Chiang Rai

The shrimp burns! AHH!

As soon as we crossed the Thai border it was so strange, it was…so obviously Thailand. All of a sudden, the roads were nicer, everyone owned a new car (actually, the fact we even saw cars was unusual), there were powerlines in the sky, advertisements, billboards, internet on every corner. It’s so odd that crossing a river can seem like entering another world.

The travel group we created all headed to the bus station: we all had different destinations in mind, half were off to Chiang Mai and the other to Chiang Rai. Yet at the last minute, all 6 of us ended up going to Chiang Rai. But not before a couple of people (Hugh included) raced out to the 7-11 to buy giant Coca-Cola slurpees. Mock us if you must, tell us we’re not hardcore travelers–we don’t care, it was delicious. =P

The sky smiles down on us. People all over where pointing and laughing at the unusual sight on Dec 1

As luck would have it, the guesthouse we had previously chosen had enough room for the 4 of us who remained in Chiang Rai (me, Hugh, Midori, and Jaja.) Later we had dinner at the Chiang Rai nightmarket–we all each bought a dish to share and in the end it added up to about $2 each. And we ate very well. It just seemed like we were being rewarded for our travels that we did without whining or getting mad at each other. Even the sky seemed to be laughing with us.

Our plans now are in flux as we didn’t really intend on having to be in Thailand for so long, but more and more a small trip to Myanmar is sounding very intriguing….