Sat 11 Feb
We were up early as our Budget contact had organised through someone, who contacted someone else, who had agreed to drive us to Chiang Khong via the mountainous route! We could have gone direct on bus for about 60 BHT and 2 – 3 hours but as this road was recommended we bit the bullet and decided on the minibus 4000 BHT option! Not knowing who was coming to pick us up we were delighted when a chap turned up with a very smart minibus and Mekong Cruises written all over it! He spoke no English but Alan pointed out on our Golden Triangle map exactly what route we wanted to go on! We had no idea if Mekong Cruises knew what their luxurious bus was being used for that day but what the heck – all looked good for us! Mike instructed him to drive slowly as we had the whole day and weren’t in a hurry and more than that – we didn’t want to get car sick on the twisty road! The highway was pretty plain sailing to Thoeng where we asked him to pull over for a cup of coffee – he found a wonderful modern coffee shop where the 3 Thai employees/owners were all over us! It was obviously brand new and sparkling clean and modern and they were so excited to bring us 4 wonderful cappuccinos along with a plate full of “little Suzie’s” as Sal called them! Like profiteroles . All used the immaculate washrooms and told them they won the award for the best in Thailand! The guy was so enthused that he wanted to take a pic of us – with the girls who made the coffee – so they all huddled in and we gave our permission for the pics to be used online! What a refreshing stop and full of giggles! Hopped back in the minibus to start the climb into the mountains. It was such a lovely drive – passing crops growing on the steep slopes and villages. It was a fairly cloudy day so as we twisted and turned through the bends we could see that Phu Chi Faa might be fairly misty! Mike and I eating our cookies and nuts to keep nausea at bay – we had both taken gravol too as weren’t feeling too bad. When we arrived at the car park at the top (National Park) there were quite a few vans and cars but mainly seemed to be Thai tourists. There was an 800m climb up to the lookout – fairly steep and as the air was so thin we huffed and puffed our way up! A stunning view over both Thailand and Laos and there were a couple of white markers depicting the border posts between the 2 countries . At one stage the mist was being pushed up and over the cliff which was amazing to see. A photographer was at the top offering touched up photos so you could have a memento of the view! We continued on with our scenic drive and decided we would stop for lunch in the next small town. The driver was good about stopping at scenic view points so we could all pile out for a photo opportunity, at one point he stopped at a small strawberry small holding on a very steep slope where the villagers were picking, and another stop was at the tented platform “hotel”! Not sure I would like to sleep in these as it you rolled out of the tent you would fall a long way down the steep slope! There were a few of these tented camps along the road – obviously a popular stop for bikers doing the route! We stopped at a random restaurant and luckily there was a Thai girl eating lunch who helped us order from the extremely limited menu. We mainly chose what she was eating – a plate of greens with a little pork and rice and Mike ordered the unknown Tofu soup – basically the same dish as us but with a bucket of broth – enough for about 8 people! Filled the stomach anyway! We drove the rest of the way through villages and eventually spotted the mighty Mekong! Very impressive and it wasn’t long till we spotted the town of Chiang Kong where we would be stopping for the night. On the other side of the river was the town of Huay Xai in Laos – some very modern tall buildings standing out above the trees . We passed the border post and the friendship bridge which we would be crossing in the morning. Our wonderful driver found our GH on the river and we all bailed out giving him a fat tip for his fantastic, safe driving! We were soon beckoned by friendly greetings from the Day Riverside GH and we met the lovely Yao, speaking perfect English and sitting us down with a refreshment! This was a great location, on the river, overlooking Lao and a “malacon” or old road running in front of the GH all the way along the river! A very efficient Yao had us all checked in and issued us with all the forms and instructions we needed for our border crossing the next day. Very chatty and a great sense of humour! We spent the rest of the afternoon walking along the malacon and exploring the shoreline (very sandy – fine white sand!) to the dock where the little boats were loading up with supplies being transported over to Laos! No border controls for the locals! We walked back along the main street which was now crowded with stalls and a market - lots of delicious smells of food cooking! Back to the GH for sundowner’s on the deck with our fab vista! What a life! Yao recommended the Jam Restaurant over the road so we went over there for dinner. We had discovered earlier that it was Big Buddha Day and no alcohol was allowed to be sold, including in the restaurants! Sal and I had got all excited in the 7-11 as we spotted Smirnoff Ices and went to buy but were informed no sale today! The dinner was tasty and the owner loved the fact that she could hide the beer bottles under the table and make the guys drink their beer out of Tinkerbelle teacups! Food was good but small helpings as is often typical. Yao welcomed us back on arrival – filled up the tea mug in the lobby and off to bed for our early start in the morning!