After spending a couple days in Chiang Rai it was off to Chiang Khong, a small town on the border of Thailand. We found an awesome guest house that was right on the Mekong river. You could see Laos on the other side. It was beautiful! We met a peace corps voluteer, Josh, who lives in Chiang Khong and happens to frequent the guest house (to use the free wi-fi). We decided to rent bikes and ride to the waterfall that was nearby. The bike ride was pretty intense. Very hilly for someone who is not in shape and has done nothing but eat, and lay around for the past 2 weeks ;) The bike ride, although difficult was beautiful and took us through a couple of Hmong villages. Luckily Josh could speak Thai because there were no signs for the waterfall and we probably would have gotten lost. We had to hike for about an hour in order to reach the actual waterfall. I kinda got the feeling that this wasn't something very many tourists do. The hike was difficult but absolultey gorgeous. I felt really out of shape when we stopped for a rest along the way and we saw a group of Thais running up the trail like it was nothing...in flip flops! The actual waterfall was nothing special (it is the dry season after all), but sometimes its more about the journey then the destination. Chiang Khong was great and I am glad we were able to get an insider perspective.
The past couple of weeks spent in Northern Thailand has been amazing. A great start to my 2 month traveling extravaganza. I can't believe how different northern Thailand is from central Thailand. I saw some amazing ruins, beautiful scenary and met some awesome people.
Crossing the river into Laos! So excited!
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