The Golden Triangle
To get to the Golden Triangle from Chang Mai requires a hard, 5-hour bus ride which passes through Chaing Rai and heads north up the "Asian Highway" to the Mekong River. This ancient temple is one attraction as we near Chaing Saen.
Chaing Saen riverfront road along the Mekong. From here we travel by tuk tuk. Only eight Kilometers to go.
Monument at edge of the Mekong River at center of Chaing Saen.
Our tuk tuk ride to the Golden Triangle takes about 20 minutes.
This is our excellent hotel for three nights at the Golden Triangle.
Our room looks straight at the golden triangle. We are in Thailand. Land to the left is Myanmar, and to the right is Laos.
The Golden Triangle ia actually a pretty large village with lots of interesting sights for tourists and locals.
Shopping.
Busy bars.
Stuff.
Food and clothing.
Lots of locals out for a picinic.
It's official...
Heading out for a look at Laos.
Lao kids and water.
We stop at a simple tourist site for a Lao beer and some teashirts.
Morning look on the way to breakfast. Today we will make a day trip to Mae Sai and a visit to Myanmar.
Mae Sai
We are about 30 kilometers west of the Golden Triangle, and at the border of Mianmar.
This bridge crosses over to Myanmar and the border checkpoint. The name of the Myanmar city past the checkpoint is Tachileik.
Tachileik is a bustiling city of commerce. Heavy tourist traffic from Thailand looking for the many unique bargains here.
The best way to get around is by pedicab.
It is also lots of fun.
At last we find the source of the beautiful gold covered stupa offering containers.
Some of these are very large.
Many small factories where jade and other stone figures are made.
Crossing back into Thailand, we stop for some refreshment at a riverside bar.
Back in Mae Sai there are many shops offering really neat puppets, wall art and lacquerware.
That giant wall covering that the man is taking off the wall now decorates the wall of our garage.
Faye looks over the supply of rubies offered by many street merchants.
Endless supply of cool stuff.
Last chance for more stuff before we head back to our hotel in the Golden Triangle. Tomorrow we head west for some river running adventures.
Back to Playing around northern Thailand