Golden Triangle Adventures

Riding a longtail boat on the Mekong
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Today we are off to the Golden Triangle on a day trip taking in the Mekong River, Chiang Saen and Mai Sae. We were picked up by our guide and driver at 8:30 and off to Chiang Saen, an ancient walled city dating to the 12th Century with remnants of the walls and ruined temples. Whilst visiting one of the temples we were accosted by a group of local children wishing to practice their English, with much merriment and some shyness we managed to communicate with them. After we had finished our guide remarked that the kids had said to her that it was nothing like what they did in the classroom.

Off to the the Mekong, Carol was most excited to get our first look at the river and that we would be having a ride on it as well. Our ride was on one of the long tail speed boats, a fearsome beast! About 1m wide, 6m long, no more than 0.4m draft and with a four cylinder motor in the stern capable of about 30km/hr. It was some ride.

Our ride was on one of the long tail speed boats, a fearsome beast!

First it was up to the confluence of the Mai Sae River and Mekong where you can see the red mud of the Mai Sae and the brown mud of the Mekong meet. Both rivers are flowing strongly and the currents are very strong.This is where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos all meet. From here we travel across the Mekong and then down the river to an island which is part of Laos, in fact you can enter Laos without any passport or customs formalities here. The island village is setup to sell to tourists, there is nothing of interest to see. Back to Thailand and a visit to the Opium Museum the off to Mai Sae and the Myanmar border where we have lunch at a tourist spot. We chose to eat the local food much to the surprise of the staff who quickly become very friendly and tell us the soup is a local delicasee, very spicy.

After lunch we visit the border with Myanmar, walk around the markets then head for Laluna Hotel via the Monkey Cave where we have a short stop. After a rest we walk into town to visit the night markets to sample the local food. We have deep fried prawns, spring rolls and a spicy and very aromatic chicken tom yum soup. Back to the hotel and off to bed, tomorrow the Mekong beckons.