A very brisk 11°C this morning, both outside and inside my wooden bungalow I think. I slept warm enough with the duvet folded in half but getting out of bed was definitely unpleasant.

An early 6am start as we’ve once again a very long travel day ahead. The sky was just lightening as we boarded the Jungle Queen yet a heavy mist continued to shroud the hilltops for the next couple of hours. The hotel had provided a bagged breakfast so we huddled under our blankets with warm coffee and our victuals as we got under way.

Early lunch at 10:45am, which coincided with the sun burning off the mist and frigid temperatures so afterward the meal everyone migrated to the front deck to shed layers and bask in the warmth.

We docked at 12:45, then ensued an unpleasant 3.5h drive on a potholed “National Road”. The Chinese border is only a few hours away so Chinese trucks laden with goods 2x heavier than the permitted weight trundle up & down this road, tearing it up. We were lucky with our time, in the rain it could take 5 hours!

Our destination was Nong Khiaw. I’m afraid I know nothing about the town other than it appears to be a popular backpackers destination. We dropped our bags in our rooms and had 40 minutes to refresh ourselves before tackling the Sunset Hill hike located right behind the hotel. The guide said 30-40 minutes for ~400m as it’s pretty much a stair stepper carved out of the red dirt but SoHigh and I knocked it out in 15 & 16 minutes. Of course we missed the sunset (group dynamics at play) but the view was great and it felt good to move after sitting for a couple of days.

Tomorrow it’s waterfalls, caves, and local ceremonies.