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Date: May, 2004
Location: Thailand
From Bangkok, I took a
night train to the city of Chiang
Mai in Northern Thailand. Though it's the second largest city in
Thailand, it was very quaint,
especially compared to Bangkok! Nonetheless, I only spent one day
sightseeing there before taking a four hour bus ride to the small town of
Pai, located in the mountains northwest of
Chang Mai. The first thing I noticed was how inexpensive it was - my
guesthouse room cost the equivalent of less than two dollars a night.
After taking a motorbike out into the mountains with Julian, an Aussie guy
I had met, I was blown away by the spectacular scenery. Our first stop
was a series of three waterfalls, where we met a very cool group of
backpackers composed of a Dutchman, an Aussie, an American, a German and a
Canadian. We had all heard that it was possible to slide down the first
of the three waterfalls, but no one was willing to take the 20 foot
plunge.
The next day, however, the American crept his way to the edge,
slipped and literally flew into the water below. Since he didn't incur
any serious injuries, the rest of us joined in at the same time a group of
Thai children put us all to shame by fearlessly sliding down all three
waterfalls. We had a really good time with them, as they thought we were
very funny looking and acting!
Another amazing experience I had outside of Pai was swimming with an
elephant. For three dollars each, Wilco, the
Dutchman and I were led into a river on top of an enormous
elephant that would completely submerge itself underwater with one of us
standing on it's head, then suddenly stand up and fling us 10 feet into
the air! It was an extremely impressive and surprisingly playful animal,
though it did take us half an hour to walk to and from the river because
it would stop every couple of feet to tear down and devour HUGE pieces of
vegetation along the way !
From Pai, Julian, Wilco and I took a combined 10 hour bus trip to a
border town in Laos, where we played
soccer with local children and stayed the night before embarking on a two
day boat journey down the Mekong River to the city of Luang Prabang.
The scenery was nothing short of SPECTACULAR, and the night we stayed at a
village along the way was really interesting. When Wilco and I took a
jog through the village into the rainforest, the children would
excitingly run after us, waving and yelling "hallo!hallo!hallo!" They
especially liked Wilco, as he is probably the tallest person they have EVER seen (six foot five).
Luang Prabang was extremely impressive from a scenery standpoint, but
it was a very sleepy little town, so Wilco and I only stayed two days
before taking a seven hour bus trip south to the town of Vang Vieng
(Julian got bit by a spider and had to spend the next day in the hospital!).
Full of backpackers, it was EXTREMELY lively. The first day, we took a
full day kayaking and caving trip, during which we enjoyed the
SPECTACULAR scenery and got some good exercise in the process.
The highlight had to have been the Underwater Cave, which we explored by
pulling ourselves 500 meters down a rope on inner tubes while holding a
lit candle in our toes! The following four days, I went tubing down the
river, which is considered by everyone to be the highlight of Vang Vieng.
Along the way, locals reel you into shore with bamboo sticks, where
you can drink fifty cent, half liter beers and engage in various
activities, the best of which is being pulled up a swing 20 feet into the
air before getting flung out into the middle of the river!
While in Vang Vieng, I stayed in a BEAUTFUL riverside bungalow area 10
or so minutes from the center of town, but one night, I got lost on my way
back, and shortly thereafter, a TORRENTIAL rainstorm came through.
Soaking wet, I woke up three different families, none of whom I could
communicate with, so I ended up shivering myself to sleep on a staircase
under the roof of a monastery. Definitely a scary yet memorable experience!
From Vang Vieng, Julian and I hopped on a bus to the capital of
Laos, Vientiane,
where we saw the major sights before taking a night bus back to Bangkok.
- Greg
For the next leg of Greg's around the world trip, click here... Or if you want to see what he was up to before
this tale, click here...
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