first impressions of Laos were pretty good. Seeing my first elephants this trip. They were used to assist in the logging of wood. I just caught them having a break next to the river and they were bathing. On board there was truely relaxed vibe. People were reading, singing, playing, just enjoying themselves. It may be no surprise that there were several friendships made. If not on board then for sure later on in Luang Prabang. You kept on running into people you had met on the boat. I became part of a group now known as the 'Mekong connection' . Crazy nicknames being handed out such as the Mad Scientist, El Frenchie (Troy I've black out on yours?! what was it again) and the Lion King (yours truly) Loved those guys. Had some great days at Luang Prabang. Afterwards it was up north to the 'City of Victory'

More to come, more to come! Lots of love