(Editor’s Note: This is part of a series of travel correspondence from Dan as he travels around southeast Asia. Click the “continued” link to read the full message.)

July 12, 2005

Hello from Chiang Khong, home of the 650 pound catfish!

After a few drinks, I wander into an internet cafe. Nature calls, and I ask for the bathroom. In the back is the owner’s home. Pictures of family, a couch, a teakwood carved dog. And his own bathroom. Amazing. I’ve never seen hospitality like this. It was also my first full encounter with a country-style toilet, if you know what I mean.

(You don’t? A country-style, or squat, toilet is a toilet bowl embedded in the ground, with no seat, but some porcelain footrests on each side. You drop your pants and - hope that you don’t dip the pants in the toilet - pray that your cheapo sandals have enough grip to keep you from slipping and landing in the bowl - wish that your knees had a few less miles on them

To a man, pissing in a hole is quite natural. My full experience tonight was much more difficult. Conversely, my female tour guide remarked that she prefers squatting over a country-style toilet to squatting over a Western toilet.)

Today was a transit day, where I slept in a van while we drove across some remarkable terrain. Northern Thailand has many of these abrupt hills, rocketing up from the valley floors, and covered in jungle scrub. The hills and mountains are amazing.

We also saw the Hilltribe museum, which left me with a mixed feeling. Do these folks want to be left alone? Do they want our development efforts? How can we coexist with people from a different time? They want to sell opium as a cash crop, so why are their existing crops insufficient? Are they looking to buy to the subsistence level? Or are they looking to alleviate the difficulty of their lifestyle? That ‘museum’ would have had no answers…I saw plenty of inaccuracies and inconsistencies, and others pointed out more. It’s a nice idea with a good heart. But lunch was better.

Stop thinking I’m such a bastard! Lunch was at the Condoms & Cabbages restaurant, where the proceeds benefit family planning in Northern Thailand. Their goal is to make condoms as easily available as cabbages.

Chiang Khong is a tiny village with a great view. The Mekong river winds into the distance in both directions, and our teak guest house is a gorgeous vista. I’ve only bothered with two panorama shots, and this was the second. The first, from the Wat at Chiang Mai, is a famous panorama that goes on forever. I couldn’t have done it justice, but I needed to capture the experience. Then I watched monks chanting.

This trip has been amazing so far. Thailand can’t just be seen in photographs: it must be experienced. So as I bumble my way through, I’m taking a bit of video with my digital camera. If we’re all lucky, there’s a decent movie in there.

I was going to introduce you to more of the passengers, but Marcus is sitting at the next computer over, so that’ll have to wait.

Until soon, Dan