Spring break has been spent as an escape from the stifling heat of Khon Kaen. First stop, Laos. Laos borders the north of Thailand. To travel there was an adventure in and of itself. The sleeper bus from Khon Kaen to Chiang Mai in the north of Thailand was standard. Our next task was to hop on the 9am bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong. Though we arrived two hours before this bus left, it was already full, and our next chance to get to the boarder was at 2:30pm. We (Jenna and Anne and I—traveling friends) decided this would be okay, because according to what we had read online, the boarder stays open from 6am-10pm, and according to our calculations we would get there right at 8 and have time to cross before it closed. Cabs and Tuk Tuks awaited us as we disembarked the bus, hassling for our business-- the usual drill. We asked to be taken to the boarder, and every single person we asked said ‘mai dai’ which means I can’t or I won’t because it was closed already. Being the stubborn people we are, Anne, Jenna and I concluded that we could walk there on our own. At night. Through this new city we had never been to. The reason we were so intent on crossing the boarder that night was because we had to meet our guides for a trekking and zip-lining jungle experience at 8am the next morning. We had no idea the distance, but we knew general directions to the boarder crossing. About 10 minutes into our walk we begin to feel drops of rain on our heads. ‘Only a little rain,’ we said to one another, nothing we can’t handle. Then the rain began to fall heavier and heavier- big fat drops of water drenching everything we had with us. It was around 9pm now. Up ahead we saw a bright green sign—Tesco Lotus—the Thai version of Walmart. We ran to it, a safe refuge from the tropical storm we had found ourselves in. As we called the one guesthouse that we knew of the power flickered out in Tesco. You know you are in the midst of something when a supermarket loses power. On our drive to the guesthouse (the owner took pity on us and picked us up from Tesco) we saw countless toppled signs. The next day we succumbed to taking a Tuk Tuk as early as we could to the boarder. What we discovered was that the Thai boarder was open from 8am to 8pm, but the Laos boarder’s hours were from 6am-10pm. Makes sense, doesn’t it? Needless to say, it was a good thing that the storm stopped us. It was 10km to the boarder, not the 3km that we thought. And even if we had made it all the way there, we wouldn’t even have been able to cross.
As we raced in the Song Taew through Huay Xai, a small town on our way to Bokeo Nature Reserve for our three days in the jungle, I took in the new country that surrounded me. The town looked just like Thai towns that I had driven through countless times. Leaving the town, however, I was struck by how green, lush, and untouched Laos nature seemed. Fresh air did me well. The clean sweetness of the jungle air was precisely what I needed, and the joys of hiking, zip-lining, and tree house living satisfied my need for nature.
Now back in Chiang Mai, I am preparing for three days of being relentlessly soaked. Songkran, Thailand’s New Year’s celebration begins today. Instead of the ball dropping, Thais ring in the New Year with a massive three-day water fight. Everyone, whether stranger, family, young or old participate in festivities. The water traditionally symbolizes cleansing from sin, but younger generations of Thais and tourists have turned the holiday into a massive party. It is what it is. Happy New Year, friends! May the adventure continue for another year!