Three Countries in One Day

During my 4D3N stay in Chiangmai, I took a day off the city and headed up north on a full day tour to visit the infamous Golden Triangle - where three countries meet (Thailand, Myanmar and Laos). The area got its name due to its massive opium-producing business back in the 1950s. Tradings were carried out around this area using goldbars. A small piece of land arising on the Mekong River where the three countries meet is in the shape of a triangle. Hence, the name Golden Triangle. Opium is no longer grown here but instead, casinos are sprouting up.

My day started at 7.45am when I got picked up by the driver at the guesthouse. Molly was my tour guide. She is a local university graduate who speaks wonderful English and knowledgable. Being a curious little traveller myself, I am greatly satisfied by the information she had provided to all my questions.

The drive up north was very scenic along the mountain route and valleys with picturesque scenes of the local villages and rice fields with mountain backdrops.

After 1.5 hours' drive, we arrived at a hotspring. Northern Thailand has a lot of hotsprings as such because it used to have a number of active volcanoes. What we saw was a small fountain with strong gushes of hot water that steamed up the surrounding. The water is natural hotspring water but the fountain pumping is man-made. There were women selling quail eggs to be boiled in the hot water. A small pool is made with water of lower temperature for tourists to soak their feet.

Hotspring fountain

Continued on with another hour's drive, we arrived at the magnificent Wat Rong Khun or White Temple. It is perhaps the only one in the world that is painted in all white. The entire building is decorated with fragments of reflective glass that gives it a sparkly shine under the sun.

Wat Rong Khun

The reflective glasses on the building.

To walk into the main building, you would have to pass through "hell" where sculptures of hands reaching out in agony in hope of rescue. Many people would stop before crossing the bridge through "hell". Some stop to take pictures, some to ponder, some in fear to cross over because right after this bridge, you would be confronted by two fierce-looking guardians who guard the bridge to "heaven". They look as if pointing at you and screaming, "You! Yes, I'm talking to you! I know what you did last summer!" As for me, since I hold different religious belief and assurance of where I'll be heading after death, I have no fear of the sculptures.

"Hell"

The intricacy of the work is truly amazing.

Then we continued the drive further up north, passing by the downtown of Chiangrai. It is rather small with rows of shops. Nothing exciting. We finally reached Chiang Sean after an hour. Chiang Sean is the former capital of the Northern Kingdom. From here, we took a boat trip on Mekong River for an experience of three-countries-in-one-day.

Thai side of the river.



The boat is nothing fancy. A guide was trying to introduce the place but the boat was way too loud that I couldn't hear a thing!

Laos side of the river.

We were then dropped off at a village on the Laos side called Don Xao. It is obviously made for tourists like me as the so-called village is full of souvenir shops and restaurants for you to spend money in Thai Baht. There were kids begging for money too. A prominent souvenir strongly promoted by the guides is the snake whisky. Snakes of different kinds and sizes are soaked in the whisky and bottled for sale. It is supposed to be good for men.

The cool part about the Laos side is that you can get a souvenir stamp on your passport for free!

Lunch at a nearby restaurant overlooking the Mekong River.

After lunch, we proceeded to the northern most of Thailand, bordering with Myanmar. We didn't cross the border because of the heavy tax. Just snapped a few pictures along the small river that separated the two countries.

The irony of these places is that despite the countries being poor, they will never be short of luxurious casinos at the border towns. Myanmar and Laos both have beautifully constructed casinos along the Mekong River. Gambling is illegal in Thailand, hence casino is not allowed. The same is true with the border town of Poipet in Cambodia where the filthy street is full of beggars outside the Las Vegas-like casino. These countries are hoping to earn foreign currencies by allowing the existence of these casinos but it doesn't guarantee that the locals are not wasting their lives away here as well.

Thai border town, Maesai, that sells mainly goods from China.

The journey then took us to the Akha village. The Akha originally came from the hilltribe in China. They have beautiful traditional costumes with elaborate headpiece. This village I visited is set at the foothill of a gorgeous mountain with fresh air. Besides farming, these villagers survived on income from the tourists who pay to visit their homes and souvenir purchase. The ladies can be quite persistent. "Halo, come, come, looking, looking!"

It's been a long day of driving and sightseeing. The drive back to Chiangmai took almost 4 hours and we didn't get back until 9pm.