Thailand

Dogs..? Beware!!!

After our stay in Vang Vieng we traveled on to Vientiene. Stayed there just for half a day since it is nothing but a boring city. Took a bus across the border to Nong Khiaw in Thailand where we visited a great temple with a bunch of extraordinary statues!

We liked the town, but decided to go on to the Kai Yao National Park further down south. Took a train and had a fun trip there. At some point I had to put up my umbrella because it was raining through one of the windows and they couldn't get it closed...

Changed from train to bus in Khorat to go to Pak Chong, where we took a taxi to the Greenleaf Guesthouse. Determined to explore the park on our own we ended up having a strange day. We couldn't find the bus to the park and were lucky enough to catch a ride with some workers going in that direction. From the park entrance to the actual walking trails was another 14km, but once again we hitch-hiked our way in! Did a great 8.3 km trek through the jungle just to end up (totally soaked) at the famous waterfall from the movie: The Beach! Swam a little in the pool there and to get back we once again had to catch two different rides! So we caught 4 different rides with total strangers and it was great! Thai people are (like most Asians) very friendly.

Next day a bus to Kanchanaburi via Bangkok. Here we hired a motorbike and went to the Tiger Temple, a place run by monks where you can actually touch and be close to tigers. Great experience and definitely worth going to! Did some more driving through a beautiful landscape along the Death Railway.

And just when we were on our way back to our guesthouse it happened: two dogs! And for a change one of them decided to jump right in front of our bike and we crashed. I wasn't driving fast because I saw the dogs, but couldn't avoid it anymore. The result: my right side is blue and red... My elbow is worst with two deep cuts, than my toes and last my shoulder. Shos has nothing because I served as her airbag ;-) Bad end of an otherwise good day! Once again we were lucky enough to be in Thailand because people helped us (drove me to a "hospital" where I got free medical care and medicins).

Today we paid a visit to the famous (but boring) Bridge over the River Kwai and we are going to Bangkok. Stay there for one night and then we are off to the Philippines! Really looking forward to that!

De Mazzel,
Ruudje