Tuesday, February 4, 2025



 Northern Thailand 

My day started off great.  I had a leisurely morning then went bike hunting.  I ended up renting a semi automatic from a Newfie who has lived here 16 years.

My first stop was at a Long Neck Karen Village.  It is made up of a few different shacks, supposedly real but it's definitely set up for tourists-


They wear traditional clothing-

I think this is for show-


But these are long necks-

Necks-



The rings don’t actually stretch the neck.  They push down on the collar bones and that creates a longer neck.  

They keep busy carving-

and making fabric-


They have a few rubber trees collecting latex-




and some cows-


The daycare-


and inside a house where 5 people live-



I carried on with beautiful views-




I visited a tea plantation-


Then the shit hit the fan.  I wasn’t going fast but was approaching a 90 degree turn.  There was gravel on the road and when I braked, the bike skidded and I fell.  My right knee is scraped as is my right elbow.  There were people around and a couple stayed with me, gave me water and called an ambulance.  I felt fine except my right arm was killing me.  They took me to the Santikiri Health Centre then said I had to go to the hospital in Mae Chan.  Halfway we switched ambulances and I ended up in Bangkok Hospital in Chiang Rai which is private.  I had numerous x-rays, a CT and ECG for pre-op.  The have determined my right arm is broken above the bicep in numerous places.  I need surgery with plate(s) and screws so I contacted insurance and they just confirmed they will guarantee payment so once the business department gets that email, I will leave the emergency room and move into ICU.  It’s their policy that if someone is alone, they must stay in ICU.  They have said I will be in the hospital 4 days so once again my slow boat down the Mekong has been delayed-







 What a piss off!  I don’t know if I will be able to manage.  Right now my arm hurts A LOT so I’ll see what it’s like after surgery.

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