The Travelonians

Before leaving on our trip, I had read many blogs which explained the process of getting to the border and that it was chaotic. Our experience was far from that. I’m sure that if you leave very early in the morning to catch the 11:00 boat leaving from Huay Xai it might be more hectic but for us, we had planned to stay 2 nights and take our times so we left a bit later. We started off leaving Chiang Rai on this rickety bus which was super uncomfortable for a 2-hour ride. BTW – I haven’t mentioned this in any blog, but every bus has 2 people, the driver of course, and an attendant. The attendant’s job on long trips is to serve you a snack and water and help with the many stops along the way, and loading local goods. On shorter trips, they are there to collect the money. They come to you and collect once the bus is in motion. I wondered how they keep track of the people that come on and off especially in the city buses like in Bangkok where the process is the same. No monthly passe...

Now time to move on to Chiang Rai as we are moving more north in Thailand , on our way to the border crossing into Laos. We took the bus to Chiang Rai, about 2 ½ hours, a comfortable ride with wide seats and rules about buckling our seatbelts. They gave us water and snacks, all in all, a nice way to travel. C hang Rai is a city of contrasts - See for yourself.  Beautiful markets for the locals. The temples  were different than in Chiang Mai but just as beautiful in their own right. The Clock Tower is unique as it comes alive at night with a light and sound show.  The flower show was just amazing with local dancers and musicians dressed in their traditional costumes. We went to two of their famous Temples. One is the Blue which was recently built. The Blue Buddha was very impressive, but the rest was kind of odd. Look at the pictures and judge for yourself. If you have been following us on Facebook and have seen the be...

F irst, I want to say that we  ♥ ️ ♥ ️ Chiang Mai. We actually could see ourselves living there. We arrived in Chiang Mai by train around 11 hours from Bangkok. Nothing to complain about, they actually served us 2 snacks and lunch. It was a nice way to travel and take in the countryside. We saw sugar cane, banana, bamboo plantations, rice paddies. We saw a town overrun by monkeys – they were everywhere. Not sure if they are doing something about that. The last third of the ride was a long slow climb into the highlands. On the train, we met a couple from BC who were also travelling like us for 3 months. As soon as we arrived, we felt a nice vibe in the city and became very comfortable almost right away. The people are very friendly, and you feel safe. As a matter of fact, anywhere in Thailand, we have visited, not once did I feel unsafe.  We stayed in a lovely guest house with a very nice host & his family. There is so much to say about Chiang M...