Goodbye Rai - hello Lao

Saturday is our last day in Chiang Rai and  was a little more relaxed - late breakfast and a casual walk around the local streets to sample the local sites and sounds. The Main Street behind the hotel becomes "walking street" every Saturday night. So we needed a rest and a drink in the hotel before we we out to have a look at this weekly event.

                 

We then discovered what this ritual was all about at around 7pm when we wandered around to the roadway. It goes from a normal roadway to this.....

It was alive with thousands of people, food stalls and purveyors of typical market place fare. We had a good look around and then made our way to a noted restaurant called the Cabbage and Condoms...don't ask! But there really is a genuine reason for this place being named this way. Local guy promoting family planning, anti AIDS, etc. and it raises money for these programs.

Back to the hotel and prepare for 5am rise Sunday and off to catch a long boat for a 2 day trip down the Mekong and into Laos.

Note for the day-

Visa into Laos was $30 each but we were slugged $1 extra as "overtime charge for Sunday"