The Loi Krathong festival and onwards to Laos

The Loi Krathong festival is a big celebration of floaty floats and flying lanterns. We were in Pai, but heard that the finest city for celebrating was back in Chiang Mai so decided, with two of our Tacomepai farmstay compadres, to make sure we were there. Easier decided than done, as all the guesthouses were long since booked by forward thinkers, but after over 20 phone calls we bagged a couple of rooms at "Jo's House", and so from Pai to Chiang Mai we embarked.

First we hitchhiked from the farm to Pai town. That was a new and surprisingly easy experience. Unlike in England, you wave your arm up and down (preferably while smiling) rather than our familiar thumbs up. Most people have pick up trucks, so us four bag-laden farangs fitted easily in the back. Then, rather than getting a deathspeed minibus we were convinced into waiting for the local bus by our German friend Markus. "It'll be an experience" he said. "Adventure" he said. Well, once aboard we had to stand for around 5 hours in the 4 square inches of aisle not taken by bags and legs while our heads bounced off of the "safety bars" throughout the mountain pass. Finally the bus, which had been groaning up the hills, broke down for a third and final time around 36km from Chiang Mai.

We hailed a taxi which, due to the language barrier, took us 3km off our destination - so as the celebrations were getting under way we struggled with directions from locals and a confused google maps until, with a breath of palpable relief, we found "Jo's House"... which had already rented our rooms out.

Overcoming our fury, we grappled with the probability of a night on a park bench, but decided to get a cornetto and enjoy what we could of the festival. Even weighed down with bags we had a great time and found our way towards the river where there was a very cheesy procession of youths looking awkward in loin cloths and pointy hats. The bridge over the river, and just about everywhere else, was a take off point for thousands of Chinese lanterns ("khom-loi" in Thai) - which filled the sky (and the odd tree) with light. Some were sneakily modified with high powered fireworks for a bit more of a thrill. Under the bridge, hundreds of "krathong", or "floaty things with candles", were released onto the river. Our camera was entirely incapable of capturing any of this.

Eventually we found a hotel room on the outskirts of town which all 4 of us piled into. The festivities on the next day were like a much bigger, less stressful version of the last.

As the festival wound down, so had our visas. We got a minibus to the border which stopped for curry and a white temple photo opportunity at Chiang Rai.

On the border of Thailand, with just the Mekhong river separating it from Laos is the town of Chiang Khong. There's not much there except a bike museum run by a Liverpudlian cycling enthusiast and some pool tables, so the next day we checked out of the country, paid 80 pence to cross the river and paid $35 for a month's worth of Laos visa. Most backpackers here were squeezing onto the slow boat headed to the town of Luang Prabang, but we were looking for an experience and an adventure. So we waited for the local bus.

- Jon