3 Days to Laos: Part 2 - Chang Rai and the Hill Tribe Village

Firstly, you'll have to forgive our lack of photos in these posts (Since updated!). Nico and I have been taking a ton, but for some reason, the internet cafe's in Chang Rai are not as accomadating as I would have hoped. We will attempt to fix this soon.

As for Chang Rai. Well... We landed in Chang Rai yesterday around mid-day. Nico and I got off the plane, having seen how small the city was from the air (literally, walkable from top to bottom within 20 minutes) and debated just heading to the border of Laos immediately. We lacked a hotel reservation, plans, or any really idea of what we might do in Chang Rai. Instead, we lucked out, opting to stay at one of the hotels mentioned in the half page entry on Chang Rai in Lonely planet.

When we finally hopped out of our "cab" we thought it was just 1 o clock. Enough time to go for a motorcycle ride around the country side. The elderly couple that owns our hotel seemed to scoff at that idea and mentioned a Saturday night market worth going to in town. Well, we opted out of the motorcycle ride, dropped off our bags, and realized that our luck continued. The clock in the cab had been 4 hours off, and our sense of time after being in planes all day was shot to sh!t. It was already 5PM and within 10 minutes of starting our walk around the neighborhood, we could tell that the city was closing down the main drag for the Night Bazaar.

Our trek around town revealed Chang Rai to be exactly the type of city Nico and I have a taste for. It's a quaint, authentic feeling, town. Unlike many of the other cities we've been in thus far, it doesn't have the same hoards of Farang we've seen. Instead, you find large gatherings of tourists making their way to Burma or Laos only in internet cafes and at travel agencies. It was a nice change of pace from Koh Phagnan and Koh Samui. We walked the whole city and by the time we came back, 45 minutes later, the Bazaar was going in full force. For about a solid mile, the street was lined with 4 rows of merchants, street chefs, and performers. It was unreal, especially given how tiny of a town Chang Rai is.

Nico and I stopped by every booth at least once, walking from 5 to 9:30. Two hours into our walk, in the middle of the street bazaar, we saw what may have been the most beautiful sunset to date, stopping in a park in the middle of the city. We then paced the food section of the street, opting out of more of the Northern Thai delecacy of beetles, crickets, and cockroach. I lost my appetite, remembering that regardless of how much whiskey I have, that is something I will never do again. In our four hours of looking we demonstrated wild self control, buying only a chess set and dinner (noodle soup!).

We had mentioned potentially visiting a hilltribe, and when we got back to our hotel at 9:30, a tourguide was waiting for us. Got to love the old couple focusing on customer service... despite the fact that the older gentlemen wears and army helmet around and refers to his wife as "The Enemy!" Regardless, we discussed the possibility of heading to the hills even though Nico and I had only recently realized we've been a bit over budget so far this trip. But how many times do you spend the summer in Asia? I mean, really.

The trip sounded great, and better yet the cost was about a third of what we'd heard from the travel agencies we stopped by. So we hit the hay immediately, planning to get up early, withdraw enough cash for the tour, and buy all the treking essentials. Unneccessary. The next morning our guide was an hour late to pick us up. He only informed us after waiting for 45 minutes, that his car had broken down and he had to rent another. We kindly waited and hit the road a bit delayed.

Hill country in Thailand is much different than hill country in Texas. In Texas we swoon over rolling hills and lakes, despite the somewhat gloomy, barren, countryside. In Thailand, the hills are overgrown with lush, green, vegitation. The forests are more than a little jungle, and there are steps of rice paddies everywhere. We drove for about 30 minutes through the country / hillside, before getting out to trek up to a village of people escaping the Burmese government.

While somewhat transient, the hilltribes (mostly composed of refugees and people associating with no particular nationality), life in the hilltribe seemed tranquil. As we were told while waiting for our lunch, all buildings were shared, responsibilities were shared, and the hilltribes simply farmed and built enough for themselves, requiring little from the outside world. It was peaceful. At least, it was peaceful until Nico was making meow sounds at a cat and a tribe member walked over, picked up the cat, and tossed it 25 feet into a garbage pile. Our Burmese tour guide explained that this tribe didn't particularly like animals. Who would have guessed?

After a delicious lunch and an extended photo period, we took off on a 10 Kilometer walk. We treked around rice paddies, corn fields, and into the jungle. We walked for about 4 Km next to a stream, where I managed to brush against a sort of poison leaf that affects immediately and feels like fire. Within minutes it stung to move my left arm (which is currently completely red) and for the first time, I was thankful that poison ivy is the brunt of what we have to deal with in the states.

Our guide spent the entirety of our trip telling us about life in the jungle. What snails, insects, and plants we could eat; how to catch a fish with your bare hands; and what not to touch (yes, he chose to do that only after I suffered my fate). Nico simultaneously learned his jungle skills and dealt with my incessent moaning for the next few hours and we eventually made it out of the jungle, where the guide looked at my arm, giggled, and told me I'd be fine. It would only sting for about a week or two. Damnit.

He pulled out a vine, mashed up the leaves and applied the mush as a compress on my arm. I felt much better for about 2 hours, though now, as I write this for you, our adoring followers, my arm kills again. We drove home from the hillside, stopped by a pharmacy, and headed to dinner. After my painful, but totally worthwhile experience, I managed to convince Nico to take a break from spicy and hit up a pizza place. It was delicious and quite a positive note to end an amazing 2 day trip to Chang Rai.

Now, off to Laos.