Dear All,

I really have to tell you about my Groundhog Day. And about the Longneck
Women, and about my marvelous flight out of Mae Hong Song.

But first the boring stuff: today I saw temples. Old temples, big temples,
just a lot of temples. Very nice, very beautiful, but without a guide and
on your own, not really my thing. I could not have left Chang Mai without
doing it, so i did.

But let me tell you about yesterday, my second attempt of seeing the
Longneck women, and leaving Mae Hong Son. Just to be short, it was amazing. I
see myself typing 'seeing' the Longneck women, but we actually met them. We
were with a group of 5 people and went in a longtail boat through the jungle
for 20 minutes, meanwhile passing several elephants that were having a bath.
Everything seemed quit normal, actually.

So we arrive in this small one-street-village. At the end of the road is a
little school, with a satelite dish, of course, for watching television.
And on our way back, we sit down with a family on the porch and start
chatting. We spent at least an hour chatting. The two english boys who were
in our company even played soccer with the kids. And guess what: the girls,
wearing their full armor were for sure the most fanatic. Watch out for the
pictures!

We even got to the point where we were invited to stay the night. I feel so
sorry that I had a plain to catch, and no sleepingbag or whatsoever with me.

The strangest thing was that our visit was in no way as I had expected. I
was so afraid of going to a sort of zoo or circus, where you can take a look
at the freaks, and take pictures. But we were so welcome, and the life in
the village seemed to be going on as it would have without us. Just another
quite village.

And now I am in a city. And this city is about buying (and temples). Really
nice stuff, for very good prices. So I am spending, and stuffing my backpack
with goodies, and it is just completely different. That's what a lot of
travelling to third and second world countries is about, i guess.

If you want to see where I am (I haven't tried these myself) then you can
take a look at http://www.chiangmai-online.com and http://www.chiangmainews.com/ As you can see, the chinese newyear is coming soon, so I might stay a couple of days to experience that.

See (some of you) next week,

regards,

reinier