Phew.
Tomorrow morning I cross the border into Laos and board the infamous "slow boat" in route to Luang Prabeng. It takes two days to lazily cruise the Mekong, with a stopover in a hole in the wall town called Pakbeng. I've already noticed it's become much harder to book a guesthouse/hostel in advance; most places don't have a website. Today we wandered around Chiang Khong looking at rooms until we found something suitable. In Pakbeng, I'm told most cut out electricity after 10pm. It will therefore be a few days before I'm in touch again, but don't worry! I will be brimming with stories I'm sure.
In other news, I have finally picked up a travel companion! As I got off the bus in Sukhothai, she approached me about splitting a room. Most places now only sleep two regardless if you're just one person, so traveling with someone can help you save. Plus in my case, it's way more fun! Our plans match up pretty well over the next week plus so I hope to keep her around as long as possible. We even picked up another lovely lady today in Chiang Khong, and I expect to make more friends on the slow boat tomorrow.
I know I've been withholding stories and trip reports from some cities - I'm sorry! I try to at least post pictures :). The cooking class yesterday was fantastic. We first visited the market and learned about common Thai ingredients, then cooked so much food I thought I'd burst. The pictures are of pad thai, papaya salad, hot & sour shrimp soup, and sticky rice with mango, with my finished panaeng curry in the background (I ate it all before any pictures!). We made the curry paste from scratch and well, let's just say I won't feel guilty buying ready-made back in the states!
Lots of love to all of you. Picture here is the chedi from the famous Wat Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, located on top of a hill. Google the temple's history - the location story and relic is very interesting. I'd retell it here but I'm tired ;)
Glad you've picked up some travelling mates! Have fun and be safe Katie!
ReplyDelete