back from a successful visa run to kunming. i now have thai and lao visas
freshly stamped in my passport waiting for use. have returned to baise for
the final two weeks of selling stuff and packing up what little i actually need.
sold most of my furniture and appliances last night (taking a deposit on the
aircon and fridge and computer), only a few small items left. nothing of
major value, and nothing i couldn't dump in the river if unsold.
will be terminating my internet connection at the end of the month, and will
have to rely on internet bars for email access for some time. may be
problematic, as anytime unwanted anniversaries come around, the chineser
government blocks access to email, twitter, facebook, etc. can still
download porn though, so the internet bars are still in business.
so for the next two weeks will be doing a bit of training, some long runs and
bike rides, maybe some hiking in the surrounding hills. also getting my gear
ready for the trip. We shall see what can be accomplished with only one
bike shop and no camping supply stores within 250 miles.
the plan is to prepare three boxes of clothing, shoes and books to be mailed
to thighland on the 14th. delivery time should run 2-3 weeks, just about
what i need to reach chiang mai. on the 15th will turn over the apartment
keys, jump on the bicycle and head west. Will be covering the southern,
hilly, section of yunnan province, ending up in xishuang banna (where the
American backpacker/English teacher was trampled to death last year),
where I cross into laos.
my schedule will permit up to one week in laos. the northern section of the
country is quite narrow, only 225km, so can easily cover this in two days.
plenty of time to explore some of the villages and a large national park next
to the main (actually only) northern highway. this is, of course, weather
dependant. july and august are monsoon season.
expect to arrive in chiang mai around the first of august, which will give me
about ten days to get settled before I start an intensive one-month
beginners course in thigh language. following that, I?ll take a month off to
explore chiang mai and the surrounding area, and hunt for a long-term
apartment. with the current problems in thighland, tourism is off and many
ex-pats are leaving, so a decent apartment should be easy to locate.
so?.time to start packing.
freshly stamped in my passport waiting for use. have returned to baise for
the final two weeks of selling stuff and packing up what little i actually need.
sold most of my furniture and appliances last night (taking a deposit on the
aircon and fridge and computer), only a few small items left. nothing of
major value, and nothing i couldn't dump in the river if unsold.
will be terminating my internet connection at the end of the month, and will
have to rely on internet bars for email access for some time. may be
problematic, as anytime unwanted anniversaries come around, the chineser
government blocks access to email, twitter, facebook, etc. can still
download porn though, so the internet bars are still in business.
so for the next two weeks will be doing a bit of training, some long runs and
bike rides, maybe some hiking in the surrounding hills. also getting my gear
ready for the trip. We shall see what can be accomplished with only one
bike shop and no camping supply stores within 250 miles.
the plan is to prepare three boxes of clothing, shoes and books to be mailed
to thighland on the 14th. delivery time should run 2-3 weeks, just about
what i need to reach chiang mai. on the 15th will turn over the apartment
keys, jump on the bicycle and head west. Will be covering the southern,
hilly, section of yunnan province, ending up in xishuang banna (where the
American backpacker/English teacher was trampled to death last year),
where I cross into laos.
my schedule will permit up to one week in laos. the northern section of the
country is quite narrow, only 225km, so can easily cover this in two days.
plenty of time to explore some of the villages and a large national park next
to the main (actually only) northern highway. this is, of course, weather
dependant. july and august are monsoon season.
expect to arrive in chiang mai around the first of august, which will give me
about ten days to get settled before I start an intensive one-month
beginners course in thigh language. following that, I?ll take a month off to
explore chiang mai and the surrounding area, and hunt for a long-term
apartment. with the current problems in thighland, tourism is off and many
ex-pats are leaving, so a decent apartment should be easy to locate.
so?.time to start packing.
Hope everything goes well for you and we hear good news from you soon. Be safe.
