Hi Everyone,

Once again I am behind but never mind, I must stop enjoying myself, okay to re-cap I had a really great time in Chiang Mai and have now set off to the far north of Thailand and a visit to Chiang Rai and a resort known as Rai Seang Arun, owned by Mam and her husband who also run the Hostel in Bangkok.

Okay, I jumped on the bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai which only took three hours and was actually very comfortable, you even get an attendant on these buses who serves you light refreshments and water, a bit like Eastern National actually the only difference being that these buses run pretty much on time, you get a clean seat and something for your money! I had done a little research and booked into a fairly new Hostel called Baan Rub Aroon which is brilliant, in its previous life it was a reaearch clinic for STD's and Aids! The current owner, Nong had worked at the clinic but chose to open the guest house when the work was relocated to Bangkok, and may I say she is doing a wonderful job with this too.

The Hostel is actually a very large old Colonial style Thai house and it has been turned into very comfortable, spotlessly clean accommodation which deserves to do well. On the night I arrived I was actually the only guest so I had supper with Nong and her friend in the kitchen. It was really lovely and we chatted comfortably for a couple of hours until Nong said I had to go and visit some GoGo bars! No actually I am exagerating, she only said I should go to one! Sorry Nong, I know you will be reading this, please excuse my sence of humour, I know you didn't say anything like this really!

I had opted for the Dorm room which is simply enormous with full sized single beds, not the two foot six types, and a very large shared shower room. The beds are fabulous, with crisp white linen and again spotlessly clean. The unfortunate thing was that this was only a stop over for me as I was being collected the following day to go further onto Rai Seang Arun, however, I was so impressed by Nong's guest house that I booked three more nights in order that I may return after staying beside The Mekong river. Early the next I did manage a short walk and went to the morning food market where you are presented with very live fish and fresh meat of all descriptions, it is probably best that you do not visit if you are a vegetarian as I can imagine that some of the things on show would not sit terribly comfortably with you. I also visited the Wat Phra Kaew, the previous home of the Emerald Buddha which is now housed in the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Upon my return I shall explore the town a bit further and take my time to enjoy it.

Around 1.30pm I was collected from the hostel in a very nice Toyota people carrier, fully loaded with more leather than a cow and the whole thing to myself. Nice one Khun Mam, very stylish. To my surprise and pleasure I was handed a cell phone and found that it was Khun Kong from Baan Dinso in Bangkok, checking up that I was okay and then informing me that the journey would take an hour and a half, etc etc. Good customer service Kong, I was impressed.

Rai Seang Arun is a small resort with river frontage onto the Mekong, it has river bungalows, an area for tents, 3 bungalows which sit aside a creek and set back about 300 meters from the road and several Thai stlye cabins set up on the hillside, the area is very rural and beats to the rythm of any tribal farming community - slowly. There is a main open dinning room, reception and a terrace where you can sit and take any meal you wish whilst looking out onto the Mekong River and views of Laos across the water. My bungalow ia delightfull, secluded, enclosed, private, with its own verandha and jetty running down to the creek. The terrace verandha has a massive outsdie seat / bed all of 4'6" by 8' long with a full futon style cushion and huge soft cushions to go at either end, just to make sure that you are not too uncomfortable! Looking out from the rear I was treated to distant views of the Laos hills. What a superb location. It is so peaceful so I just walked around the place taking in the magnificent scenery.

This is the realisation of a dream and a long held ambition, to be able to stay by the side of the famous and infamous Mekong River and look directly across to Laos. Now I am doing exactly that as I write this original entry in my journal. All around are tree topped hills, lines of plantations, crops of all descriptions, corm, rice, fruit and vegetables. It was of course across these same hills that the Americans repeatedly launched attacks against the North Vietnamese and dropped an incredible amount of bombs. The Mekong which is featured in just about every film about the Vietnam war, is now only feet away and I can listen to its churnning waters as it rushes by over rocks and around small islands.

