We had a quick breakfast and were picked up at 7:30 for the ride out to Elephant Valley Project, a few kilometres outside Sen Monorom. A quick orientation and we were off into the forest. As a group of about eight visitors, accompanied by a Western and a local Bunong guide, walked towards where one …
We crossed the sleepy border crossing (with a quarantine station that took our temperatures) into Cambodia and, after a wait for more passengers, continued in a VIP bus down to Kratie (kratch-ay). First impressions from the not-so-VIP seating was of a somewhat desolate landscape. Houses, looking fairly derelict, dotted along the roadside were very basic: …
An ominous notice at a second-hand bookstore in Chiang Mai warned the unwary to purchase a booklet entitled “Slow Boat to Luang Prabang” because it “might save your life.” But there were none of these booklets in evidence so we decided to take the trip anyway. We may never know how close we came to …
We broke the journey from Chiang Mai to Laos, spending a couple of days in the relaxed, and un-Western, town of Phayao. Phayao is a three hour bus ride from CM through hilly, wooded and pretty countryside. We headed for the Jumjai Guesthouse – very nice, wooden floors and walls, very clean – and friendly …