| March 23, 2001 We were running late (blame the Scottish traveller, with a great impression of Sean Connery, who we met at breakfast) for the pick-up truck to the border and ended up without a seat. No problem, then sandwiched me in the middle of the truck which was more claustrophobic than uncomfortable. I decided to ride outside standing on the bumper for the next eight hours. The countryside scenery was great including the occasional villages filled with children waving and shouting. It is also "slash and burn" time for the farmers and the forest hills were filled with smoke and fire. Of course, by the time we arrived, I was covered in mud and dust. It was an easy border crossing although we did have to pay the Laos officials a small "overtime" fee because we arrived after 4 pm. According to our guidebook, there are also "early morning", "lunch time", and "weekend/holiday" charges. Anyway, now on the Thai side, we splurged for a cushy four dollar bungaloo with hot water and electricity! Hotel - $4, Food - $14, Trans - $17, Random ( "Overtime Fee" - $0.50) Total - $35.50 |
| March 24, 2001 We had good intentions to travel today, but didn't make it much further than our balcony overlooking the Mekong river. The Mekong here is as wide as the Mississippi in Memphis, but with a slow, safe current and no traffic. Local kids made the most of the gorgeous sunny day rafting on the river in tractor inner tubes. Meanwhile, we caught up on world news by reading old copies of the Bangkok Post. Hotel - $4, Food - $7, Random (Supplies - $10, Internet - $6) Total - $27 |
| March 25, 2001 More ambitious, we travelled south and stopped for the afternoon in Chang Rai to visit the hill tribe mueseum. The museum couldn't compare to our recent experience in Laos. Although, the History of Opium exhibit was interesting. In the 1800's and early 1900's , England and France encouraged the production and trade of opium in the East to finance its purchase of Chinese goods (tea, silk, and porcelain). When china outlawed opium, England waged war , was victorious, and took Hong Kong as a prize. More recently, in the 60's and 70's, the CIA established Air America to transport opium for Burma and Laos in exchange for anti-communist support (and indirectly causing a heroin boom back in the states). Given this history the "Golden Triangle" hilltribes are resentful of (and confused by) US efforts to eradicate poppy cultivation in the region. Anyway, we kept moving and arrived in Chang Mai at dusk. It was a real shock. Chang Mai is Thailand's second largest city yet seemed more like a metropolis after recent weeks in rural areas. Braving the traffic, prostitues, and tourist traps, we made the pilgrimage aross town to our mecca - McDonalds's. After seven weeks and three countries with out a Big Mac, it was good to be back in civilization again. Hotel - $4, Food - $13, Trans - $11, Museum - $2 Total - $30 |
| March 26, 2001 We are both suffering from travel fatigue. No, we don't expect an sympathy from home. For the moment, we have zero energy for anything cultural and crave western food after a steady diet of sticky rice. As a result, we did absolutly nothing today worthy of a journal entry. Hotel - $3, Food - $9, Trans - $1, Random (Internet - $3, Movie - $4) toal - $20 |
| March 27, 2001 Matt is still resting, so today's entry is provided by Chef Lady Rhodes. Today I swapped by backpack for a wok at the Chang Mai Thai Cookery School. We began the lesson with an introduction to Thai ingredients such as Holy Basil, Chinese celery, Siamese ginger, kaffir lime, Thai eggplant, and fish sauce. (none of which will easily be found at home). Our first dish was Hot & Sour Prawn soup. We watched the chef, then tried to duplicate at our own stations. I threw in all the ingredients at once including the tomatoes. Didn't think it would matter much, but the soup was not very aesthitically pleasing as all the tomatoes peels floated to the top. But the good news is tha it tasted just like the chef's - fishy, spicy, and yucky. Moving on to Pad Thai - the very popular Thai noodle dish. the chef warned us to have everything ready because the dish is cooked in a matter of seconds. Next time, I will listen. I immediatly blackened the fried egg and then burned the noodles. I wish I could tell you it tasted okay, but I didn't have the stomach to try it. Okay, now for my favorite Thai dish - green curry chicken. It is creamy with coconut milk and very spicy. I havled the curry and made a dish that was pretty and perfect. We also made tasty fish cakes, steamed fish in banana leaves, minced pork, and a suprisingly good water chestnut dessert. I know you all look forward to me duplicating these dished at home, but if it doesn't taste good, it is not my bad cooking. I just won't be able to get the perfect ingredients! haha. |