Tuesday, February 7, 2012

No hot water for my shower, and there was a breeze from a fan when I turned on the shower light, so I skipped the shower except for a light rinse. Ate an American breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant. Shared a tuk tuk to the river boat pier at 9:30 AM. Boarded around 10 AM and sat waiting to depart for an hour or two as others trickled on board. Listened to podcasts the whole time and watched the beautiful landscape roll by. Arrived in Pakbeng at around sunset. Hauled my gear up the hill and looked at a couple places before deciding on a somewhat pricey place at 300 baht for the night. The mattress was nice and soft for my poor back. Ate dinner with Aimee, an American from Austin, Texas, that I had met before boarding the boat, and her friends Shelley, Glenn, and Matteo, and their friends Alex and Mary. Returned to my hotel to shower and shave. Computer time until bed time. I had heard they shut off the electricity to the city at 10 PM, but this wasn’t the case.