From Chiang Mai to the Golden Triangle on 9/27/13. (with some minor revisions)

Our third and last tour with Travel Hub was an all day trip to the Golden Triangle where the far north of Thaila, Burma and Laos all meet to form a triangle.  We had a marvelous guide who said his name was Banana with us for the 12 hour trip.  He provided almost constant commentary the entire day which I loved!  Steven and I later felt it was easily one of the top tours we had taken all trip but I’m getting ahead of myself though so back to the trip.

·  We were picked up at 7 and then the driver picked up the other 8 passengers from different hotels and guesthouses before we finally began our journey up to Northern Thailand; the others were 2 from China, 3 from Taipei, 2 from Oman and 1 Brit,  David.

·  Banana said that the area around CM produces most of the food for the whole country; there is “slower speech” in CM than in southern parts of Thailand, i.e. the people of CM have a less frenetic way of life than in Bangkok so the words in CM are spoken more slowly, he said.

·   Some figures for you according to Banana:  95% of Thailand’s population is Buddhist and the remaining 5% are Muslim; 30% of the population is half Chinese; the Chinatown in CM is open 24 hours a day.

·  He said (so don’t quote me on this b/c I have not taken the time to fact check all the facts and figures in this blog/travelogue/memoir) that the population of CM alone is 200,000 and 2 million in CM province compared to 10 million in the city of Bangkok and 65 million in the entire country.

·  CM’s Ping River, which we saw many times, goes to Bangkok 750 kms away.

·  As decreed by the king, there is no more opium growing allowed in Thailand; the opium fields have been converted to coffee growing.  

·  Banana talked about the many colors of poppy flowers which grow, but not officially in Thailand of course, that grow to 1 ½ meters tall in January and February and that 1 kilo of opium comes from 3,000 flowers which equals 4 million thb.  

·  He mentioned that once in Doi Pui he had smoked opium and “Within 15 minutes I had seen my Buddha but 30 minutes later, I had seen my Hell.”  He had some dried opium pods that were passed around the bus for everyone to look at; they sounded to me like mariachis when you shook them.

·  There are as you might imagine checkpoints galore from the border back to CM where drivers are routinely stopped for urinalysis checks; we just zipped through though every time.  Banana joked that the police have a VIP room at the border if you attempt to take opium across: they’ll provide free and board for you, i.e. a jail cell!

·  A non sequitur I know but next in my day’s notes: Thailand’s king is now 85 and the people say he has walked too much talking to his people so he has knee problems; apparently the king is or was seen often wandering the area outside his palace in CM (the one we visited with Ingrid and Tania) talking to the locals.

·  Thai people eat very little candy and there is little sugar used in the cooking in the north compared to the south but salt and vinegar is used far more in CM than the south.

·  44 letters in the Thai alphabet including 20 vowels; for instance, the Thai word “ma” has 5 different meanings depending on how it is pronounced and the tone used; it can mean either beautiful or you look very bad, or noodles or mother – not sure I’d want to touch that one with a ten foot pole for fear of having my noggin hit by someone taking offense with what I’d said!

·  The word Bangkok is actually the short form of the official name of the city which is easily 10 times longer than the longest “word” I’ve ever heard: supercalifragilisticexpealidocius or HOWEVER that is correctly spelled for all you spelling bee whizzes!

·  50 years ago there had been many local kings throughout the country  but that changed to only having one king; the others were “moved” (I think that means to us they were deported!) to other countries.

·  Our first stop, after seeing a small geyser in the rain on the way north, was at Chiang Rai, pronounced Lai by our guide, 180kms north of CM and 60kms to the Thai/Burmese border; we saw the mammoth White Temple built just 15 years by a private businessman and still a work in progress.  I’ll be sure to include photos of it below.

·  After a buffet lunch of rice, a variety of vegetable dishes, etc included in the tour price, we stopped at a White Karen Hill Tribe Village; not sure if you’re aware of the vast number of “hill tribes” there are in northern Thailand?  One of them are the Karens and there are about 5 different Karen tribes, the most famous being the Long Necked Karen because the women start from an early age to put brass rings around their necks until they’re wearing ultimately about 25 or so (my guess only).  You have to google Long Neck Karen to see photos of them.  Thought of you, Karen, obviously while there!

·  More interesting facts – at least to me: Mother’s Day in Thailand is the queen’s birthday and Father’s Day of course is the king’s birthday; those dates change whenever there is a new queen or king.  There’s also a Buddha Day once a month and a Student Day in January.

