We had to walk about a kilometer to get to the pier after our unscrupulous bus driver refused to drop us there as agreed. He wanted more money.

We’re just chilling for a couple hours in the Laos border town of Huay Xai, before catching an overnight bus to Luang Prabang. We arrived here a few days ago in order to do something called the Gibbon Experience in the nearby Bokeo Nature Preserve. It was amazing (and will be up on the blog tomorrow), but a little grueling as well. We spent three days mired in mud and drenched completely through with sweat. We had planned to leave for Luang Prabang last night after getting back from the jungle, but were feeling pretty dirty and beat up so we managed to change our bus tickets to today.

Our plans after Luang Prabang are still up in the air. We want to visit Vietnam and Cambodia before heading back to Bangkok for our flight home on September 4, but the border crossing from Luang Prabang into Vietnam towards Hanoi involves a 30+ hour bus ride as well as some likely bribes and motorcycle taxis, so we may have to rearrange our plans. Believe it or not we have less than a month left before returning to Canada! So we’re under the time crunch now, finally, as well as the money crunch. Are you going to miss us when we’re not blogging any more? Well, don’t fret, we’ll have plenty to share from life in the Great White North.

Cheers,
Chris

The border at Chiang Khong/Huay Xai is actually across the Mekong River.

We enjoyed a game of Jenga at a pub in Chiang Mai.

Laura lost...

Our bus to the Laos/Thai border stopped in Chiang Rai for about 30 minutes, where we got to visit this crazy temple, financed wholly by a single rich guy. These hands greet you as you cross a bridge at the entrance. Like Dante's hell.

The temple in Chiang Rai.

Laura ordered a Laos specialty, "pon." It's a gingery vegetable and pork soup, served with heaping sticky rice. ($3)

Green curry in Laos. Soooooooo good. ($3)

One of the lovely water-, fish- and flower-filled pots that are so common in this part of the world.

Next installment: The Gibbon Experience. We had to sign a waiver!