I reached the border with the bus, and I ran into an issue. I needed to show proof of onward travel. I wasn’t aware of that. I showed the immigration officer my bank account instead after he said that he wanted to alternatively see that. I can guarantee that it was enough to sustain myself there for a couple of weeks and purchase an exit bus to Laos. But he still just had us sitting there for a while, and we didn’t understand why. There was a German on the bus with me, and he was in the same boat as I. There was another German that came on a different bus, and he started getting very confrontational and loud. He was eventually escorted back to the border and into Malaysia. The German from my bus and I just kept standing there, not knowing what to do. Eventually the bus driver came in and talked to someone while the angry immigration officer was away, and we were hurriedly brought to the counter and we got our entry stamps and shuffled over to the bus and then we were on our way again!

We stopped in some city along the way in southern Thailand. From there, we were dropped off at some travel agency. We were then put on a local bus and brought to the bus terminal.

We were then put on a different shuttle bus to Krabi. It ended up working out fine, but I was just confused why our bus to Krabi only went part of the way and we then needed to get in a different bus.

The first thing I did in Krabi was going to a sprawling night market.

I spent some time just walking around town and ended up at the night market again the following night.

Some guy and I were ordering mango smoothies, and we were joking about if she was going to make “craft” smoothies and make them individually or make “commercial” smoothies and make both of ours at the same time. We kept chatting, and he paid for my smoothie. What a pal! I don’t know why, but a tsunami of awkwardness overcame me, and I didn’t know what to do. So I just turned around and walked away. I felt bad about just walking away after he bought my drink, so I decided to prowl up and down every aisle until I found him and his girlfriend so we could continue our conversation. I found him, and I tried my best to be friendly and said “hi” while smiling. He raised his drink and said “hi” back, but it seemed like he was going to keep walking by. I feared I had already offended him. My face was burning. I powerwalked out of the market and headed toward my hostel, taking this picture on the way to remind myself of my shame. I don’t know what was up with me that night.

The next day, I went to Railay. I kept reading it as “railway,” and I didn’t quite understand why a train station was being recommended as a place to visit. But after some research, I found out that it’s a nice beach. It’s not an island, but due to sheer limestone cliffs, it can only be accessed by boat anyway.

I hiked up to a viewpoint, which involved climbing a very muddy trail, and I was filthy by the time I was done. It’s a good thing that there was a beach nearby to jump in!

I explored a cave and was trying to find the passage through (according to maps.me, there should be a route), but I just couldn’t find it. I was on my way to walk the long way around to enter the cave from the other side, but it started raining and didn’t let up. So I spent the rest of my day hanging out at a bar before getting the boat back to Krabi.

It ceased raining by the time I got back to my hostel, so I went to the night market again. It was barren. I guess it was only a weekend night market.

The next morning, I went to the Tiger Temple with the German (from the bus) on the scooter he rented. The temple was nice, but it seemed like it was still under construction.

We walked around the forest near the temple, and I almost walked right into a huge spider. I believe it was a Golden Orb spider. They all seemed to be about as big as my hand. I was walking between 2 trees, and all the sudden I noticed one just in front of my face. I kind of freaked out. I didn’t really take any pictures, though, because I don’t want to see them. Ugh… But feel free to look up golden orb spiders to witness what I almost kissed.

Afterward, we went swimming at Ao Nang beach. It is much more accessible than Railay, but it didn’t seem to have as many visitors as Railay. I suppose most people want to go to more exotic locations such as Railay and Kho Phi Phi island.

