Well Im here. The trip took longer that I thought. 194km and it took 5 hours. It is up in the mountains and the roads are not the best. They are really a collection of pot holes with is little piece of bitumen between them. There were 7 of us in the mini bus so it was pretty comfortable,probably the best bus ride so far. There were a couple from Luxemburg a couple from France and 3 crusty old blokes. I was the youngest. One of the blokes was from Tokyo and he is 72 and still backpacking. That excites me, I hope I can keep my marbles to travel to that age. he was an inspiration. We swapped travel stories and, where have you come, from where are you going, etc.
The trip here was through the mountains and it is burning season. The locals practice slash and burn, well more just burn. They set fire to the bush and soon they will plant a crop there just before the wet. They just set a fire and let it run up the hill and it leaves a huge scar. I find it hard to look at and hard to knock cos they want to better themselves by planting bigger and better crops. They want my standard of living and I cant knock them for that but they dont know how good their lifestyle is. If they are not careful they might get what they wish for.
I forgot to tell you what I ate yesterday. I havnt told you about the small aminals I have eaten cos Ash get upset but yesterday I ate, dried river slime. It looks like the sea weed you use for sushi and it has sesame seeds on one side and it is the best. I made a pig of myself.
At Udomxai I am staying across the road from the bus station so I can get the first bus to Muang Khua tomorrow. A french guy who traveled here with me is at the same place so we went down town to check out the sites. After we checked out the SITE we had a couple of beers and it turns out he is a truck driver in Sweden. He has given me a couple of contacts that might come in handy if I go there. I also checked out the markets for something warm to wear cos it might be cold in Sapa but nothing I liked. So far the weather has been in the high 30s and very humid, even up here in the mountains. Check google earth to see where I am and you will see there is no sea breeze...ever.Tomorrow I will be on the bus again to Muang Khua.