Wed 8 Feb
Got up for breakfast and then got a call from the lady at the boat Pier to say they had enough people so boat would go . Scheduled departure time 12.30 and 400 BHT each. Packed up and went to 7-11 for snacks and top up of cell internet coverage – to last till departure – another 99 BHT for 7 days. Grabbed some sandwiches from coffee shop for the journey, had a great cappuccino – they certainly make good coffee in the North! Sat waiting for the boat and met another couple from Quebec who were also doing the trip and in fact more people kept arriving so in the end there were 12 of us! Enough for 2 long-tail boats. Horrified to see there were no seats in the boat and we had to sit on little cushions – facing sideways! Ended up actually being more comfortable this way as you could stretch out and lounge back – put the lifejacket on as had heard stories about these boats! We were lucky that it was operating as normally they shut the service down when the river level gets too low! We must be one of the last trips as a few times the bottom of the boat was scraping stones! The French Canadians sat next to us and we had a lovely trip – it was an exhilarating trip as the boats fly down the river, ducking and dodging around boulders and small islands , going over rapids! A bit like a jet boat ride – but this one was for 3 ½ hours! The scenery really was enjoyable . A little like travelling down the Zambezi with sandy river banks and rocky outcrops. Many crops growing along the river and we passed villages, people swimming and fishing in the river too. At one stage we had to get out and walk 500 yards as the water was too shallow and they had to negotiate the rapids without a full load! Really glad that we had managed to do this trip and we arrived a little early into Chiang Rai and unloaded on a sand bank in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere! As soon as all the bags were off we saw the people on the other boat had snaffled a “taxi” (truck) and all piled in to the back. Room for 2 more so Al & I jumped in the front and headed into town. Called Doy at the Orchid GH to get directions so she spoke to taxi driver and told him where to go. Dropped others at the “clock tower” a landmark in town and then he drove us about another ½ km to the GH. Another little back alley entrance. Doy was friendly and was very diligent about taking all passport and visa information from us . The GH rooms all opened onto a balcony overlooking rooms on other side – seemed nice and quiet and tucked behind the noisy street we had turned off. This room was 500 BHT night and Doy showed us where we could help ourselves to drinking water, bananas, tea and coffee. Room was fine – twin beds and of course the usual rock hard beds! We just wandered around and got our bearings. Seemed to be a lot of pubs and “massage” parlours in the vicinity! Had a drink in one of them and found out the Big Bike store was around the corner. This was one of the places that you could buy a detailed map of the Golden Triangle and we wanted to look at this as had heard that there is a very scenic road you can drive along when we head up to the Laos border. The town which is so beautiful and is perched up high in the mountains offering superb views into Laos and Thailand is Phi Chi Fa and apparently it’s a popular route with motorcyclists. The road is very worn and full of pot holes in certain areas! Alan spoke to Jeff Player on Whats App and caught up on their news and then we went in search of a LP recommended restaurant – Muang Thong . A big Chinese style place with more Chinese looking dishes – cheap meal with pretty bland food! Early night catching up on electronics!