I then took a bus to Bangkok. The bus was fairly empty, but then some older lady got on and decided to sit next to me even though there were plenty of empty double seats behind me. I was thinking of moving, but I didn’t want to give up my seat out of principle. She started sitting cross-legged at one point, and her knee was on my leg. I didn’t like that, so I just slowly but forcefully pushed her knee off of me. It was kind of funny because she just seemed to not comprehend what I was doing at first. Moving my leg away from him? What in the world!? Maybe it was disrespectful or maybe Thai people just usually don’t care or something. But I cared, and I wasn’t going to be her personal pillow. Later, we had to switch busses again (seems to be a thing in Thailand), and the new bus was completely full, so whatever. For some reason, liquid started dripping from the roof above me, and only me, after a while. I thought it was just AC condensation at first, but once it started turning kind of brown, I didn’t want it landing on me anymore. Unfortunately, as mentioned, the bus was completely full. Since the driver was busy, I just sat on the stairs for about an hour.

We stopped at one point, and I grabbed the bus driver and showed him that my seat was by now completely soaked. I was shuttled up to the front of the bus, and I actually sat with the bus drivers for a bit.

The idea was fun, but I was sitting on some half-seat, and it wasn’t quite comfortable. After some time, someone disembarked, and I got to take his seat. The rest of the journey went by without any further issues.

I arrived late at night in Bangkok. My couchsurfing host was not the best communicator, and it took some effort to track down just exactly where she was, but I managed to find her at a night market.

After getting some rest, I went downtown and saw some sights. The city is still big and crazy, but I liked it more than some other capital cities I have been to recently.

Lumphini Park

Wat Pho and the leaning Buddha

The Grand Palace, which was closed by the time I got there

I met up with another couchsurfing guest from our host’s place in the evening, and we walked around a bit together.

We went to Khaosan Street, and there were so many police.

Tourist police, immigration police, and normal police. I was a little worried about the immigration police since I didn’t have my passport on me (ever since the incident, I really don’t like walking around with it). But nothing happened.

We went to a night market and met up with our host and a 3^rd guest. But before we got there, we tried taking the bus. I forget which number we needed, but he and I were waiting for almost an hour. We kept considering ordering a Grab ride instead, but we kept joking that as soon as we did that, the bus would come. After an hour of waiting, we just couldn’t take it, so we did order a ride. Lo and behold, as soon as we were getting in the car, the bus pulled up. We laughed about it but decided to continue with the Grab ride.

Together, we all went to karaoke and stayed up late. My host was trying to conscript me into going to the English camp at her work the next day, which would have been an all-day event from 6 am to 3:30 pm. I really didn’t feel like joining, but she decided to tell her boss that I would join anyway. I didn’t appreciate that. But the night went on and we sang our hearts out.

The next morning, through my groggy, alcohol-clouded mind, I heard her trying to wake me up in the early hours. I just pretended to still be asleep and she eventually left me alone. She then left for work, and then I got up.

Alone, I hung out at the house before going downtown. My bus was at 8 pm, and I left the house at 2 pm, just to give myself plenty of time. And plenty of time did I need because I only managed to get there at 6:30, after 4.5 hours.

The bus got to Lampang at 5 am, and my couchsurfing host there picked me up from the bus station. I stressed that he didn’t need to wake up that early, but he said he was usually awake by then anyway.

But he was still tired, as was I, so we both took naps. Refreshed, we went out to a café and met up with some of his English students. With the entire group, we went to the city mall and then the night market.

He and I were planning on going to a nearby temple the next day, but he unfortunately fell ill. We both decided it would just be best if I left instead, so I made my way to Wat Choelem without him. There was supposed to be a bus that went directly there at 7 am, but it never came. So I caught a local pickup bus to a village near the temple. From there, they wanted to charge me 200 to go the rest of the way, so I just hitchhiked instead, and I got picked up rather quickly.

On the way, I stopped at some temple on the side of the road while waiting for a car. It was nice but empty except for some aggressive dogs that chased me out of there.

From there, I managed to quickly get to Wat Choelem. I went up top, and the view and temple were both impressive.

After coming down the hill, I decided to hitchhike to Maekompong waterfall.

I was walking at first, and then someone on a motorcycle gave me a ride, but it was a small bike with barely any space behind the driver. It hurt so much with my backpack since I constantly had to fight falling backward off the bike.

At one fork, we needed to go separate ways. He offered to take me a bit farther my way, but I politely (and adamantly) declined and got off the bike.

