…….almost stopped us from getting the bus to Chiang Rai because we were told that the bus does not-travel on holidays but when we stopped at ‘Marlboro Joe’s’ for a coffee in the early morning the Thai owner had pretty good English and told us the buses go every day no matter what the holiday…….so after a good coffee we were off in the back of a truck to the bus station to catch the 10am bus.  We were told the bus leaves every hour but when we got to the station in plenty of time we found out that we had to wait until1:30 and we didn’t know if that was because the bus was full or if they changed the schedule.   In any case we Decided that rather than sit in the bus station for four hours watching the chaos we would go for a walk, a coffee or shop around.  In leaving I almost tripped over a couple of little waifs who were in bare feet and quite dirty and it was hard to tell who they were running from, but they were on the move…….no matter where you are little kids are cute.

The monks have been fascinating to watch and they are everywhere as temples (wats) are everywhere.   People have great respect for them,  and actually for each other and us, the tourists, who visit.  Daily there’s a ‘tak bat’ which is a monks’ alms procession.   This occurs at dawn which might explain why I haven’t seen it yet…….but basically the monks walk barefoot through the streets and the townsfolk give them tiny balls of sticky rice in their begging bowls.  Apparently it is a very quiet, meditative ceremony during which monks demonstrate their vows of poverty and humility.   The monks that we have seen have ranged in age from around ten years of age and……..Mostly older.   What shocked me the other day was seeing a monk, maybe in his forties walking down the street smoking a cigarette………that was another first.  Anyway back to the bus trip….

…….so we had a great coffee at a little Japanese cafe and then walked for about an hour and saw the massage sign and Marilyn said “let’s go in”, I quickly agreed and Jim nodded his head and luckily there were three available and we had the best leg and shoulder massage  which left us feeling like a million bucks as we headed to our bus………and all for about six bucks each for an hour!!!!!!!   When we got to our bus we almost missed it because the signs had changed and departure gates, for lack of a better word, were-different and so we made a mad scramble for our bus to find out that sitting directly behind us were the little shoeless and impoverished darlings…..but not to worry, they were as good as gold and were asleep in ten minutes.

The bus ride to Chiang Rai was uneventful … No air conditioning made it a little hot but we would have to wait another couple of hours for an a/c bus so we thought we would tough it out with the locals……and we did without too much efforts and after three and a half hours we arrived no worse for the wear.    On the way in we saw a sign for the restaurant Cabbages and Condoms which our friend Alison in England had mentioned but in the end we could not find it………basically it’s a grass roots kind of restaurant that is non profit and the funds go to safe sex initiatives and awareness which as you probably already know is much needed in this country.  

We decided to spend only one night in Chiang Rai as there wasn’t much to do so we had another great meal and a couple of beer and an early night.  In the morning we went to a Chinese market which was, once again, overwhelming in that we could not figure out where it started or ended……..it just went on and on!  It was here that I made my first purchase…….bought a simple little hat just in case I needed it on the boat.   The one thing about travelling with a backpack is that you are constantly aware that anything you buy will be on your back for the remainder of the trip……..so all of us have decided that any purchases will be made at the end.   Our next stop was the bus station again as we were headed to Chiang Khong where we were to get a visa that would allow us to enter into Laos……..and find out what exciting adventure lay ahead……….let you know tomorrow as I head for a good nights sleep and hope you have one as well.