Thur 9th Feb
Searched around for a breakfast spot on the way to the bus terminal and found a cute little café and had a delish bowl of fruit, yoghurt and muesli with great coffee – now feeling recharged and ready to face the day. We went in search of a bus to Chiang Mai or Phayao as were heading to the White Temple and had to take this route and jump off the bus after about 15mins. 20 BHT trip! All the backpackers jumped out in the same spot so knew we were on the right track. As soon as we got out we could see the sparkling white Wat about ½ km away! Teaming with CMR it certainly was packed with tour buses and people. Well this was one amazing place and the dream of an artist turned architect called Chalermchai Kositipat – a devout Buddhist with a bizarre vision. Known as Wat Rong Khun this project was started in 1997 and the Wat is covered with whitewash and mirrored mosaics making a stunning impression and sparkling in the sunshine! There was a museum showing many pictures and sculptures that Kositipat had done – very interesting history of his life and works . Apparently he can often be seen painting in the museum. Recovered with a large cappuccino and rest and walked in search of the bus back to town. Tempted by a sorng-ta-ou offering a ride back to town for 30 BHT – hopped in the back and he managed to sell another 10 spots – squashing 12 of us in the back of the “truck” and a further 2 in front! Quicker ride back town. Walked over to the Clock Tower and sat in a café ordering a berry smoothie (huge and so good) and a Pad Thai. Rejuvenated and went in search of the tribal museum. Got waylaid by a garden with massive amount of lilies all in bloom and flowers everywhere – appeared that they were setting up for the Chiang Rai Flower festival on the weekend. Lovely to wander around all the displays – biggest being the abundance of all colours of lilies! Spent the rest of the afternoon educating ourselves with the displays and a video about all the different hill tribes in Thailand and the evolution of the Opium Trade. We spent a fair amount of time going to car rental and tour places trying to find out as much info as we could about our proposed drive to Chiang Khong via Phu Chi Faa, impossible to rent a vehicle on a one way basis and not many want to drive that road! Finally the Budget rental guy came up with a plan and said he would get the word out and get back to me about a driver taking us! Lazy rest of day and then ventured to an Indian restaurant for a change for dinner. Had a great Garam Masala with rice with a smell of wine to drink! Wine is definitely not offered in many places in Thailand and when it is its at quite the cost! Back to Orchid for tea – nice to have hot and cold water available in the reception!
 
Fri 10 Feb
Today was a day for wandering around town and seeing some of the Wats . Mike & Sally Makin were due to arrive about 2pm on their bus from Chiang Mai. We had a grubby breakfast in a café near the GH and then set off in search of the morning market but got waylaid by our search for an oversize plastic plug to use in the bathroom sinks to make doing the laundry easier! None of the GH have plugs in their sinks – must be for this reason! No luck (of course!) but checked out the market place – found some little jam filled biscuits and peanuts which would be needed for those of us who get car sick on the Phu Chi Faa road! Lots of really fresh veggies and fruit in the market and in fact they had everything there! It was both inside a large building and also spilled out onto the sidewalks! We set off in search of Wat Phra Kaew and after taking many wrong turns (road names and map names don’t correspond – even the English ones) we found the “bamboo forest monastery”! This is the cities most revered Buddha image – there is a copy of the famous emerald Buddha in Bangkok and its made from Canadian Jade – the walls are adorned with murals showing the journey of the original emerald Buddha as it has travelled from Laos to Thailand over the last few centuries! There was an interesting museum in the grounds and it explained and displayed various items that are displayed in every temple and the reasons why they are there and what they are used for. It is also very informative about the various positions of the Buddhas and the different postures used for different days of the week! Nearby we found the Wat Phra Singh which is a typical wooden style Thai building with low sweeping roof and had amazing teak carved doors at the entrance and nearby was the Wat Klang Wiang which looked very modern as had been remodelled and restored but is actually at least 500 years old. In need of a rest and nourishments we decided to head to the road by the bus station which had several western style café and coffee shops – opted for a lunch of smoothies and club sandwiches and lazed around there on the internet, thinking we might also catch Mike & Sal when they arrived by bus and walked to the GH! Got a message from Sal saying they had arrived there so we meandered over to meet them. Surreal to see them there on the balcony as we arrived! Was lovely to catch up and hear of each others adventures and experiences and great to know we would have travel companions for the next week or so! Sadly they had not stopped off at the White Temple on their way into town as think they would have loved it. We went on a walk to see the gardens that were being set up for the flower show and back to the market for some fruit for our trip in the morning. We got some rose apples on Sally’s recommendation – an elongated apple with a reddish skin and tastes a bit like an apple pear – searched for the pomelo segments that we had seen in the morning but seems like they are popular as couldn’t see any! Dinner was near the night market in a very western styled, open air, large restaurant that was strategically placed in front of a stage with singers and dancers keeping us entertained. We were hoping to see the Lady Boys appear as had seen them here the night before but sadly not tonight! Food nothing special but was a lovely evening with this ambience! We had a short wander around the night market and then headed back to the GH.