wow, what an effort. I have just spent an hour downloading Safari on this old PC in order to reach my Mac Mail. The last time I experienced something like this as far as old technology goes was in Havana Cuba, and I ended up giving up there. Good for this effort, I can now get to the keys.

I have arrived in Udon Thani today feeling a little under the weather. I took a bit crook, maybe some food, maybe all the Jack I drank last night… maybe.

I was going to head straight to Vientene after everyone recommended so as apparently Udon Thani is not all that. I am glad I stayed here for the night in order to catch up with this blog. I had so much to say whilst on the way here, poetic justice has not been served due to delays in settling in front of this screen. I will do my best here…

Here in the North of Thailand is very interesting indeed. I haven’t been here for years actually, and to this place never before. Chang Mai to Chang Rai and all around the other side, but new territory here for me.

I went walkabout through the city here, a little back in time so to say. I really enjoyed the walk, not many foreigners at all here, off the Backpacker trail. Most people go straight to Laos as suggested. I had no direction, just walked for a couple of hours and took it all in. great stuff. This is where a lot of the ‘counterfeit’ goods are made by the looks of what I saw. European Football gear and all that kind of stuff that you buy at the tourist markets and on the streets of Bangkok.

There is a real old vibe to the place, particular the methods of transport, tuk tuks, 3 wheel bicycle taxis and all that kind of stuff. I took a tuk tuk back from the other side of the city so I could snap off a few pics along the way. I somehow got dropped off shy of my destination and ended up in the local market. This was cool, definitely no westerners here. I bought myself a new pair of thongs/pluggers/jandels or whatever whoever calls them for 25 baht, less than AUD$1. This huge market went on and on, real smells, real people going about there business as per daily routines. Bizzare kinds of meats, god knows what some of it was, all sorts of stuff that is inclusive of the survival for everyday Thai living. The really good thing about this place is the lack of hassles you get from the natives. I walked for hours unapproached with the exception of one feble attempt from a tuk tuk driver in broken English “hey’o, where you go?”. That was it, really impressive after being in Bangkok for a couple of daze. Even in this market, with no other foreigners, the people didn’t seem to pay much attention to the audacity of my presence. That was cool, I should have taken some more pics, just didn’t want to push my luck and maybe lose my Nikon.

Not much catering for tourists at all which is cool. No internet cafes that I could see, so I am here at the Ban Chiang Hotel lobby using theirs. It’s an old hotel, must have been quite glorious in it’s day, there is a Thai guy playing piano and a Thai chick singing, both very good I might say. After sitting here for an hour and a half, I find it all quite relaxing.

I found the Robinsons department store, like a Myer centre but of course compared to the one in Bangkok, this was very simple at it’s best. I wandered around in here for a while, the electricity went out 3 times, not phasing the shop keepers at all. They just wait for it to come back on again. At first I was taken back, but it must be almost a daily occurrence due to the casual reaction of all the natives.  Until here I thought that this city was void of McDonalds & KFC, but hey, this place proved me wrong. Of course, symbols of western civilization, eastern stylee.

I found the bus station today, I will head there tomorrow to catch a 10:30am local bus to Vientene, the sleepy capital of Laos. Apparently there, from what I could understand, it is about 1 hour to the Mekong River where I am to cross the Friendship Bridge that joins Thailand and Laos together. I think I get a visa upon entry, or at least I hope so. It’s amazing how a smile can rid you of the frustration of language barriers. Forgot to bring my Thai phrase book, but I can always get by.

The great thing about today is that I am free to do what I want, however I want, and to get off the well worn Backpacker trail that is South East Asia. I am actually enjoying it very much being on the wallaby, I must soak it up as apparently it gets pretty chaotic up in Laos.

I am also hoping that I can get to a computer on a daily basis in order to update this blog. If anything, it makes me feel good by writing down what I have experienced, good reference for future nostalgic times.

Now, it’s time to log off as my 2 hours are almost up.

Sawadees krap!