(Daniel) Disaster!  The man infront of me was smiling to himself, although I don’t think it had anything to do with the incredibly bad news that he had just given me.  Apparently, and no one had thought to tell me yesterday, the car ferry boats don’t run on the weekend.  That meant two days of waiting around here whilst Mum’s time and ours ticks away.  Enough was enough, it was time to throw some grease on the wheels.  The smiling man infront of us had been the only one who seemed to know anything about the comings and goings of the dock.  After some persuasion, he provided us with a mobile number of one of the Thai ferry drivers.  We phoned him, he was at home, he hung up.  After ten minutes, he phoned back.  The Captain had managed to get a crew together, and would travel from the Thai side to meet us in one hour.  First, we would have to travel across on a longboat to show our paperwork to the Thai authorities, who were kicking up a fuss about the extra workload of the carnet.

I was pleased with myself, for less than £47, I had secured the exclusive use of a car ferry including it’s coming to collect us.  Nii and I made the trip across the Mekong and back.  In exactly one hour, a medium size river ferry appeared from the other side, pulling up neatly infront of the Wolf.  We boarded, crossing straight back over to Thailand, where the super efficient authorities completed the carnet in the time it took us to stamp our passports

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It was good to be back on Thai soil, for years Thailand has felt like a second home, and this would be the closest to returning to a familiar place that I will see for the rest of the year!  As we drove down to Chiang Rai, where we ate lunch, and then on to Chiang Mai the roads and the journey went by quickly.  Mum and Nii sleeping or reading while I concentrated in various states of alarm on all the tiny noises that a Land Rover makes!  Just before we arrived in the northern capital, I stopped to get the Wolf washed.

Chiang Mai had not changed to much since I last visited, huge shopping malls had sprung up on the outskirts, but the city itself, including its walled historical centre was still as I remember.  I was looking for somehwre nice.  Aware that I have two women on board, and have just dragged them both through a monsoon drenched rainforest to stay in tribal villages and backwater towns.  Rowan and Gabby had stayed in a good hotel, the Amora, which I found easily.  We walked inside, dirty and smelly, me with my huge boots on, Mum with Orange mud coloured trainers.  The woman behind the desk looked surprised, but didn’t let it affect her duties.  I told them that we had stayed before, mentioning Rowan and Gabbies name when she asked.  They had saved the details of the last visit and checked us into the same room under a special rate. 

After unpacking, we visited the night bazaar and local market.  Unable to find a good restaurant, we jumped in a tuc tuc again, telling him to take us to a good place for dinner.  The riverside bar that he dropped us at was great, with live music, and a wonderful atmosphere, we ate dinner, looking out on the river, and making plans for the next few days.

After dinner, we returned to the hotel, stopping in the bar for a drink before bed.

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