·  Banana was a thoroughly entertaining guide the entire day telling us very amusing anecdotes; the day tour could have been very dry and dull but it was anything but with Banana; he kept saying to us “We are family.”  It may sound very hokey to you in my relating but it wasn’t then.  He has a wife, 10 year old son and 7 year old daughter; he earns 300thb a day and, of that, keeps 100thb for himself (supposedly with his wife being unaware of this), gives the rest to his wife, who in turn gives him back 50thb for his next day’s spending money!

·  The Golden Triangle is so named b/c men would travel across the Mae Kong (we know it as the Mekong) River by boat with gold to pay for the opium; if/when their boats would capsize, people would then pan for gold in the dry season.

·  We took a 1 hour boat trip on the Mekong and then stopped at a small Lao village directly across the river; we know it as Laos but the Thais all say Lao; no visas were required b/c it’s a Lao island and not part of the mainland; stopped for 45 minutes to have a look around, take pictures of the Lao signs, etc; the drivers there drive on the right side of the road.  That kept changing for us all trip as I’ve mentioned.  Too bad we didn’t think of bringing our passports with us so we could have them stamped with a Lao entry stamp as that would have been neat.

·  It was fascinating to see from the boat Burma on our left to the north just a bit, and then Lao of course on our right and to the east, and know that China was just 265kms away up river; we knew which boats were Chinese thanks to Banana’s pointing them out for us; the Chinese boats take 3 days to transport water buffalo, cows and pigs up the river to Yunan province (whose capital is Kunming, remember?) and then bring back apples, chestnuts, rice and snake whiskey (I kid you not as we saw it for sale in the Lao market!).  I wonder if this 3 day trek up the Mae Kong is the origin of the phrase “taking the slow boat to China?”  Sure makes sense or at least a good tale.

·  Next stop was the northernmost part of Thailand at the border town of Mae Sa, just steps away from Burma/Myanmar.  Banana “gave us” all of 30 minutes to wander around this large town – everyone we talked to on the bus wished we had had more time to explore the streets and alleyways; we got back to the van on time only for Banana to say “you can have 10 more minutes” - all well and good but meanwhile we’d wasted all that time rushing back to the van!  That happened a second time too – arghh!

·   Banana said that Thai Hmong men shave their head  and eyebrows but the Burmese Hmong only shave their heads.

·  We spent most of the day with David, a 30 year old about from Portsmouth, England who was on a 3 month trip in SE Asia; he’d resigned his job teaching and training other teachers in outdoor education; he was very experienced in martial arts, having started judo at age 4 and planning to attend a Muay Thai boxing camp for 3 weeks but would not spar, he said.  Not quite sure what that meant – for once I didn’t ask!

·  Our last stop of the day was at an Akha hill tribe village; the Akhas were originally from China 200 years ago but moved to northern Thailand b/c there was not enough food for them in China; it took 2-3 years to move the whole village from China to this spot in Thailand, Banana said.

We didn't get back to our guesthouse in Chiang Mai til close to 9 so it was one long but terrific day.  Just a "few" photos for you now!  If you believe that, I have swampland for you in Florida!

The smallest hot spring we've ever seen!

Dried opium pods held by Steven.

Banana, our guide for the day.

All shots of the White Temple!!  I took at least 20 more too b/c it was so amazing and different from all others we've seen.

We had to take off our shoes and borrow these sandals before entering the bathroom; this was the regular old bathroom unlike the one below, done all in gold.  Just a tad gaudy, methinks.

One of the weirdest signs or markers we've ever seen.

Burma's mountains in the background.

This was written on all the benches we saw at Chiang Saen at the Golden Triangle!

A Lao casino across the Mekong from where we were in Thailand  - perfect for you and Neill to go to, Mindy!

Burma behind us and China up the river a tad.

Hope you can see the writing on the sign well enough to read it.

One of the Chinese boats coming from China on the Mekong.

On the Thai side still.

We almost missed seeing this golden Buddha!

Our boat for our ride on the Mekong.

David from England, whom we palled around with for the day.

Thank goodness we didn't capsize as Steven's life jacket didn't fasten.

Banana again

Burma - I KNOW I should be politically correct and refer to it as Myanmar but that takes too much time!

A Lao distance sign above and license below.

In Laos, albeit for only a few minutes but I know you won't tell!

Steven asking me which" Louis Vuitton" or "Prada purse I might like in the Lao market!!

Luckily we were all safe and sound on the boat ride so no need for the life jackets.

Photos at Mae Sai

Have you ever seen so many pretzels in your life?

At the Thai/ Burmese border checkpoint at Mae Sai.

Mae Sai, the northernmost Thai town, where it meets Burma.

Snack time at the border - I think I have seen these same Choco-Pies in EVERY "corner" store in Thailand and Cambodia.  Wonder what they're like?

Shopping in Mae Sai - but not much time, mind you!

The Akha village we stopped at on the long drive back to CM.

More photos of the same village.