20th January 2014

Yesterday we went on an organised tour to Chaing Rai province and the Golden Triangle. It turned out to be a tiring and eventful day which included a 30 minute wait at a pick up for a couple that didn't show, a 180 mile each way white knuckle ride in a minibus which was also damaged at one of our stops (while we were still in it) by a runaway truck with brake failure!  Our first stop was at the White Palace seen here which is a fairly recently constructed temple and cultural centre, very busy but not to be missed. We then drove to the Golden Triangle (so called because of it's previous focus with the drug trade) where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar (Burma that was) and Laos converge. After lunch it was off for our trip on a Mekong River boat which included a 30 minute stop in Laos (no passport required) to buy wares at a riverside market including tasters of local whiskey fermented with cobras, snakes etc.  Then it was back across the river to Thailand for viewpoint and other picture stops before heading back on our long trip to Chaing Mai. This was broken briefly by calling in to see the long neck Karen Tribe, driven out of Burma apparently but now making a living in Thailand as a tourist attraction. Arriving back in Chaing Mai at 9.15pm we stumbled into a pub near our hotel for 'refreshment' leaving at 1.00 am!