From there, it was a few more hitchhiking trips and sometimes hiking between villages when nobody drove through. It was a long and hot day, and I frequently rested in the shade.

I was getting close. The road split and one way went directly to Maekompong waterfall, and the other way went the long way through a different park and waterfall called Chaeson. Someone picked me up and decided it would be best to take me through the other park. Chaeson park requires an entry fee, and I didn’t really want to pay since I was going to check out another waterfall. We talked with the park rangers, and my ride eventually had me get back into the car and drove me all the way through the park to the other side where the other entrance was (it wasn’t a long drive, but still). I was worried she was performing a taxi service, but she never asked for any money when I got out. A pleasant surprise! I then hiked for quite a bit longer until a pickup took me the rest of the way after a short stop in some village.

The waterfall was refreshing after such a hot day. I tried to find somewhere to camp, but it was in a steep ravine that was damp everywhere. I kept hiking up the trail along the hillside, and I finally found somewhere where the path was wide enough to throw down a tent.

I can distinctly recall the cicadas. They were so loud it hurt my ears. I saw a giant centipede that was about as thick as my thumb and 3 times as long. I also saw huge cockroaches. I was worried about the giant spiders I saw in Krabi, but I luckily didn’t encounter any. Still, 2wild4me.

Next morning, my legs were killing me. Not the muscles, but the tendons. After so much hiking and carrying my backpack around, my muscles have gotten stronger. But I feel like my joints and particularly my tendons are getting weaker and constantly hurting. I’m not even 30…

I decided I didn’t want to spend another day of hiking and stressing my body, so I went into the village and wanted to catch a ride to Chiang Mai.

I found a bus to some hot springs, and then I had to wait for another ride to take me to the town. I got into town, went to my hostel, and checked in a day early.

I walked around and found a vegan buffet that was pay-what-you-want. So tasty.

I talked with the hostel owner about booking a trip to Luang Prabang, a town in Laos. I had read about a 3-day journey on a boat from Chiang Mai in Thailand to Luang Prabang in Laos, and I was keen on doing that. We settled on a price of 1850 baht (60 USD), but I hadn’t quite paid or signed anything.

The next day, I walked around after giving my clothes to the hostel to wash. The receptionist didn’t speak English that well, but I understood that I would get my clothes back that evening. I figured I would check out the golden-gilded Doi Suthep temple. I went to the bus stop and proceeded to wait for a couple of hours. The minibus only departed when there were 10 people, and there were only 4 of us. The driver tried getting us to pay a bit more each, and he would then leave with us, but it was a there-and-back ticket he wanted to sell. It honestly wasn’t a ridiculous offer, but 2 of the girls waiting were adamant about only buying one-way tickets because they wanted to stay up there until sunset and then come back with a different minibus. I doubted there would be another one since this was the bus stop, and they were only going if the busses got filled. They eventually left, and the other guy and I were about to give up as well. But then 3 newcomers came, and we all agreed to pay a little more and up we went.

After getting back, I first got on Wi-Fi and messaged my hostel owner about the ticket. I wanted to secure it, lest I start asking other tour operators in the city while I walked around for the evening. She said not to worry and to enjoy my evening and that we would deal with it when I came back.

I came back after having an amazing dinner. I couldn’t find my clothes that I had given to be washed, and I still hadn’t heard about the boat-trip booking. There were a couple of other guests who were going to just go to Luang Prabang without a tour and take busses and such, and I would have liked to have joined them since I still hadn’t got anything booked yet. Alas, my clothes were MIA. I scoured the hostel, but I couldn’t find them anywhere.

I messaged the hostel asking about the ticket and my clothes. It turns out that there were no more spots on the tour for the following day. Maybe it was a good thing, though, because my clothes were at some other laundromat and wouldn’t come back until about 10 am, which is after the shuttles busses usually leave for the tour. They have washing machines in the hostel, and had I known that he was just going to do that, I would have taken them elsewhere myself. I eventually talked with her on the phone, and she said she would book me a spot on the next day. I pressed to stay one more night for free since this goof was her fault, and she obliged.

