W-O-W!!! I am writing to you from an Internet Cafe in Chiang Rai, the northern-most province in Thailand. It is near the Golden Triangle of Myanmar/Burma - Thailand - Laos and is where opium poppies are cultivated. Before we got here, we all thought this would be a so-so stop, but I can honestly say, I LOVE IT!!!
Our last day in Bangkok was interesting. We narrowly-avoided being scammed, shopped, saw more Buddhas, and then went to an amazing Thai dance show. We culminated the evening at the Patpong night market which is full of "ping-pong" or "pussy" shows. Yeah, you don't want to know. The next morning we each had a 1 1/2 hour massage in our room before flying here.
The city is so lovely. It is green, no traffic, and very friendly. While I enjoyed Bangkok and am glad I experienced it, I was so ready to leave. It is huge, congested, and dirty. If you think LA traffic is bad, you haven't seen anything until you have been here. Chiang Rai is the total and complete opposite.
Our hotel, the Dusit River Resort, is amazing. It is situated on the Kok River. When we got here, we all swam in the huge pool and had drinks at the swim-up bar. Last night we took a rickshaw (new mode of transport for us) to the night market and did some shopping. Today we got up and our lady boy guide, more on that at another time, took us to see two hill tribes - one from Tibet and one from China. While it was sad to see how they live, constant refugees (oh ... and they eat their pet dogs!!!) the country was beautiful and we learned a lot. Even saw some poppies!
We got back to the resort, swam, and then Leanna and I had yet another massage. This one was great ... my masseuse even walked all over my back! This evening we walked all over the small town (population 30,000) and are amazed at how nice everyone is. We walked the grounds of a Buddhist university with some amazing temples and even-more amazing Buddhas. Then we walked across town to a restaurant called Cabbages & Condoms. It is run by a non-profit AIDS organization that aims to make condoms as easy to find as cabbages :) The food was great ... I had spicy tom-yam soup, red curry, and some pineapple rice. We also had a huge beer each ... Tiger Beer. We have also had Singha and Chang.
We are headed back to the night market and then to bed for our early morning drive to Chiang Mai. We are really looking forward to it ... especially because we don't have to fly this time :) I will again try to post and am sure I will be able to do so as Internet cafes are everywhere we go.
So while I am sad to leave Chiang Rai, I am excited for my next adventure. I hope this blog is somewhat amusing. I am having fun writing it, but have many more stories and pictures to share. I love and miss you all ... see you in exactly one week!!!
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