Adventures in Asia: Chiang Khong, Thailand

This morning I left Chiang Mai on a "VIP" Greenbus.  The bus is pretty fancy, with a 1-2 seat configuration (I had one of the 1s), and footrests, etc.--all for $16!

It was just under a 6 hour bus ride to Chiang Khong, on the Mekong River just across from Laos.

This is my hotel, . . .

. . . my room, . . .

. . . and my view from my balcony (that is Laos across the river)!

Next door to my hotel is a guesthouse with a restaurant run by a lovely lady who apparently also grows and roasts her own organic coffee (best coffee I have drunk in Thailand so far).  The restaurant is on a beautiful patio over the Mekong.

After my late lunch I went for a walk along the river and back through the town of Chiang Khong.

Check out the group fitness class in front of the king's portrait in the town hall square!

I ate a dinner of Mekong fish in red curry at a restaurant along the river, where I had truly exceptional service from the couple and their three daughters running the place (I was their only guest).  Neither my glass of beer nor my glass of water ever went empty!

Adventures in Asia: Chiang Mai, Thailand

On Wednesday I flew from Xi'an to Chiang Mai, Thailand aboard a mostly empty Sichuan Airlines Airbus.

Buying the flight proved challenging, because the Sichuan Airlines website was uncooperative.  It seemed to only want to sell the flight in Chinese (indeed I could not even search the Xi'an - Chiang Mai flight on the English version of the site!).  I could navigate the Chinese site alright, but to pay it required Alipay.  Eventually I called the airline, and that was also an adventure, only to end up being told to go online!  In the end, I bought the ticket through Expedia, the first time I had done that.  It worked out fine, and for $136, I was happy.

I managed to immediately lose my primary credit card upon reaching CNX, which meant I taxied to my hotel, back to the airport, and then back to the hotel (granted, it is only about ten minutes and $6 each way).  I took cash out of an ATM and then walked away before retrieving my card--the second time I've done this (I did it last year in La Paz, Bolivia).  Going back to the airport proved useless, but I felt I had to check at least.  Nobody seems to be using the card, which I guess is good; and I have a back up, so it is not the end of the world.  Anyway, that was not a happy start to Chiang Mai.

The last two days have been better, however, and I have enjoyed the city and especially the food!  Below are photos from some of my wanderings, but first, from my hotel:

These are views from the ends of my hallway:

Here are various wats (Chiang Mai seems to have a wat around every block nearly):

This one is Wat Chiang Man, Chiang Mai's oldest wat (and the only one I toured).

The crystal and marble Buddhas described above are in my picture below.

And these pictures are from my visit to the gorgeous local park.

These pictures of the King and (I assume) Queen (but who she is, I do not know, because the king has not been married since 2014) are along one of the streets, but they are a different king and queen (unless the queen's picture is actually the same?) than the pictures I saw in Bangkok in 2016.  I have noticed that the money is updated as well.  The current king's father had reigned since 1946, so the new king is a big change!

Here he is again:

Here are more pictures from the streets of Chiang Mai.

And some of my tasty treats, including mango sticky rice: