Earlier today, we left Bangkok before the sun rose and flew to Chiang Rai in the far north of Thailand. From there, we bicycled about 25 miles before lunch. Great bikes - brand new 24-speed Treks.
After lunch, we hopped into our minivans and drove to Chiang Saen, along the Mekong River where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet.
Then we got into the famous Thai longboats (powered by an old Chevy engine on the end of a pole) and headed up the Mekong River. Our driver stopped for gas on the river bank in Laos because fuel is cheaper there than in Thailand (although it may be watered down by the Lao). Our boat ride then went further upriver into Myanmar and back to the river bank of the Thai border. Three countries on one boat ride.
The last transport mode was an elephant ride to our hotel. The group of elephants was down one due to illness so one person in our group had to volunteer to ride on the elephant's neck and steer. Guess who? Caren! She did great. When I have a few more moments, I'll put the video of her elephant driving onto YouTube and put a link to it on our blog.The only transport missing was a tuk-tuk, but I'm sure we'll encounter then later on in the trip. For those of you unfamiliar with a tuk-tuk, look it up on Wikipedia. It's probably found under the heading "southeast Asian death trap."
Oh, one more thing - Caren's luggage failed to show up at Chiang Rai airport. One of our B&R tour guides is also missing her luggage. Caren is learning to adapt very well. We may have to go back to Bangkok airport and sift thru lost bags to locate Caren's.
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