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Wednesday, March 08, 2006

GOLDEN TRIANGLE - Burma/Laos/Thailand

GOLDEN TRIANGLE - overnight trip from Chiang Mai, Thailand travelling by rental car. Leave Chiang Mai around 0645AM to beat the tourist buses for the 1/2 hour stop about an hour out at the roadside country market to boil an egg @ the natural hot springs. Very good bathrooms cost 15B.

Later, take a 15-min detour into the hills to the Royal Mae Fah Luang Gardens (80B). Walk around for a while and take many pics - then back out to eat at the restaurant (next to the cafeteria). It has its own bathrooms - can eat local delicacies like black mushrooms n oyster sauce, bamboo shoots w/fermented pork, northern Chiang Mai sausage. The nicer restaurant is on the right - not the larger, more noisier cafeteria in the same building.

It's then 8-min back down the hill to the main road and onward another couple hours to Chiang Rai town to stop at the Big C for a bathroom/coffee break. It'll take a while longer to get to the border at Mae Sai (Thailand)/Tachilek (Burma).

The next day, head out in the car for a leisurely drive thru the windy mountain roads following the border east toward the Golden Triangle of Thailand, Burma, Laos.

Soon you'll get to the Golden Triangle area and stop off at a new monument with elephants and Buddhas for lunch and picture taking. After seeing signs for the Golden Triangle - look for the big sign on the right for the Hall of Opium Museum - a new, modern and well regarded exhibit for a first-hand look at the drug use in the Golden Triangle. Don't be surprised!! The cost is B200 for at least a 1-hour tour. Drop off in front then your driver goes around back and parks in the parking lot on the left. They're supposed to have a shuttle service to bring the driver back round to the front. You pay and wait for a guide to take a group. It's huge - two stories and includes many mini-movies with great Smithsonian or Holocaust Museum-like exhibits. Very worthwhile. http://www.tatnews.org/new_products/detail.asp?id=1620

Follow the river thru Chiang Saen town (75km (47mi) northeast of Chiang Rai), on the bank of the Mekong River, and then follow the signs to the right to Mae Sai - going thru their very short downtown. On the left, stop off at the meet 0645 at your coffee shop. We'll stop about an hour out at the roadside country market/use 5B bathroom/boil an egg @ the natural hot springs. Then take a 15-min detour into the hills to the Royal Mae Fah Luang Gardens (80B). Walk around for a while and take many pics - then back out to eat at the restaurant (next to the cafeteria). It has its own bathrooms - can eat local delicacies like black mushrooms n oyster sauce, bamboo shoots w/fermented pork, northern Chiang Mai sausage.

http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/41d2d/160f62/ You'll see it after passing a bit of downtown and right before you enter a park.

AREA MAP w/distances: http://www.asia-discovery.com/chiangrai-hotels/baan-ton-nam/map.htm
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/Thailand/Northern_Thailand/Chiang_Saen-1445730/Things_To_Do-Chiang_Saen-BR-1.html

Good view at Wat Phra That Phu Khas 1,200 years old, 45 minutes from M.S. Chiang Saen Museum (National Museum Branch) (30B)
702 Phahonyothin Road, Chiang Saen District
Phone: (053) 777-102, (053) 777-102 Ext. 28
Located near Chedi Luang temple. On the West of city.
http://www.thailandmuseum.com/thaimuseum_eng/chiangsaen/main.htm

The reason to visit C.S. is to see the local branch of the national museum (OPEN WED-SUN 0830-1630) (closed Mon/Tues/and national holidays) 14th-century city kingdom. The town is literally littered with temples (36 in total), fortresses, moats, Buddha images, remnants of city walls and chedi that all bear witness to its’ intriguing past. In fact some of the monuments are actually older than the Chiang Saen era, providing evidence to an even later kingdom known to locals as ‘Yonok’. Many of the artifacts (sculptures, Lanna-style Buddha images and pottery) unearthed in Chiang Saen have been moved to the Chiang Saen branch of the National Museum to provide a fascinating insight into the area’s history and pre-history.

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