Floating Downriver
Thailand
October 24
I started my three-day trek to Chiang Mai. We stopped for mosquito repellent, pens and chicken feet, which are eaten in the same manner as crawfish. I had to break the feet in two and then eat the meat. As soon as we got off the truck it started to rain and it continued to rain. It was about a three-mile walk to the Hmong village where we stayed. There are a lot of pigs here. Our guide, Mr. Dun, told us Hmong history and what a typical village might look like. We had a mud hut with a fire near the door for heat. When the fire burnt out, it was a little cool and damp at night but at least we were not getting rained on and they served us a lot of food.
October 25
Two mythical guards protect the Royal Palace in Bangkok The trip today was from Bangkok to Siem Reap, Cambodia. At the border another American and I crossed the border ourselves as it was cheaper and we had no hassles. Everyone else in the group paid locals to help them through. We waited two hours at the border restaurant for the rest of the group. It was nice to talk to an American again; I hadn’t spoken with one since mid-September. It’s good to talk about common American experiences.
It’s obvious where Cambodia starts because of the roads. There are some areas with six feet deep potholes. Also, I believe it is an executive order to have the Cambodian flag flying in citizens’ front lawns. It’s also very obvious how affectionate the Cambodian people. I only had to talk to them for a few minutes and they would be laughing and rubbing my legs and back.
The tour guide tried to get us into an upscale hotel at Siem Reap. I’m used to sleeping in hotels with animals in it, but I’m used to live animals crawling around not dead, stuffed ones. The hotel was out of my price range so he took us to a backpacker’s place and got us prepared for tomorrow’s visit to Angkor Wat.
