Monday, February 3, 2025

 Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai, Thailand

I took my bike back at 7:30 this morning and while waiting for the shop to open, I toured the market.  I tried some coconut balls which were delicious-



I returned to my guesthouse and lounged until 11, then walked to the dentist.  I got in early and in no time my tooth was filled, I had called a Bolt- (like Uber) motorcycle and I was at the bus station.  I hadn’t bought a ticket because I had no idea how long my appointment would be so was pissed off to hear “Chiang Rai is sold out until tomorrow!”  There are at least a dozen buses that go every day!  Of course I argued with the guy that there were seats online even though he had already shown me the zeros on the computer screen.  But, being me, I found the site, picked the bus, filled in my information and then when it was time to pick a seat, there were none.  Shit.  Oh well, I could cancel my room, find a place close by and be on the first bus in the morning.  Then, a miracle happened.  The man who moderates traffic at the entrance came to me and asked if I was going to Chiang Rai.  I explained the situation and he said he knew and he had two tickets leaving today at 4 pm!  I should buy a lottery ticket!  


Meanwhile I had a few hours to kill so walked to a nearby huge modern mall-




I had a Blizzard!
  There is the odd Dairy Queen here-


I checked out the prices for beef in the supermarket.  $146.00 and $133.00/ kilo-


and $90.00/kilo-


Lunch was-



It was horrible because it was a whole lot of bones.  I only ate about 3 mouthfuls, then thought this is worse than eating a poorly filleted fish.  I don’t know what it tasted like because it was so spicy my mouth burned.  Why do people think spicy hot is flavour?

The toilets at the mall were interesting and a good idea-


I went back to the bus depot to wait.  4 pm came and went - the bus was delayed 45 minutes but eventually arrived and we were on our way.  There wasn’t much change in elevation but if we weren’t driving through a town, we were in the forest.  An Indian gentleman sat beside me and he watched and I got to listen to Indian dancing videos for 3.5 hours.

Near the bus terminal in Chiang Rai-


 I found The Lab Sleep Hostel-



then wandered to the night market for morning glory-


How is this possible-


I hope to do a 2 day motorcycle loop to the Golden Triangle starting tomorrow.  I don’t think it will be nearly as gruelling as Mae Hong Son.  I also booked my shuttle to Chiang Khong for Thursday.  I’m not taking any chances with not having a way to get there!  


P.S.


The most important things in my backpack!  The kettle is new this trip and the whole inside heats so water boils in less than a minute-




No comments:

Post a Comment

Chiang Khong, Thailand to Pak Beng, Laos Today’s trip was from Houayxay to Pakbeng- I was up early and the owners of the cabins drove us to ...