May 26, Saturday
Left Chang Mai this morning, checking out of the People Place Hotel by 8:30 after breakfast. We load up on a mini-van and drive towards the Thai / Laos border. It is raining heavily and I really don’t like the way the guy is driving too fast for the road conditions, following on other vehicles bumpers, driving over the middle line into on-coming traffic, passing when it is much too dangerous to do so. He did not inspire much confidence.
We stop a few times along the way, first to a cashew factory.
This is a cashew tree, with the fruit (red) and the nut sticking out of the bottom.
This is the nut before it is processed
There are a variety of different types of trees and cashews, as you can see
No wonder cashews are so expensive, one nut per fruit / flower. They are picked and the nut is left to dry for 3 days, then immersed in water for 3 or 4 days, then let dry out again until they can hear the nut rattle around within the shell. They soak them yet again for 24 hours and then cut them open very carefully one by one. The membrane inside the shell is toxic and burns any unprotected skin. The young man who gave us the demonstration showed us many burns on this fingers, hands and wrists. The toxic shells are also sold; they can be used around the house footings to keep insects and animals out. How about that for a natural pesticide!
Cracking open the shells, one at a time, by hand
This is what it looks like when they crack them open.
The cashews are then roasted and are ready for eating, or seasoning. The store at the factory had a variety of different flavourings: coffee, chocolate, coconut, sesame seed, poppy seed, salt, garlic, honey and my personal favourite caramel. I left with a few bags of goodies ! Finger licking good.
From there we drove on to Wat Rong Khun, another Buddhist Temple, not far from Chang Rai, which is being built by an eccentric Thai man. He is depicting the evils of the world which you must combat in order to reach Nirvana.
Looks like winter wonder land !
The carvings are just as beautiful as other temple sites, they just arent painted
This one is a bit easier to see since it is beige and white
This one looks like the ice queen
Apart from being very white, looks pretty tame so far right ? Take a look at the next pictures.
A bit of a sick mind !
Creatures from outer space, or the underworld, coming out of the ground
Even the traffic cones are eerie
And the serpents coming out of the water and creepy
Inside the main temple building one of the artists was still painting images on the walls. No pictures allowed within but believe me, some of it was very strange. At the top level of the wall were the good spirits heading for Nirvana but the back wall depicted people (some of them famous) who the architect did not think were not going to make it.
We also have lunch here before continuing on for our long drive to the border.
Eating at a road side diner
Don’t know what I was expecting in Northern Thailand, but it wasn’t such a modern country with 4 and 2 lane highways, everyone driving big cars or trucks. Many of the houses could be found in Canada, so I really have to look to find some of the older style Thai homes.
Is that a windmill? Sure looks like a windmill.
Northern Thailand countryside, the mountains to the left of the road may be in Burma. That's how close we are to their border.
Houses that could be anywhere in North America
Lots of farm land and fields of rice
We arrive at the Thailand Laos border at Huay Xai and I get my first view of the Mekong River. It is one of these “pinch me, is this real” moments. We leave the mini bus at the waterfront and go through the Thai border. Crossing the Mekong to get to the Laos border was interesting and I was very glad that I was with a group: you cross the river on a long boat.
My first glimpse at the mighty Mekong River
Those are the long boats we will be using to cross the river and the border between Thailand and Laos.
We are in our long boat, passing another boat going in the opposite direction
That's Laos we are aiming for, the town is Huay Xai
And that is Thailand we are leaving behind us
This little girl was sitting on the dock when we came ashore. I'll take that as our welcoming committee.
After passing the Laos border and getting the visa stamp, we climb up a long hill to the main road, where a big tuk-tuk is waiting to take us to our hotel.
The long hill from the waterfront to the main street where the tuk-tuks were waiting. Thankfully our local guide carried my luggage up.
This lady seemed overdressed for the weather, but they are like the Japaneese, trying to keep their skin as white as possible.
Arriving at the Arimid Guest House gates
We were staying in a guest house in Huay Xai; actually little cottages and very primitive. I’m definitely no longer on a 5-star trip like I was in China. But everything in my little room is clean if incredibly rustic.
This is the cottage I will be staying in. Violet is in the other half of the building.
Lindsey and Mel are sharing the one beside us.
The inside is quite rustic.
These are both the inner and outer woven walls. A strong wind would blow everything down very easily.
I worry about bugs, but do not see any apart from tiny tiny little red ants on the white bed sheet. They don’t seem to bite while I take a small nap in late afternoon before we go out for dinner at a local restaurant.
Here’s another one for you, for those of you who know about my fear of dogs. I now walk down streets with loose dogs everywhere and although I do keep an eye on them, I don’t need to detour through different streets to by-pass them. Of course I must say that the dogs in countries where it is hot are pretty laid back.
There are very modern houses in the town
and very rustic ones
This proud Papa was pleased when I asked if I could take a picture of them. So cute !
Beautiful orchids growing in coconut shells
For dinner we walk down the main street to a small outside restaurant (and I use that term loosely) where Scott had pre-ordered a meal for us of local delicacies. A nice fish soup (fresh fish from the Mekong) cooked in a rich broth with some types of non-edible roots which added incredible flavour; nice wok heated greens with onions and tomatoes; a dish of minced meat with coriander; another dish of pickled green mangoes which was incredibly spicy; and lots of sticky rice. Oh, and I’m drinking beer !
We had an early night since we had to be up for 7am the next morning. I read for awhile and easily went to sleep.