The area is populated by nothing but small rural villages and most people work the land I have found out that this year has been incredibly hard for them because, despite the price of rice, other crop values have fallen so growers are getting even less for their yield. These people have precious little as it is, squeezing them even further sounds like a familiar story. On a later journey to Chiang Rai airport I was to notice a Tesco/Lotus sign, this is the local varient on what we know at home. They now have 1000 stores across the Country. It is strange that all the complaints are exactly the same as at home, local businesses suffering as a reuslt of the 'one stop shop' local producers being squeezed, land being siezed up by multi-nationals, oh so familiar. I think Tesco might join the same ranks as McDonalds for me. By the way, I spotted a brilliant T shirt in one of the markets, it had the Golden M and said Mcs***! My sentiments exactly.

With this in mind I have eaten either at Rai Seang or on the street, where possible, for example, I went to Chiang Khong to have a quick look at the set up for getting across the border into Laos, something I will be doing in a few weeks, whilst there I sat down and chatted with an Australian couple who had been in the area for some 14 years and had 'adopted' so many children and sponsored their eduction, it was very refreshing to hear their story. Unfortunately I was so engrossed in what they were telling me that I really did not pay enough attention to the food. As a result I have picked up 'something' but more on that later. I had chugged the the 30 odd kilometers to Chiang Khong on a motor cycle borrowed from Rai Seang, I checked out the Visa arrangements and had everything with me to obtain the Stamp only to be told that it had to be done on the day. There is clearly a bit of mis-information going around but I had a great day and again met two great people, what a rewarding way to spend your retirement, helping children through education and then seeing the results, wonderful. Having spent the best part of two hours talking I decided to head back. Good idea until I discovered that I couldn't get the bike to start. I had visions of pushing the thing for 30K, I tried bump starting, kicking the starter, fiddling the key etc but nothing seemed to work, then at the point of dispair, the light flickered, I kicked it over, opened the throttle and kept the revs up, engaged 1st and shot off down the road, totally out of control and making the most alarming noises!

I arrived back just in time to be told that I had to get changed and go to Chiang Rai airport to collect Khun Mam with a driver, Okay, this was news to me so I duly complied, showered and changed and set off the Chiang Rai. I tried speaking to my new friend, known from this point onwards as Fangio, but it seemed to have no effect, all I got was a smile and to go a bit faster! It was one of those occasions where I didnt think I would need anything with me and immediately we left I realised that I was about to witness the most stunning and amazing sunset. I had left my camera in the bungalow DOW!! Effectively the sun sets behind the hills of Burma or Mayanmar as it is called here, the day had been perfect with little cloud and pleasantly hot but not steamy. The sunset reflected this as it was crystal clear and a giant orange orb sank majestically behind the distant hills. This left a brillianlty pink sky and would have justified any number of photos, but never mind, you will just have to imagine it. We collected Khun Mam who then took me to Chiang Rai town and treated me to supper, how lovely was that. She is such a lovley lady and really good company, I feel very lucky. Now I'm going to let you into a secret, Khun Mam is a shop-aholic! Its no good denying it, I was dragged this way and that, all manner of items were purchased, I even got a new cover for my phone, although Mam, who has the same phone with a silcone cover (that's what I want) hasn't sorted this out for me yet. Hint! Khun Mam has a pink cover, I of course want a black one, I shall resist the pink version as I feel this might lead to an invite to some LadyBoy Club, and that my dear freinds, I can do without.

The drive back was even more interesting as it was now very late and with no street lights out in the sticks it was not really conducive to driving at 80MPH. I did make a polite comment to Mam about this but was even more dismayed when she told me that Fangio was an illegal from Burma, had never taken a test and had no licence let alone insurance! You have to laugh, well Mam did! Now where's that travel insurance document of mine, I sure it said something about lifecover on there.........

See you soon

Chris.