My clothes came back the following morning, right around 10. I waited for a while, and I was getting nervous since I still hadn’t heard anything from the owner. I messaged her, and she said she would book the ticket. A little later, she told me that they were all booked out for the next day and that I should have contacted her earlier. I am usually pretty patient with people, but she was pushing my limits. I had already talked with her a couple of days prior, and I was supposed to be leaving on that day. But she just kept not doing it and then blaming me. Also, the previous night, I told her that I wanted to go the next day. I don’t know what she was expecting from me. She told me in one message that I “needed to confirm” with her that I wanted to go, and if talking about it, agreeing on a price, and everything is not confirming it, then I don’t know what is. She even said that while I was talking with her the previous night, and it felt really stupid, but I at one point did even say, “yes I confirm that I want to go on Thursday.”

I had been left with plenty of time to figure out how to get to Luang Prabang myself, so I decided that I would just do that. I left the next morning. There was nobody at reception, so I figured my 100 baht (about 3 USD) key deposit was a loss, so I just left my key on the counter. However, right as I was leaving, the receptionist came in, so I got my money back. I never did actually pay the 80 for the laundry service, but I didn’t care this time. Not after the owner’s complete lack of organization.

I woke up early to print my bus ticket since the website stressed that I had to do that. I ran around trying to find a place, and it took longer than I thought. Once I had that, I ordered a Grab ride, but he was taking forever to reach me. I tried waving down a tuktuk, but he wanted as much as the bus ride just to go the 15 minutes to the bus stop.

Time was getting tight since public transportation wasn’t working out. Thankfully, the receptionist offered to take me on his scooter in the rain. I would have likely missed my bus had it not been for him, and since I had originally written off that 100 baht as a loss anyway, I gave it to him. I hope he just didn’t have to cover my laundry service charge (that was through a different receptionist anyway) because that was for him.

I barely caught the bus to Chiang Rai. I got out before the city to see the White Temple. It was eerie and I loved it.

They had a fountain wall, and I saw surprised at some of the details.

After checking it out, I went all the way into town and got on the next bus to Chiang Khong. I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t get a spot on the local bus, but it didn’t seem to be a problem at all. I just got on, and it was pretty empty up until the departure. But then the locals came out of the woodwork and piled in. I think the bus would just keep piling people on anyway even if it was at max capacity. It was one of those busses.

I reached my hostel in Chiang Khong, and there I booked some boat tickets as well as a ride across the border and to the pier where the boats waited.

I would like to dispel the notion that the trip is a 3-day trip from Chiang Mai to Luang Prabang. I had read that online, and that’s kind of what got me in a rut since I thought it was so. It truly is just a 2-day boat trip from Chiang Khong (Thailand side) or Huay Xai (Laos side). The boat leaves from Huay Xai, but it’s just as easy to leave from Thailand in the morning since the boat doesn’t leave till about 10:30. Spoiler: the boat ride is awesome and I would enthusiastically recommend it. But just use busses and such to get up to Chiang Khong yourself—it will be cheaper and you won’t have to worry about them running out of seats on the bus since you’re already where the boat is.

The next morning, I went through immigration and went off into Laos on the Mekong River, off to search for the source of the river of beer known as Beerlao.

I liked Thailand. Krabi was nice. I didn’t like Bangkok, but no surprise there from me since I generally don’t like huge cities. Chiang Mai was nice. I went there on a recommendation from some random hostel guest in Bali, and I’m glad I did it. It reminded me of Ubud in Bali—kind of a Hippy haven. There were lots of vegan and vegetarian foods, and I also noticed that all the elephant sanctuary ads were very adamant that there was no elephant riding. In Chiang Rai (where the White Temple is located), on the other hand, elephant riding was advertised. If I go back to Thailand, Chiang Mai will be my first pick of places I would like to spend more time in.