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Monday, 8/2

Wake-up call 6:30 am, leave 8:00 am

I woke up this morning to take my shower and let Amy sleep a little longer. When I tried to turn on the light above the bathroom sink and the light outside the bathroom, the lights wouldn't come on. In trying the different light switches, I accidentally turned off the bathroom light that we had left on all night and it too then wouldn't come back on. I took my shower in the dark and then got dressed to be able to go and tell someone that we had no lights. When I went out, MaryAnn asked me to tell them that their room also had no lights. I went to the lobby and was told that there was a problem with the electrical lines due to the storm. They brought a candle for each of our rooms and showed me where there was another candle under the nightstand. I put both candles in the bathroom for Amy since, even though it was very dim, we still had the room light lit.

After getting ready, we went for breakfast. The choices were pretty poor except for the freshly cooked fried eggs and toast. Amy still didn't eat anything. After breakfast, we took the Land Rovers back down to the bus. Not too longer after we began traveling, Amy was already beginning to feel sick. She thought she had left her bands back at the hotel because she could only find the empty container in her purse. I was worried because, beside the bus ride, we were also scheduled to have a long boat ride this day. Luckily, a few minutes later, she found the bands in her purse. Amy gave Noi her CD of "Monica" in exchange and to thank him for his CD gift.

Interesting note:  Wat has been leading tours for 30 years, since he was 22 years old. He has 2 days off between tours.

After we had driven for awhile, we stopped at a convenience store and used the "happy room." I bought a bag of shrimp chips and Amy bought different flavored chewing gum (coke, strawberry, blueberry and grapefruit), Black Currant Pokies and one scoop of lemon ice cream (10 Bht). The ice cream was really good. The vanilla ice cream looked very different than what we are used to seeing -- orange with brown "chips" in it. We went out into the patio and Wat gave us a branch of longon. Before we left, Surin gave Amy another branch.

On our itinerary, we were supposed to go to the Fang Marketplace. I don't know why, but we didn't go. Instead we turned to go to Mae Ai.

 

On the road. . .

Just before we turned to go our our lunch restaurant, gold Buddha on a hilltop (that small speck in the picture) and a white Buddha. Unfortunately, neither of my pictures do them justice. They were much more impressive.
 

As we got off the bus to go to lunch, we were "mobbed" by a group of hilltribe children trying to sell us hilltribe trinkets (mostly bracelets). They were pretty persistent and Wat had to help shoo them away.

Lunch was pretty good, although the fried chicken was VERY dry. The "Thai fries" may not have been very Thai-like, but they sure were good. At each meal, Wat would usually tell us a little bit about the food and then to let us know that it was okay to get started, he would say "Attack".

After lunch, we had a little time to look around and, again, be swarmed by the kids. They were really trying to get Ryan to buy something, but no sale.

Amy thought this shy Hilltribe boy was cute, so she bought a bracelet.

We finally left and drove to Tha Ton Pier for our boat ride. On the way, Wat asked if would like to try to visit both Laos and Burma (Myanmar) the next day. It would cost an extra $30 for the day visa - everyone gave an enthusiastic and excited yes!


KOK RIVER BOAT RIDE (including Hot Mineral Pool/Hot Springs)

After our boat ride, our bus brought us to our hotel where we had a couple of hours to kill before dinner. Amy and I walked up the street a bit. She bought a bunch of personal products (hair, makeup, etc.) at a drug store and I bought more film. We came back to our room and Amy fell asleep. I decided to go and use an internet cafe that I had seen across the street. There was no Business Center at our hotel, but I'm sure the rate (15Bht/30 minutes) would have been better at the cafe regardless.

When I read my email, I couldn't believe the messages I received from my sister and my dad. They both had written to tell me that my dad had been in a VERY bad car accident. His friend had either clipped another car or had been clipped (they weren't sure). They had gone across two lanes of traffic on the freeway, hit the center divider and come back again almost hitting a big rig. As soon as they stopped moving, my dad checked whether his friend was alright and then called 911 from his cell phone. He was told that the accident had already been reported. They asked if he or his friend needed an ambulance and my dad told them that they were fine. The highway patrol arrived and, after awhile, they asked my dad to get out of the car. It was at that point that my dad discovered that he couldn't move, so they had to call an ambulance to take him to the hospital to be checked out. He turned out to be fine with just bumps and bruises and he was sore for several (!) days afterwards. Neither of my parents had EVER ridden in an ambulance before, yet within 10 days, they'd BOTH been taken to a hospital in an ambulance. I was thinking that I might not ever be able to take a major trip again because look what happened when I did!

After I was done reading my email, I went back and tried to wake Amy for dinner. She was exhausted and I couldn't wake her up, so I went down alone and ate with the group. Dinner was pretty good -- freshly prepared pork satay sticks, tom kha kai soup and different items (as in not items you would expect to find at a buffet in Thailand) like spaghetti with meat sauce and pork with bernaise. I had vanilla ice cream with fresh pineapple for dessert.

The rooms in Thailand require inserting the room card into a slot in order for the room's electricity and A/C to work. In one hotel, we received an actual key and had to attach it to a magnet on the wall by the door for the same purpose. I had left Amy a note letting her know where I had gone and approximately when I would be back, but I took the key with me to be able to get back into the room after dinner. After eating, I went back up to get Amy. She was still asleep, but said that she'd woken up while I was gone and wasn't able to see a thing. She'd found my note and had to go and open the door to read it, but then just went back to sleep afterwards. She was still tired and I had a hard time convincing her to get up, but she did and we went back down to the restaurant for her to get something to eat before venturing to the night market. She wasn't very hungry and only ate pineapple, cream puffs and two scoops of ice cream.

Afterwards, we went to the night market. We saw Noi a couple of times also wandering around the market. I found a couple of canes for my brother (a specific request), but nothing particularly impressive. I bought an elephant pillow covering (similar to those I can find at Pier 1 Imports at home, but I wanted to get one anyway because THIS one was from Thailand). Amy bought some sticks for her hair and we also found and purchased the lemongrass/citronella mosquito spray that Yui (our cooking instructor) had used. I also was interested in buying a hilltribe hat, but couldn't get anyone to agree to the price I was willing to pay. After shopping for awhile, it began to rain and the vendors covered their merchandise with plastic. Amy was tired and wanted to go back to the hotel, so I began to walk back with her. On the way, I decided that I really did want to get a hilltribe hat, so I went back to try to shop some more. I looked at hats from a couple of different vendors and chose one that I liked much more than any other I'd seen for the same price that others were quoting. <Pictures of elephant pillow covering and hat are on the last page of my travel log>

Although I liked this night market more than the one in Chiang Mai, it was difficult to shop with all the wares covered, so I decided to call it a night and go back to the hotel. I saw that the internet cafe was still open, so I went to check my email again and then went back to the hotel.

The beds in this hotel had REALLY nice sheets.
The best on the entire trip!

WIANG INN HOTEL (Chiangrai)
    893 Phaholyothin Rd
     Chiangrai, 50200
     (011) 6653-711533, Fax: (011) 6653-711877

  . . . . 8/3/04