During the Gibbon Experience, I talked to the rest of my group and learned that ten of us were going to Chiang Mai after the trek was over. Basically, enough people to fill our own van. A couple people had already booked their travel, and two others decided they were more comfortable also booking their travel on the Laos side. Myself and the others figured we had more bargaining power on the Thai side, dealing directly with the drivers.
The first wrench in my plans was discovering that the bank across the street from the Gibbon Experience closes every day at 3:30! Could you imagine any bank holding those sorts of hours in Canada? Anyway, another bank was open late (meaning it closed at 4:30), so I was in luck. I changed my remaining kip to Bat (the Thai currency), and was on my way. The 6 of us were able to negotiate a price of 150 Bat per person on the Thai side of the river, but we had to wait for them to fill the remaining 4 seats. It was a good decision, because we paid less than half what the people that booked on the Laos side paid.
I was in for a pleasant surprise, because the four additional passengers turned out to be Israeli! It gave me a chance to work on my (very) rusty hebrew. Unbeknowest to me, the next day (which was to begin at nightfall, since the Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar) was Tisha B'av. It's possibly the saddest day on the Jewish calendar. So many bad things happened on this day that quite some time ago it was declared to be a fasting day (although I don't observe this fast). Three of the four in the group were fasting, so we stopped at a gas station right before sundown for them to get some snacks.
Since you can't brush your teeth while fasting, they brushed their teeth right there in the parking lot of the gas station! The other people on the bus (and some of the local Thai's) gave them weird looks... I was really the only person that understood why they were doing such a seemingly random/weird thing.
The Israeli's already had accommodation in Chiang Mai, so that's where the van dropped us off. When I got there the first thing I noticed was that all the signs were in Hebrew (but only a couple had any English on them). Apparently the hotel is owned by an Israeli, and some of the local Thai staff have learned to speak Hebrew... the result is that it's very popular with Israeli's. I would say three quarters of the travelers in the lobby were from Israel. There were families, backpackers, couples - really the whole cross section.
The hotel and guesthouse were a little pricey for me, since I was by myself, so I ended up walking down the street and got my own room for less than half the asking price at the other place. I had my own bathroom with a hot shower, and it was clean, so I was happy with it. Nonetheless, seeing that hotel was a really cool experience. Steve would have loved it!
Really though, I am writing about this story because I want to talk about how friendly the Israeli's I have met in my travels have tended to be. Almost all of them ask "have you been to Israel?" When I tell them it has been five years since my last visit, they immediately encourage me to visit Israel on my next trip. This is the opposite of me... I usually tell other westerners there are a number of places they should visit before coming to Canada. I love Canada, but I think it's expensive for a backpacker, and culturally too similar to the UK/USA/Australia/NZ/etc.
Some of the Israeli's have even offered to show me around their home town on my next visit. These encounters have been a much treasured aspect of my trip.
Wow. I loved this post. You should have stayed at the Israeli hotel! That place sounds amazing. Glad you have met so many nice Israeli's on your travels. Also - it's neat to know that typical Israeli's, not just very religious Israelis, are also observing the Tisha B'Av fast.
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