Leg 3

Monday, February 3, 2014 It was meant to be a short drive to Nang Rong along fast roads. Instead we started late, eventually found the Starbucks, visited some temples which weren’t really on our way, took a route that was…

Sunday, February 1, 2014 The drive out was not as bad as I remembered it from the day before. 90 minutes after setting off we regained a sealed road and glad for it. The road still had pot holes but…

Friday, January 31, 2014 (Chinese New Year) Got a bit of a late start, but it was only 35 km to San Phan Bok (or 3000 Holes’. Described as a rock formation on the Mekong resembling Swiss cheese and “you’ll…

Thursday, January 30, 2014 Our hotel was very noisy. Other guests (‘locals’) arriving back late and making lots of noise – for hours. So, off to find “Good Morning Vietnam Cafe” for a much needed coffee. As we headed south…

Wednesday, January 29, 2014 Got up early, well early for us. Grabbed a coffee before heading in the direction of Wat Phu Tok. Along the way we stopped at Tesco for supplies, and where lucky enough to find booster cables.…

Tuesday, January 28, 2014 We almost stayed a second day in Nong Khai, but common sense prevailed and we continued our journey East. If Sterlin had failed to start, I think we would have stayed, but fortunately he fired up…

Monday, January 27, 2014 After our morning coffee we headed to Sangkhom some 120 kms East. The view of the river from the road continued to be spectacular. And we made very good time on the excellent road. After reaching…

Sunday, January 26, 2014 (Australia Day) Before driving out of Phitsanulok we made a quick detour via the Starbucks in the shopping Plaza – everynow and then it’s nice to be able to simply order a ‘grande non fat latte’…

Saturday, January 25, 2014 We continued South in the direction of Phitsanulok. Along the way we had the good fortune to pass by Si Satchanalai Historical Park which is one of the “Associated Historic Towns” of the UNESCO World Heritage site…

Wednesday, January 22, 2014 The short 90 minute drive from Chiangmai was easy and fast with dual carriage way over the mountains. We arrived in Lampang as the sun was setting. We headed to the Lonely Planet “Top Choice Hotel”…

Tuesday, January 21, 2014 We headed back to Chiangmai to pickup our Myanmar visas and get our teeth cleaned. The road was again quite pretty and we had a short day’s drive arriving just after lunch. Finding accommodation proved to…

Monday, January 20, 2014 Pha Yao is set along Kwan Phayao, a wetland (with artificially controlled water level, to prevent it from drying out in the ‘dry’ season), which makes for a very pleasant lake and ’embarcadero’. We arrived here…

Sunday, January 19, 2014 The scenery here in the north continues to amaze us. Like yesterday, we drove at a leisurely pace arriving in Chiangrai in the early afternoon. This gave us plenty of time to walk around the city…

Saturday, January 18, 2014 The road north from Chiangmai to Tha Ton is quite beautiful. We made a leisurely drive up and down the winding roads taking in the dense green forest lands. Our objective for the day’s drive was…

We’d heard a lot of positive things about this city (Thailand’s second) and it lived up to its expectations. The old city is surrounded by a moat full of fountains. Ayutthay and Sukhothai are also surrounded by moats but both…