The initial plan was to cross the border from central Vietnam into Laos, work our way up to the north, and then cross into northern Thailand. This is a thing! This is what people do. It's supposed to be a cinch. But we had had difficulty finding and booking a bus ticket into Laos as proof of an onward journey from Vietnam, got annoyed and impatient, and ended up booking a cheap flight to Chiang Mai from Da Nang. Although these decisions were made pre-dog bite, this ended up working really well as the timing meant that Troy could have his final rabies vaccination in Chiang Mai, a city with several well-reviewed international hospitals.

It's a short stint in northern Thailand for now as we need to move on to Myanmar before the rainy season starts to kick in. After lots of back and forth about where to spend our time (we had initially chosen Pai, but then decided we are too old and crusty for this laid-back hippie town), we chose the town of Nan, the capital of Nan province, located back towards Laos, which we have now dropped fully from our itinerary. (Lots of love to you, Laos!) On our first day we picked up a map with 3 cycling routes around the town and neighbouring countryside, and this became our bible for 5 days as we pored over it, making notes and checking off items. We tried our hardest to see as many wats (temples) as possible, but really loved cycling along the river, and through the empty streets and paths checking out the gorgeous, fiery red flowered trees (which we think are called Royal Poinciana?), and the traditional teak houses.

And it was here in Nan that we stumbled upon perhaps one of our top Thai meals, ever. Despite being in northern Thailand in 2017, we somehow hadn't tried one of the signature dishes of the region: khao soi. Noodles in a coconut curry broth topped with a squeeze of lime, kaffir lime leaves, bean sprouts, crispy noodles, and onions; it was the most heavenly, flavourful meal. We kept returning for the same meal, much to the delight of the owner, and are still thinking and talking about this dish! And at 30 baht (just over $1.00 CAD), we would have eaten it for 3 meals a day if the restaurant hadn't only been open for lunch.

We saw hardly any other Western tourists in Nan, and in general the town seemed very quiet, presumably because the high season is really over now due to the intense heat. Many locals seemed delighted to encounter us, and in fact when out exploring one morning, a family making lunch together at a temple invited us to sit with them and eat. (We have always heard and read about these type of experiences, but this was our first invitation!) And when we visited one of the museum noble houses, the volunteers seemed absolutely thrilled that we had found them (perhaps we were their first/only customers of the day?) Clearly we should be travelling in off-season more often - it's so good for the self-esteem!