Left Chang Mai this morning, checking out of the People Place Hotel by 8:30 after breakfast. We load up on a mini-van and drive towards the Thai / Laos border. It is raining heavily and I really don’t like the way the guy is driving too fast for the road conditions, following on other vehicles bumpers, driving over the middle line into on-coming traffic, passing when it is much too dangerous to do so. He did not inspire much confidence.
We stop a few times along the way, first to a cashew factory.
This is a cashew tree, with the fruit (red) and the nut sticking out of the bottom.
This is the nut before it is processed
There are a variety of different types of trees and cashews, as you can see
No wonder cashews are so expensive, one nut per fruit / flower. They are picked and the nut is left to dry for 3 days, then immersed in water for 3 or 4 days, then let dry out again until they can hear the nut rattle around within the shell. They soak them yet again for 24 hours and then cut them open very carefully one by one. The membrane inside the shell is toxic and burns any unprotected skin. The young man who gave us the demonstration showed us many burns on this fingers, hands and wrists. The toxic shells are also sold; they can be used around the house footings to keep insects and animals out. How about that for a natural pesticide!
Cracking open the shells, one at a time, by hand
This is what it looks like when they crack them open.
The cashews are then roasted and are ready for eating, or seasoning. The store at the factory had a variety of different flavourings: coffee, chocolate, coconut, sesame seed, poppy seed, salt, garlic, honey and my personal favourite caramel. I left with a few bags of goodies ! Finger licking good.
From there we drove on to Wat Rong Khun, another Buddhist Temple, not far from Chang Rai, which is being built by an eccentric Thai man. He is depicting the evils of the world which you must combat in order to reach Nirvana.
Looks like winter wonder land !
The carvings are just as beautiful as other temple sites, they just arent painted
This one is a bit easier to see since it is beige and white
Apart from being very white, looks pretty tame so far right ? Take a look at the next pictures.
A bit of a sick mind !
Creatures from outer space, or the underworld, coming out of the ground
Even the traffic cones are eerie
And the serpents coming out of the water and creepy
Inside the main temple building one of the artists was still painting images on the walls. No pictures allowed within but believe me, some of it was very strange. At the top level of the wall were the good spirits heading for Nirvana but the back wall depicted people (some of them famous) who the architect did not think were not going to make it.
We also have lunch here before continuing on for our long drive to the border.
Eating at a road side diner
Don’t know what I was expecting in Northern Thailand, but it wasn’t such a modern country with 4 and 2 lane highways, everyone driving big cars or trucks. Many of the houses could be found in Canada, so I really have to look to find some of the older style Thai homes.
Is that a windmill? Sure looks like a windmill.
Northern Thailand countryside, the mountains to the left of the road may be in Burma. That's how close we are to their border.
Houses that could be anywhere in North America
Lots of farm land and fields of rice
We arrive at the Thailand Laos border at Huay Xai and I get my first view of the Mekong River. It is one of these “pinch me, is this real” moments. We leave the mini bus at the waterfront and go through the Thai border. Crossing the Mekong to get to the Laos border was interesting and I was very glad that I was with a group: you cross the river on a long boat.
My first glimpse at the mighty Mekong River
Those are the long boats we will be using to cross the river and the border between Thailand and Laos.
We are in our long boat, passing another boat going in the opposite direction
That's Laos we are aiming for, the town is Huay Xai
This little girl was sitting on the dock when we came ashore. I'll take that as our welcoming committee.
After passing the Laos border and getting the visa stamp, we climb up a long hill to the main road, where a big tuk-tuk is waiting to take us to our hotel.
The long hill from the waterfront to the main street where the tuk-tuks were waiting. Thankfully our local guide carried my luggage up.
This lady seemed overdressed for the weather, but they are like the Japaneese, trying to keep their skin as white as possible.
Arriving at the Arimid Guest House gates
We were staying in a guest house in Huay Xai; actually little cottages and very primitive. I’m definitely no longer on a 5-star trip like I was in China. But everything in my little room is clean if incredibly rustic.
This is the cottage I will be staying in. Violet is in the other half of the building.
Lindsey and Mel are sharing the one beside us.
The inside is quite rustic.
These are both the inner and outer woven walls. A strong wind would blow everything down very easily.
I worry about bugs, but do not see any apart from tiny tiny little red ants on the white bed sheet. They don’t seem to bite while I take a small nap in late afternoon before we go out for dinner at a local restaurant.
Here’s another one for you, for those of you who know about my fear of dogs. I now walk down streets with loose dogs everywhere and although I do keep an eye on them, I don’t need to detour through different streets to by-pass them. Of course I must say that the dogs in countries where it is hot are pretty laid back.
There are very modern houses in the town
and very rustic ones
This proud Papa was pleased when I asked if I could take a picture of them. So cute !
Beautiful orchids growing in coconut shells
For dinner we walk down the main street to a small outside restaurant (and I use that term loosely) where Scott had pre-ordered a meal for us of local delicacies. A nice fish soup (fresh fish from the Mekong) cooked in a rich broth with some types of non-edible roots which added incredible flavour; nice wok heated greens with onions and tomatoes; a dish of minced meat with coriander; another dish of pickled green mangoes which was incredibly spicy; and lots of sticky rice. Oh, and I’m drinking beer !
We had an early night since we had to be up for 7am the next morning. I read for awhile and easily went to sleep.
No comments:
Post a Comment