The Golden Triangle and Over To Laos
Posted On Friday, February 23, 2007 at at 2:59 AM by AlvinOn our way to Laos, we spent a few days in the very northern part of Thailand where its boarders met with the other neighbouring countries. We based ourselves in Chiang Rai - a quaint city best remembered by us for its barbecue and Thai dancing shows in the open market every night (see earlier blog entry). The city was a short bus ride to the Golden Triangle (Chiang Saen) - where Thailand meets Myanmar and Laos. This area is best known for the highly sorted-after herbal leaves ;-) and the trafficking routes. The Opium Museum was very informative and well worth a visit. We went for a long walk along the city walls in Chiang Saen on this HOT day.....
We crossed the border from Chiang Khong (Thailand) to Houayxai (Laos) in the middle of the day. The border was actually a 3 minutes' boat ride with friendly Laos immigration officers waiting in a hut on the opposite river bank, nice ! We then began our 2-day boat trip down the Mekong River to Louang Phabang ! The photo below was taken at dawn in Pakbang, a midway stop for the night.
