RED means STOP

My initial plans for my travel through Asia was ambitious. After Chiang Mai, I intended to take a boat trip to Lao Prabang in Laos and there after a bus ride to Vientiane. Then I would go back to Bangkok, go through a relatively questionable trip through Cambodia so that I could arrive in Saigon in Vietnam. This is because I heard that the two day train journey from Saigon to Hanoi along the coast of Vietnam is beautiful. The snag here is that Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has just issued a warning against visiting Bangkok and other nearby regions because of protesting red-shirt supporters of Thakshin.

Hmmm… I am not a photojournalist, and this civil unrest does not attract me. I am sure that I have friends who are flying into Bangkok to cover this unrest, and I wish them the best.

So a week into my trip, I have to make a major change. Instead of going back South after Vientiane, I will be cutting across east to Vietnam instead. I can still can part of the train ride to Hanoi from Vinh. But this means that I will have quite a few days to spread around. Just as well, my tummy is still running faster than I am in Chiang Mai. So I will be taking a bit more time here in Chiang Mai, in Lao Prabang and in Sarpa. I guess the two day trip from Saigon to Hanoi can wait for another trip, another blog.

The distance I have traveled so far is 2113 km. I sure it is more because the tool I use has the direct distance between cities, but I guess this is not too far off.