Our day tour to Chiang Mai & Golden Triangle

Thursday - 19 June 08

Sawasdee Ka everyone! I know this blog is extremely late but we have had such a long day all we could think about was sleeping.

We were up at 5.30am this morning to get ready for our big day on our tour and visa run. The bus picked us up from the hotel at 7am and it all began from there. As is usual with tours the bus has to do the rounds of the other hotels to pick up other people that are also booked on the tour, so by the time we actually left Chiang Mai it was around 8am.

We headed up the motorway towards the mountains and Chiang Rai, we had our tour guide, Thai boy named Nong and the driver Ton, both were really nice people and Nong spoke english very well and gave an excellent commentary of each place we visited.

First stop was the geyser just outside of Chiang Rai. The water spurting from the geyser is around 90 degrees and quite acidic. The area is quite touristy, of course with lots of market stalls and jewellery shops because they are big on gold here. You could actually purchase a small cane basket with an egg in it and stick it in the geyser to boil, not my kind of food, so we passed on that.

Second stop was the ancient temple/city where we received a history lesson on Buddhism, the temple and Chiang Rai which is really quite fanscinating and interesting. Chiang Rai was built in 1291 and is the oldest city in the north. It was built by a king who ruled in those times and went on to build Chiang Mai in 1296. 'Rai' meaning old and 'Mai' meaning new. So we have Chiang Rai, old city and Chiang Mai, new city.

Third Stop. We then drove on to the 'Golden Triangle'. This is where the 3 countries of, Thailand, Burma (Myanmar) and Laos meet but separated by the Mekong river. It is called the 'Golden Triangle' because during the time that Opium was traded by these three countries with China it was where the Opium crossed borders and money or gold changed hands for payment and it was transported to China which was the biggest importer of Opium. It was a very hot day and at the Golden Triangle, we could take a longtail boatride across the river to Laos and then up to the point of the Golden Triangle. Rick and I opted not to do the boatride so while the others did we walked into the village and stopped at a cafe and had a latte and looked through the market stalls and took shitloads of photos of the River, the Triangle and the big Gold Buddha. By the time we did that the others were back from their boat ride and we continued on.

Our fourth stop was for lunch, which was included in the price of the tour. It was a buffet lunch of all different foods from Thai, Burma, Salads, Fruit, Desserts and it was all you could eat. The food was delicious and I love the Pineapple here in Thailand as it is so juicy and the sweetest pineapple I have ever had. We were at the restaurant for about an hour and then headed off from there.

Next stop was, Mae Sai which is the border town on Thailand side and where we got the experience of doing our visa run for our extra 30 days. To call it an eye opener is an understatement. There is a very short bridge from Mae Sai, Thailand over a small creek or canal to Myanmar (Burma). At the entrance of the bridge on the Thai side is the customs and immigration, across the bridge on the Burma (Myanmar) side is the Burma customs and immigration. Rick and I were the only ones on the tour who needed to do the visa run (walk). The others got to hang out at the markets and shops of Mae Sai which is a nightmare and crowded with people from both Thailand and Burma. According to our tour guide Nong not much of the stuff you buy in the markets and shops are riggy didge so advised against any purchase. So while we left the others to shop our guide Nong and Rick and I headed to the Thai immigration at the start of the bridge. There we handed our passports in to the officer and watched while he did his stuff and stamped 'exit' on the visa part of our passport cancelling what was left of our current 60 day visa which expired on 24 June 08. Nong then escorted us across the bridge and into the Burma side of the bridge and into a small dark office with 3 military officers (immigration) sitting at a desk. We handed them our passports and the 1000 baht bribe, oops! I mean payment and in 5 minutes the paperwork was done and we were stamped to enter Burma. We thanked them profusely and they wanted us to have a look at their country, Nong told them we had to get back to Thailand and finish our tour. We then walked back across the bridge to Thai immigration, filled out our entry card, handed our passports in, got our new 30 day visa stamp, which cost nothing, and were finished. We now have another 30 days in Thailand to finish our trip. It took less than an hour. I have to say the military junta at the Burma immigration were quite friendly (something to do with the 1000 baht we paid) they spoke english well and were happy to have a joke and laugh with us.

Our last and final stop was the Karen Longneck Hilltribe which is up in the mountains somewhere betweean Mae Sai and Chiang Rai. We arrived there about 4pm and spent an hour there. It was a little daunting at first because you pay to see these people and its like paying to go to a freak show. They were very nice and friendly people and learning about them and the way they live and their culture and customs was awsome. Because they are refugees from Burma and can't ever get Thai citizenship they have no income other than from people paying to see them and the tribe and how they live and what they can earn from selling the things that the women weave and other things they make. If you scroll down I have put 2 extra posts on this blog with photos and the photos of the Karen Longneck and Big Ear Hilltribes with a quick explanantion on the traditions of the tribe.

We were there about an hour as we had to trek about a 100 metres to the actual Hilltribe village, it wasn't far but it was up hill and down dale and it was the end of a hot long day and we were all buggered. It was absolutely beautiful up in the mountains and its hard to believe that people still live the tribal way of life in bamboo and grass huts with no modern facilities whatsoever. The kids were gorgeous looking and very friendly. It really was well worth the stop.

Our touristy bit over we all piled in the bus and headed off back to Chiang Mai which was about a 3 - 4 hour journey as there was a lot of windy mountain roads and roadworks to get through. Mr Ton, our driver must have been exhausted driving all that time. Nong put a movie on the DVD screen for us to watch for the drive home, 'Alvin and the Chipmonks' it was a funny movie, I think Rick & I were the only ones that watched it as everyone else seemed to go to sleep. It was a long drive back and by the time we got to Chiang Mai it was 9pm. We jumped out of the bus at maccas grabbed something quick to eat, walked back to the hotel, had showers and jumped into bed, we were that worn out. I think it took me about 5 minutes to go to sleep,

An excellent tour, long one but well worth it. We got our new visa. Saw some awsome places and now our time in Chiang Mai is almost over. Hope everyone still reading this enjoys the photos. Until tomorrows blog. Kob un Chai (Thank You)!