After surviving the first cultural shock from Lahore to Bangkok. I just had nothing to write about anymore. As soon as I acquired my Vietnam visa I left Bangkok, but the city wasn’t as horrible as on the first visit. You know what to expect. I headed north to Chiang Mai. I was too lazy to wait long enough for a climbing partner so I thought I could cycle (this time with a bicycle) to Chiang Rai, north Thailand. In Pai, a tourism art village I bought a mountainbike. With bamboo poles I fixed a cradle for my backpack on the bike and rode off the next morning. After I left Pai I found out that I had forgotten to eat breakfast and to bring water. Typical but I found a place where I could fill up the hole in my stomach. It’s quite an up and downhill but after crapy 55 km my knee hurt that much that I found it better to stop for the rest of the day. I made another attempt the next day after a night sleep and tigerbalm but my left knee was swollen. Fuck, well, who am I to blow against the wind, haha!
Friendly Thais brought me and my bike to Chiang Mai. For once I was glad that they all
drive huge pick-ups around. Back in Chiang Mai, change of plans — got rid of the bamboo construction, sold the bicycle, met a travel companion (Yvi) and travelled with the bus to
the north boarder of Lao and down the the river on a boat full of “happy” tourists to Luang
Pra Bang. In Vang Vieng where everybody else gets drunk, we went for climbing and kayaking. It’s funny to watch loads of bored people sitting in a LKW tube with a wet ass, waiting ages until the river takes them to end.
«Tubing what a
bullshit»
Bars with bad music to dance … From Vang Vieng to Vietnam (Hue)
in a bus where every–
body has to crouch together that the owner of the bus has enough space to lie and spread himself as wide as possible.
If you are in his way he screams at you and he also would wake up people for closing the A/C slot for him that he doesn’t have to move at all.
What a warm welcome to Vietnam. I went to China Beach, really nice there, but this place will be fucked up in a few years as well like many other places I have seen. Loads of hotels under construction. I would say I saw really nice places in Vietnam. But somehow I didn’t get along with
the people there. And also the weather in the north was pretty cold for climbing and that was the primary reason for me, Zeke and Lucian to head back to Thailand.