Nothing So Familiar: Northern Thailand...on to the Mekong

We finally broke free of Chang Mai's holiday indulgences and headed in a northern direction on the main roads out of town. We probably were carrying about 5 kg extra weight (i.e. body habitus) from all the holiday ham and cookies and our sedentary week. The riding proved pleasant and after a long climb a few clicks from town we dropped into a beautiful valley with small towns and wonderful vistas of the encircling hills. We spent a few nights camping in various school yards and ate wonderful bagged curries picked up at the village street markets, a great discovery that we joyed and will surely miss once we leave Thailand. We were also excited to see the famed Wat Rong Khun, the all-white temple designed by one of Thailands most famed artists, We decided to head straight north toward the famed Golden Triangle and found a fascinating corner of SE Asia that seemed less frequented by western travelers and to be more of a local holiday spot. This ennui came in spades when we arrived at the small, sleepy Mekong river town of Chang Saen where we took a night at a guest house that was run by the sole westerner we saw in town and who was also mildly socially inept (maybe not putting our best foot forward with this guy). No bother as the room was clean, ridiculous cheap, and immediately across the street from beautiful outdoor eateries overlooking the river. Picturesque does it no justice. Chang Saen was ancoasis that we no expected and may have been one of the most pleasant evenings we have had in a few months. We collectively could not have been happier with our decision to come far to the north and this was only strengthened when we rode in to the Chang Kong area to meet our next Warmshower host. Tiansak and Nisakorn lived on some land abutting the Mekong where they had a beautifully simple open air home with a small separate cottage where the cyclists stayed. We were dumbfounded as this place was something that we would have be willing to pay good money in order to stay. Quiet, except for the Lao neighbors on th far side of the river (more about this later) we were intending to spend only one night before shoving off to cross into Lao but the beauty, solitude, hospitality and knowledge that this one in a million place would probably not come our way anytime soon we stayed an additional two nights and even "celebrated" the 2016 New Year by sharing a fantastic dinner with our hosts and then fell asleep promptly at 10pm. Rock Stars have nothing on the life lived by long distance cycle tourers!? Other than maybe one too many Beerlao and the fireworks set off at midnight we had one of the simplest and most pleasant New Years that I can remember. Thank you both so much and we hope you take us up on offer to come to Portland so we can show you the same gracious hospitality.