Long day turns to meeting great people

My plan was to get to Chiang Rai via the Golden Triangle.  Brian had helped me plan a route to hitchhike the night before.  I set off fairly early in the morning because I knew it was going to be a long day with a lot of distance to cover.  I also had a nagging feeling that it wasn't really hitchhiker friendly lucky country I was in.  But, I was wrong!


The people to pick me up were a lovely artist couple from Nan.  Fortunately they took me the entire length of a long and quite leg of the journey.


I quickly got a short lift to Thoeng (don't ask me how to pronounce the town's name!).  From there it was tough going.  I had walked a long way out of town on an intermittently busy road.  It was hot and I was hungry and thirsty when I came upon a pretty pink roadside grocery store.  Who can't stop and buy an ice-cream at a pink grocery store.


This was my lucky brake.  I'd set out moments before Muay walked out of the store and drove off in her car.  I tried my luck and she picked me up.  She took me a few kilometers down the road to her building supply store where she introduced me to her boyfriend, Teng, and his sister Fai.  We all hit it off famously from the moment we met.  They wouldn't let me keep hitching and insisted I take their offer to drive me the 60 km odd to Chiang Khong.  I felt a little uneasy because they would have to close the shop.  "No problem" they assured me because business was slow that day anyway.


That evening we enjoyed my best meal in Thailand thus far.  Muay ordered a variety of local fish caught fresh from from the Mekong River.


I did feel a bit sad and guilty see them off.  Thanks guys!