After spending the first half of November exploring northern Thailand, we decided to spend the last two weeks of the month in Chiang Mai. We love Chiang Mai and we also wanted to be there for the Yi Peng Lantern festival.
We looked around at lodging options and figured out that our most economical option would be to use Airbnb. We had never used Airbnb before so this was a new experience for us.
I was recently nominated for the Liebster Award by Steph from The Traveling Teacher. The Liebster Awards were set up by bloggers to help other bloggers find and interact with those new to blogging.
We watched as the two older Thai women lit the lanterns. Then we followed as they led us to the cave entrance.
Warning: This post contains description of gastrointestinal, um . . . situations.
Please enjoy the above sunset photo as a preemptive apology.
Twice now we have ridden elephants in Thailand. Once, in Chiang Mai three years ago. And once, in Kanchanaburi. Both times we rode in seats on top of the elephant’s back.
It is awe-inspiring to sit so high from the ground and be taken for a ride. But I wanted more. I wanted to ride bareback and I wanted to be thrown from the elephant’s back into the water. So we made plans to visit Thom’s Elephant Camp just outside of Pai, Thailand.
From Chiang Khong, we traveled via local bus to Chiang Rai. It was pretty simple a far as travel days go. Our hosts directed to the bus station, which was a ten minute walk from our guesthouse. Buses leave every half hour, cost 65 baht, and take 2 – 3 hours.
Chiang Rai was a bigger city than I expected. It is a lot like Chiang Mai, only smaller. (But still bigger than I thought it would be). I was thinking Chiang Rai was a small mountain town. I guess being surprised is what happens when you are not the trip planner.
There’s not much going on in Thailand’s border town of Chiang Khong. We had just entered from Laos and were planning to stay a few days, thinking we could use the town as a base for exploring the Golden Triangle region where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet.
The southeast Asian country of Laos is sandwiched between Thailand and Vietnam with Cambodia to the south. It would make sense to add this country to an itinerary when exploring the neighboring countries.
So should you travel to Laos?
As a family of 5, it is not always easy to find budget accommodation. We did pretty well in Laos. Sometimes our 3 girls shared a double bed. Other times we didn’t get A/C. We don’t mind if the rooms are old or poorly decorated, but we look for clean rooms. All of the rooms we stayed in had western toilets and hot showers. Here is a run down of the places we stay in Laos.
Any Direction We Choose 