Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Chiang Mai. Breakfast at the hotel: yogurt with diced fresh local fruits and granola, orange juice, tea. Back to the room to apply sunscreen and ultrathon. Our tour group did a 30-kilometer bicycle ride in urban and non-urban areas of Chiang Mai. Our tour guide was named Rit. Experiencing the area by bicycle is more intimate than by car, tuk tuk, or motorcycle, and you cover a lot more ground than you can on foot. I now want to seek out bicycle tours everywhere I go on vacation. Hotel. Quick shower, checked out. Private van from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong. Along the way we watched Couples Retreat and Alice in Wonderland on DVD. We also stopped at a temple for rest, restrooms, drinks, and snacks. Snack: 3 hot buns. Checked in to our hotel along the Mekong River. Rested. Dinner with the group. Dave shared some scotch whiskey he had purchased. Chatted with our server Ray a bit. After dinner I showered. Tonight I used the mosquito net which I probably didn't need but I brought it all this way so I might as well try it out. Packed.