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The Golden Triangle
Entry 9 of 33 | show all | print this entry |
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Took a bus north from Chiang Mai on Sunday the 26th to Tha Ton. Not so much a destination in itself, but a transfer point to a new mode of transport. Longtail boats make a three hour trip down the Kok River from here to Chiang Rai. I arrived in Tha Ton just after sunset and found a room in a decent but far from exciting guesthouse near the boat landing. It's a very small town with not much going on besides a morning hill tribe market. The boat didn't depart until about noon on the following day, so I took the morning hours to explore Tha Ton on foot a bit.
Wat Tha Ton occupies a scenic spot right on the Kok River, and contains a veritable mini-theme park of whimsical Buddhist statues, some of which are hidden in man-made caves on the hillside. It's a strange little place, but was fun to wander around. I made my way further up the hill to the west past a series of more monumental statues. Before I made it all the way to the wat on top of the hill, I had to turn around and head back down to catch my boat.
The longtail boat held about ten passengers and actually had a long nose and an outboard motor where the tail would be. It was a great ride, just slow and calm enough to enjoy the scenery, but quick enough that I wasn't ever wondering when I'd get off. We passed dozens of hill tribe villages and also made a stop at an elephant camp. The camp also contained some huge pythons in cages, and of course we tourists had the option of posing for pictures with them wrapped around us, which everyone decided was a bad idea. Then they had one gibbon on a leash that was swinging around for our entertainment. Poor guy might appreciate a relocation to the gibbon sanctuary near Mae Sot.
I met a British couple (Stuart and Kathy, both teachers) while on the boat and we all ended up heading to the same guesthouse in Chiang Rai (Chat House), which was a big improvement from the one in Tha Ton. They were about 3.5 months into a 10 month 'round-the-world trip, having been through Africa and India, and heading to South America after Southeast Asia. We visited the wats in town togther that afternoon including Doi Tong, which has a sort of Buddhist stonehenge thing from the 13th century. Went out to dinner with them that night as well, and had a sort of seafood soufle served in a coconut shell.
The next day I hopped on a bus further up to Chiang Saen, in what is called the Golden Triangle. The name refers to a region of Thailand, Burma, and Laos where the opium trade once flourished (still does in Laos and Burma to some extent). The area is more of interest for this formerly seedy side than anything else, but Chiang Saen has avoided becoming much of a tourist trap. That's because all the tourists head to Sop Ruak, which is the Thai town right at the point where Burma, Loas and Thailand meet. It's also where the Ruak River flows into the Mekong, which forms the border between Thailand and Laos for a while. Unable to resist, I rented a bike from my guesthouse and made the 8km ride north along the Mekong to Sop Ruak to see for myself. I visited the Opium Museum to bone up on my opium history and saw many a pipe, along with a helpful flow chart explaining how to make morphene and heroin from raw opium. Of course, I also saw the view of the two rivers coming together with Burma and Laos stretching off north and east respectively. Worth the trip, but just barely.
Spent the late afternoon exploring, yes, more wats (ruins this time) back in Chiang Saen. Saw one that had a large Bodhi Tree in front with scores of bamboo supports under its limbs. This is done once a year and of course brings good fortune to the person who places the support. Also climbed the 544 steps (according to a Thai man I passed on the way up) up to Wat Pra That Chom Kitti. It didn't disappoint as there were several cats roaming around, and a beautiful view right at sunset as well. That night, I ate at a restaurant on the Mekong that had clearly seen few tourists as it took them several minutes to find their only English language menu, and my curry with shrimp was the spiciest thing I've eaten in Thailand. I think I lost as much fluid to sweat as I consumed, but I managed to finish it.
Next up is a short bus ride down to Chiang Kong, where I'll cross the border to Laos and take a two-day boat trip to Luang Prubang.
Latest Comments (1)
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'Bowel' Troubles (reply)
Nov 28, 2006 10:21 EST by bboggess
Big A:
Glad to hear the 'bowel' issues are doing better. I hear opium does wonders for that sort of thing.
The pictures are awesome. Wish I was there!! With as much fun as it sounds like, are you ever coming back??
-Boggess
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