Yes, yesterday was the day that marked my 16th (and today beginning of 17th) month in the road. What started as a 8-months trip full of uncertainties has become the most incredible adventure I've ever undertaken.
I though I was going to get tired, miss the comfortable things of my previous burgeous life, miss having a place to stay, to rest, to drop my stuff. Not to mention missing family and friends!! But the thril of traveling got me so intensely that it compensated for all those lacks. And the 8 months became 16 and a half!
But now, after these 16 months I must confess I feel that my time to come back has come. Don't get me wrong, I could keep on traveling as before, but I'm thinking more and more often about seeing my family, having a drink with my good friends, see my good ol' DVDs, not have to unpack and pack almost everyday and, in short, I need now a bit of stability, a bit of back to the known world. Plus, I have accumulated so many experiences that I need to tell anyone, that I can hardly wait any longer.
So yes, my friends, my trip is coming to an end, believe it or not (I still don't). 5 more days in Thailand, and then other places where I will meet different friends and then back in Madrid by mid July. I cannot disclose the exact date as it is still pending on flight confirmations.
Anyway, let me tell you a little bit about what I've been doing lately. I left Chiang Mai to go to Thaton, a lovely village on the side of the river Kok, surrounded by mountains and rice fields, and with a lovely temple in a hill with a marvelous view. I was the only "farang" (foreigner) in the village when I arrived, as the only others I saw, a family, left shortly after my arrival. This made my objective of getting off the beaten track a total success. Such a success in fact, that I had to cancel my plan to go down the river to Chiang Rai in a bamboo raft because there wasn't anybody to do it with (and renting a whole raft is much more expensive than flying).
Luckily, in the afternoon, two pairs of girls arrived in my guest house, one of them a pair of Belgians that had the room next door and we got alone perfectly since the beginning. So, went out for dinner and decided to rent a long-tail boat the next day, to arrive in Chiang Rai in 5 hours (with a few stops along the way). And so we did.
The trip was very relaxing, with a few stops in hilltribe villages (that didn't seem to care about us, which was wonderful, but that no longer looked like hilltribes, which made it less interesting). We also stopped at a hotspring (not as enjoyable when it's VERY hot outside anyway) and at an elephant camp, where I holded the biggest snake I've ever seen: a 20-year old, 100-kg Pithon!! Yes, I know, it's patheticaly touristry, but it was also spectacular and I couldn't not resist. And I would have paid for a massage afterwards!
I would post the pictures of all this, but unfortunately all the internet cafes around here are Windows 98, and this OS doesn't like my camera. Perhaps later.
Chiang Rai was a very lovely city, much more quiet and organized than the typical Thai city. It must be some sort of posh district, since here the upmarket restaurants and bars are filled with locals instead of farangs. What a lovely change!!
From Chiang Rai I made a one-day trip to the old ruins of Chiang Saen, right on the border with Laos (although all the boats at the port were surprisingly Chinese).
And now Sukhothai, the cradle of the old Thai empire and the place were the Thai language and script were developed. The surprise here has been not only the ruins, which are absolutely superb, but how friendly people are here. This is the friendlies place I've been in Thailand (and believe me, the standard was already quite high). Everybody waves and smiles at you, helps you find places before you ask,... quite surprising for a touristry place. But then again, perhaps it is not so touristry after all despite the historical importance and visual delight of the ruins in this city.
Believe me, I would like to write more and fill you up with some of the interesting things that happen, but I'm very tired and extremely hungry. Can't wait to have my deliciuous 50 euro-cents pad thai. And this absolutely delicious food at this price is certainly one of the things I'm not looking forward to say goodbye to.
More in a few days!
No comments:
Post a Comment