Hotel On The River

Two countries separated by a river. We're beginning our journey from Chiang Mai, Thailand to Luang Prabang, Laos. After taking a bus to the border between the two countries, we had to stay the night in a small town called Chiang Khong on the banks of the Mekong River. We weren't too excited about staying overnight because we were anxious to get on the boat and be on our way. 

We arrived at Baanrimtaling in late evening. The guest house is basically a collection of wooden huts on the side of a mountain joined by lots of wooden stairs. In other words, a giant tree house! We got a room with a private balcony and a river view, but it was already dark when we checked in. 

The next morning Yuriy woke up awfully early to snap some photos of the sunrise from our balcony. Not so easy to drag me out of bed! Lucky for me, one wall of the room opened up completely so I could enjoy the incredible river view from bed. It was magical.

The place turned out so neat that we wanted to stay longer than one night! It's one of those places where you don't ever have to leave the property. There's a restaurant and a cozy living room with movies, but mostly, I'd want to curl up on my balcony with a book. Not really a town for tourism, so you won't worry about missing any sights. Looking back, I wish we had stayed one more day.

- Julia

Our balcony with a view of the Mekong River at sunrise. That's Laos on the other side of the river.

Yuriy opened up an entire wall so our room joined the balcony. Brilliant design.

Other rooms of the guest house seen from our balcony.

Slow boats traveling down the river. We'll be boarding one in a few hours.

Enjoying an amazing sunrise view from bed (through a mosquito net).

Front of the guest house.

Bus Ride - Headed For Laos

Time to leave Thailand. But not to worry. We'll be back... not once, but twice (anyone who visits Thailand comes back). 

We took a 7 hour bus ride from Chiang Mai to the Thai border town of Chiang Khong. It wouldn't have been so bad if the seats weren't so tiny and so plastic. There was a group of 8 big athletic Australian dudes on the bus with us, and the poor guys were squeezed into the tiny seats like sardines. And there was no AC. They were entertaining to watch/listen to, but even better was the golden sunset out the window. 

We had to spend one night in Chiang Khong before crossing the Mekong River into Laos the next morning. We thought it'd be a chore to stay a night in some tiny city, but after we saw the place, we realized that we wanted to stay longer than one night! The hotel on the river was pretty spectacular. Those photos next.

Except for the first shot, the rest were taken out the bus window.

- Julia

Seating for monks at the bus station (not sure why they're separate).

Chiang Mai Night Market

The Chiang Mai night market was an amazing experience. We hopped on our scooter and headed over there before the sun set, and I'm so glad we did. We got to watch the area transform into a bustling market... in record time. As soon as the sun dipped below the horizon, scooter after scooter pulled up and unloaded merchandise and produce. Some of these scooters had so much stuff on them you could hardly see the driver. While some were selling clothes and other goods, there was one street packed with nothing but street food. Walking down this street was fun, seeing all the different foods being prepared and cooked/grilled/fried. A little scary too. We either weren't hungry or didn't have the guts to try anything (except some fruit). There were rows of tables stuffed with locals eating, drinking, chatting, laughing-- it looked like a great way to finish off the day. 

We didn't see many (if any) tourists while we were here. Highly recommend checking it out when you're in Chiang Mai.

-Yuriy