January 2, 2014

Our visas expire today, so we have to do a visa run.  What is a visa run, you ask?  We go to the border, have our passports stamped as exiting Thailand, go to Burma via boat, get our visas stamped as entering and exiting, then back to the Thai border to enter again.  We chose to do this through a travel agency who coordinates the whole trip through the Andaman Club via Ranong.  It took the entire day, but we are set for another 30 days.

Visa Run to Burma

Andaman Sea

Andaman Sea

January 3-9, 2014

A few more days in Bangkok to enjoy the city before we head up to the northern part of Thailand, Chang Mai.

Chinatown, Bangkok

Chinatown, Bangkok

Chinatown, Bangkok

Chinatown, Bangkok

Chinatown, Bangkok

Chinatown, Bangkok

Chinatown, Bangkok

Chinatown, Bangkok

Bangkok, Dusit Zoo

January 10-13, 2014

We flew up to Chiang Mai to meet up with Jimmy Jones.   Scott and Jimmy have been e-mailing back and forth the past few weeks – he is from the UK and is selling his Yamaha 600.  He rode it from Germany to Thailand.  Seems to be a good bike for us to do some exploring.  The flight from Chiang Mai to Chiang Khong was a domestic flight with AsiaAir – I think that will be our only domestic flight….not too confident with the Thai pilots….

We stayed in the old city of Chiang Mai.  Some of the original walls are still in place next to the moat that surrounds the old city (build in 1296).

Chiang Mai old city wall and moat

January 14-16, 2014

To take possession of the motorcycle, we have to meet Jimmy up in Chiang Khong – a border town.  The 5-hour minibus drive was a bit unnerving at times – the driver didn’t seem to know how to drive very well.  It appears to us that the center line doesn’t mean much to anyone here!  We made it to Chiang Khong in one piece – yeah!

Chiang Khong is on the Mekong River which borders Laos.  We have to take the bike out of Thailand and then eventually bring it back in under our name.  Nok, a friend of Jimmy’s, took us on a drive up to the mountains above Chiang Khong.  The road seems to go straight up.  She is a sweet lady and very happy to show us Thai hospitality! She took us to her father’s house where she prepared a meal for us, before taking us back to town.  Chiang Khong is really a nice little town with a river walk that we enjoyed.

crops along Mekong River Thailand

Sunrise over Mekong River, Chiang Khong, Thailand

Chiang Khong

Scott is happy to have his own transportation!