Lost on Earth

After a full day of traveling in one of the most irritating bus rides I have taken so far in Thailand I am now in the border town of Chiang Khong, right on the banks of the mighty, muddy Mekong river.

Chiang Khong is in the Chiang Rai province - an incredibly beautiful province that definately gives the Mae Hong Son province some competition for awe-inspiring scenes, although Chiang Rai is very calming and pastoral looking, where Mae Hong Son is mountainous and wild. I didn't get to see as much of the scenery as I would like because I was busy glaring at the bus driver while he first attempted to eat a bowl of noodle soup while driving on the highway (he spilled about three quarters of it down his shirt and into his lap and then gave up. After that he changed the SIM card in his cell phone twice while driving through curvy mountain roads. I stared at him with enough malice to make my father proud, and eventually he put the phone down and concentrated on the road for the rest of the trip.

So now I am stuck in purgatory on the banks of the Mekong river. The hostel (Nam Khong Guest House) that I have been placed in is the most disgusting that I have stayed in so far, there are two Israelis in here yelling loudly into their webcams, and a deaf man just asked if I want to share a room with him in Laos. I'll be really glad to get away from the rest of the tourists and strike out on my own.