Sawat-dii kha (Tanja)
Sawat-dii khrap (Chrigi)
After crossing the Friendship bridge from Vientiane to Nong Khai in Thailand, we cycled 550 Km along the Mekong and other small rivers towards Phitsanulok. We had almost no rain and incredible hot temperatures. We drank water like cows..... Again, we enjoyed a lot of nice people, a beautiful landscape and, ice cold Ovaltine at the 7-Elevens !!! 
But the answer to our question is not Thailand, no, it is....
Myanmar
Since almost 5 month we are carrying a road map of Myanmar in our Bag.... always hoping, the last weeks of our journey will be in Myanmar. But since we liked Laos so much and we also need some "beach holidays" before going back to CH, it was a hard decision.....
There are also many reasons not to go to Myanmar, but more about this later in the next newsletter.
After arriving in Vientiane we headed directly to the Myanmar Embassy applying for the 28 days visa. We had to fill out 3 application forms and they needed 4 pictures from us....and of course, USD 20.- for the visa.
3 days later, we checked out from our hotel, went to an Indian lunch buffet (wow...) and then cycled to the Embassy again. The visa was ready for pick up. We also asked some questions about Myanmar. He confirmed that we have to bring all the money in USD in to the country. It is almost not possible to get any cash once you are there. And the Dollar bills have to look very nice and certain serial numbers are even not accepted at all. (= 1day running around Chiang Mai and check out every single bank)
Then we crossed the friendship bridge (border Laos/Thailand) and spent the night in Nong Khai. Of course, first thing after finding a guesthouse was a spicy Thai curry with rice. mhh...
The road along the Mekong was very nice. Slightly more traffic then Loas, but still pretty acceptable. After crossing the border, the weather changed.... almost no rain and extremly hot. Water, water, water, and in the evening, an ice cold Chang. We found an efficient way to dry our sweaty cloth: A break in an air-conditioned 7-Eleven store, always combined with an ice cold Ovomaltine, fresh on tap ! (called Ovaltine in english) Poor Chrigi was already missing his daily Ovi since month....
We enjoyed many nice places to stay along the Mekong. And the sunset was always a must before having dinner. When we arrived in a small town called Ban Yaeng, no guesthouse or hotel was existing. A women on the market told us, 20Km west is a Hotel. No way, after a very hot, 82Km day, we wont go anywhere. We saw a sign " waterfall 1Km". Mhh... shall we check out the waterfall, maybe we can use our tent again. We decided to asked at the police station first. (always a good address for any problem in these countys) We asked for a homestay or a "baan phak" (guesthouse). But they confirmed the answer from the woman at the market. A friendly police man then showed with his hand that I have to sit in his car, he will bring me somewhere. Tanja was waiting at the police station.
He brought me 2Km back the way we came, to Bancha's house. Bancha, a retired Thai who speeks excellent english, all learnt by himself, mostly by watching english TV ! We where again so lucky and it was no question for him that we can stay at his home. Bancha is a great person and we had a very nice evening with him. He made a superb dinner while he tells us a lot about his county, the King of Thailand, his own garden etc.
The next day we reached Phitsanulok after 90 Km's.
We wanted to take a train to Chiang Mai the next morning, so we can see a bit from the scenery. But at the train station they informed us that there is not train going to Chang Mai, the rails are flooded... O.k., we asked at the bus station. There were at least four different bus companies with many different prices, from VIP to public chicken bus, everything was available. It was a bit confusing at the beginning as we are used to one sales desk and company in CH. However, we decided to take a 1st. class bus at the same night at 23:30, arriving in Chiang Mai 5 hrs. later, or so.
Everything was fine, enough space for the bicycles and plenty of space for us. We slept most of the time and arrived with the sunrise. We prepared our bicyles and cycled down town, looking for a coffe and we even found a nice croissant....
In Chiang Mai we had a lot to do... search the internet for the latest info about Myanmar, change (search) nice USD bills, visit some of the 80 Tempels arround here, rent a Motorbike and check out the surrounding (of course, we had a flat tire...), enjoy some nice Thai-curries, Tanja a huge salad buffet, get the ticket with Air Mandalay, search for a Myanmar guidebook, sell our Tibet, Laos and Thailand guidebooks etc. etc. etc....
Today we have the flight from Chiang Mai to Yangon with a B747, or maybe a smaller aircraft.... :o) We will then cycle Myanmar, combined with some Boat, Bus and Taxi rides or maybe even with a flight. The last week we will spend on a nice beach, doing nothing... (at least we try)
As internet is rare and very slow in Myanmar, I dont know if and when we can feed our web site with pictures and newsletters. But we do our best.....
Take care and see you soon!
Tanja and Chris
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