So we decided to come here because it seemed like a short trip and was on the way to the Thai border. We also booked the 'VIP' bus instead of the local bus. Our bus sucked and so did the ride. My seat was broked so it wouldn't stay up or down and since the road was mostly dirt that meant alot of bouncing. Also, because of the dirt roads the trip too us about 10 hours. We left at 7PM and got here at 5AM. That was wierd as we had a tuk tuk drop us into town and then proceeded to bang on a few doors until a guesthouse let us it.
--Side story about the bus, etc: When we first left the city Colby turned to me and apologized for getting angry at me the night before. He said that he has been distracted and I know he has. It almost brought me to tears to see the sadness in his face. His story is not my story but I do want to put part of it in here so maybe you too can feel what he is dealing with. His latest girlfriend turned into something more. His only concern was that she had never left our small town so when she told him that she wanted to go to Thailand for 5months to spay and neuter strays he thought that if she actually did it, then that would be it. She would be the one. Fast forward to when Colby arrives out here (after being a perfect gentleman while she was away) and things are different. She wasn't sure about her feelings anymore and the vibe was off. The tragic irony here is heart wrenching. The very act that made Colby confirm in his heart that she was the one was the very act that made her question everything. From the moment I arrived, it was obvious that Colby was spending a lot of time in his head. It kills me and I am always trying to bring him to the present. Even today, as we rode motorbikes to a distant village, I started thinking about that and teared up. I thought, 'maybe I can cry for Colby because he can't'....He's dealing like he does and will survive and thrive...maybe this isn't over..maybe it is..but it is definetly out of Colby's hands at this point.
Back to us and the moment. The guidebook said that there is a village 60km from where we are that is a 'backpacker haven'. The road also goes through the national park/forest that we wanted to see so we decided to rent scooters and head out there for the night. About 30k into the voyage we passed a village on the right side of the road, across the river. There were woman from that village sitting by the side of the road selling various things (like giant bamboo with maggots which is used for injuries I guess). We each bought a bracelet and proceeded down the path towards the village. When we came to the river and bridge, all the children were on the other side bathing themselves. They saw us and ran to the bridge to greet us. They were all astonished by our tattoos which was cool. They led the procession in to the village tossing fire crackers and screaming. The kids would not stop touching our tattoos and cooing. The biggest gasp and awe came from Colby's stomach tattoo of a fish. All of a sudden, one of the kids walks up with a tattoo gun...their version of one at least. Crazy shit was basically a piece of bamboo with a needle thing it it. Another kid showed us his ink and it looked pretty gnarly. Colby then had the great idea to bust out his pen and draw tattoos on the kids. THEY WENT BERSERK. As Colby drew on one kid the other 15 would crowd around so close that no one could move. It was awesome and got me thinking about what I can do to give them something from me. God knows I can't draw for shit so I eventually worked up the idea that once I have my laptop, I will by a small set of speakers and drop some beats for the kids in the small villages we love to explore. What will happen to a small child when he hears the Glitch Mob?? I don't know but STAY TUNED!! I also plan to sing some American songs with the music. I have a horribly voice but I have a feeling that it will go over well...maybe some Beatles, maybe some Elvis. After Colby drew on several arms, an elder walked up to us and said, 'opium'? Oh shit...this is the kind of experience I was looking for with that stuff. He walked us to his small hut and sat us down on his bed. He busted out his pipe, that he uses and showed us the opium. We agreed for $1.20 each to take a couple drags. He then made a move to throw some unknown pills into a mortar and grind it up...we halted him only wanted the straight shit becaus who the fuck knows what else that guy is smoking. The opium was mellow, like pot and very chill. We weren't knocked out, we weren't off our minds...we were just a little high....like all over. Done with that and done with the village we jumped back on our scooters and continued the journey. *Mom, I know you are going to read this and please trust that if, for one second, either of us felt too high, we would have pulled over and chilled. It was chill, we were chill and the ride was slow. Colby set the pace and I kept us. He intentionally went slow for me because this was my first real scooter ride of any distance and my confidence on bikes is no where near his. Next on route, I caught a glimpse of a sign for a waterfall. We pulled over and hiked the 1km to the falls which was perfect timing. Hot, high and in need of cooling off, we were able to stand on the rocks directly beneath the 10-15 foot fall. After chilling for a bit we jumped back on the bikes and continued. While riding, I saw something out of the corner of my eye that looked like a leaf then slammed into my kneck really hard. I flinched and swatted it down to my back pack and was looking face to face with the biggest grasshopper I have ever seen...this thing was 4 inches if it was 1 cm. Wow. Finally we arrived at this 'backpacker haven' and were like 'what the fuck'...not sure where the charm is here but this was nothing more than a medium sized village. We stopped at a market for soup and beverage...soup was 75 cents and a pepsi was 75 cents, then decided to not stay and head back. Good decision because I really wanted to get caught up on this and upload some photos to facebook. I have taken a million photos and want to put together an illustrated version of this journal at some point...until then, a few on facebook now and again is all we got.
So now we head across the street to the night market and some dinner then crashing. Neither of us slept that horrible bus ride here and are looking forward to a solid night. Tomorrow we catch a 4 hour bus to the border of Northern Thailand for 18 days of exploring before Colby bounces. Stay tuned!!
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