From Chiang Rai

Our third day in Chiang Mai was Kyle's day at her cooking class and my day on my own. I indulged in some lengthy internet time, a long stroll through a very large art store (oh the smells of home!) and then a long lunch at a noodle stand writing in my journal. I then decided I'd had enough indulgence and needed some culture. I grabbed a tuk-tuk and headed for the Hill Tribe Museum.

The hill tribes of the 'Golden Triangle' region (NW Laos, NE Thailand and SE Burma) are about 6-10 different cultural groups from as far away as Nepal and China. They are fairly small groups that have maintained their traditional lifestyles, in many cases, for the tourist money it can bring in. Their traditional crafts are brought into cities in Norther Thailand (mostly colorful weaving) and sold at markets and tourist shops. Every guesthouse, trekking office and tourist place around offers tours of the hill tribe communities. I decided the best way to learn about these cultures was the museum, all proceeds going to these people themselves.

After a 20 minute drive out of town, I stepped into an empty, tiny and very dated museum. After about 20 minutes, I'd seen everything there was to see of the very faded and poor quality pictures but had done some reading and felt I'd gotten a good grasp of these civilizations. My next move was the make this excursion worth while by getting some exercise by walking home. Not only was I far enough from town to be off my map, but the street signs no longer included both Thai and Roman texts so the 2 hour walk was quite an adventure.

After a Popsicle and a nap, I was woken by Chef Kyle, returning from her cooking class which was a great success. We both showered and dressed quickly for dinner with Liz and Chris (Kyle's friend from NOLS and boyfriend who we had met up with in Phistanulok) who were also staying in Chiang Mai as well too. We had dinner at an excellent restaurant that specialized in organic and wholesome foods (oh Portland, you were so close I could taste it!) and it was fantastic. We then stumbled upon a sort of reggae bar serving cheap mojitos and played several rounds of cards.
We parted ways as we are heading east and they head west but it was really wonderful to have new friends that are having such similar experiences to ours.

The next day, we hopped on a bus and made our way to Tha ton which is a tiny town on the Mekong river. The Lonely Planet guide book included about 15 sentences on Tha Ton and said there really isn't anything there. Maybe that's just what we needed but we just loved Tha Ton. An absolutely charming town divided by the river, we stayed in a very tidy guest house (Riverside GH). The first thing we noticed about TT was the giant white Buddha statue up the hill and what looked like a Wat about 1/4 mile from away from that on another hill. To kill time before dinner, we decided to take a walk and see how far these monuments were and if we could reach them on a road. There didn't seem to be any town maps or tourist information on these icons so we just headed off. Well actually we needed some fortification first so we stopped man with a cart that seemed to be making some kind of sweet pancake/crepe sorts of things. Fried thin pancakes, egg and banana middle, drizzled with sweetened condensed milk and sprinkled with sugar, these little treats were likely the most delicious thing I think I've ever eaten.

Thus fortified, we began to walk up a very steep hill which only indication that it might lead to the wat and shrine was a decorative arch over the otherwise ordinary street. For the next 2 hours we hike up this hill/mountain to discover a series of 8 incredible monuments, statues and temples. We only saw a small handful of other people while walking up this mountain and the views only got better the higher we climbed. Down below, the valley with its farmlands and snaking river opened up and the surrounding mountains circled around. The last temple that we made it to was reminiscent of an Easter egg, or really a stack of Easter dishes, painted in beautiful pastels and was perfectly circular. Inside was a large golden orb with a single statue of a monk inside. Winding it's way around the orb was a ramp that was decorated as a silver snake that deposited you out at the roof balcony to more incredible views. At this point, the sun was setting and we made our way back down the hill.

Dinner of soup on the riverfront and then to 'sleep' with the roosters next door announcing morning at 5am, 5;06am, 5:22am, 6:12am . . .

The next morning, we decided to forgo the 3 day bamboo raft float to Chaing Rai (very expensive and we don't have our sleeping bags) and instead get tickets for the 3 hour motorized long boat ride. The boat leaves once a day at 12:30 so we spent the morning hiking back up the hill to see the last monument past the Easter Dishes. It too was beautiful and had a wonderful view as well but the morning got hotter and we had to hustle to make sure we got to our boat.

The boat ride was very relaxing and beautiful. The boat was maybe 30' long and 3' wide and set very low in the water so your line of sight was almost at water level. We stopped briefly at an elephant camp which included HUGE snakes you could have your picture taken with. One of the snakes was probably 15' long and at it's thickest was probably 8" across. Yes, the largest snake I've ever seen. No, I didn't have my picture taken, or even really consider it.

We arrived in Chiang Rai to find a very busy, commercial city. Both of us imagined something much smaller but we found a guesthouse with rooms available on the second try and took a stroll around too look for an appropriately indulgent place to stuff our face in the wonderful American tradition of Thanksgiving. Pickings were slim but we found an Italian restaurant (we decided the Italians too understand the concept of stuffing yourself) and filled our bellies with calzone, baked spinach and cheese and espresso.

Today is a new day in Chiang Rai where we will look for the office of a trekking company that leads ecologically sensitive 3 day treks.