A Trip within a Trip

Would you believe me if I said was having too extraordinary of a time to keep up this blog? My first week in Thailand has been nothing short of incredible. My families are all wonderful, and the country never ceases to amaze, amuse, and astound me.
I am going to ignore the initial few days of my adventure because too much exciting things have happened in between now and then, and I would frankly prefer to write about my more recent adventures. There is interesting material in the first couple days though, and I promise that I will draw from it when I am writing other posts later on.

Today I would like to tell you about a trip I took this weekend. My host father is a concrete maker and supplier. Our entire backyard (really it’s more like a back-sprawl) is a cement factory, employing maybe thirty people. It’s a bit hard to get a good guess because I don’t know what the shifts and a lot of people drive up to the factory, but aren’t necessarily employees. Clients, I assume. His business is thriving, I think, his concrete has been used in a number of buildings through Nan, and he also supplies parts of Laos and southern China.

He was headed to China this time, and asked if I wanted to come along over breakfast on Friday. We would leave before lunchtime and return on Sunday. In the spirit of adventure, I accepted and in a few hours we were off. My companions were my dad, Lung Sombat (“uncle Sombat”, my 2^nd host dad and best friend to my current dad), and Veerat, who does office work for my dad. We traveled to Chaing Khong, which is a town alongside the Mae Khong River. The place actually has quite a bit of Farang (foreigner, usually Caucasian) flavor to it. Because it is surrounded by natural beauty and is right next to Laos, tourists will stay there and foray into Laos. We were there in the off-season, so luckily I didn’t have to put up with too many whities. I would highly recommend traveling there if you get the opportunity. The forested mountains that surround the region are truly breathtaking. We spent a night there, where we walked along the river and watched the ferry’s load semi’s to bring down the river. There was also a conference at our hotel between Thai and Laos businesspeople. Laos being a communist nation, I assume that to be a businessperson, one has to work for the government, but I could be mistaken. I mention this conference because it plays a role in the story later on, and also because the Karaoke wafting from their party at the hotel bar was traumatic and interfered with my slumber.

The next morning we went to the bridge across the Mae Khon River, a donation from the Chinese government. My host father informs me that Chinese builds the bridge because it is easier for China to distribute goods by car than using the Thai and Lao barges and ferries of the Mae Khong. No such thing as a free lunch, as Mr. Stevens would say.

My host father and Lung Sombat headed to China, via the Mae Khong. Lung Sombat’s role in my father’s dealings is unclear to me. Near as I can tell, he’s a retired schoolteacher who tags along with my dad. This is not a problem at all, since he makes an excellent travel companion and has the most energy I’ve ever seen in a septuagenarian. While they were floating up the Mae Khon, Veerat and I headed to the Golden Triangle, unaware of the dangers awaiting us there. 
To be continued….