Thursday 18th September 2008
Anantara Resort is in the North of Thailand. Across the Mekong River is Laos, to the left in Shan State, Myanmar. This area is known as the Golden Triangle.
Today, I had a full-day Golden Triangle Excursion.
I started the day with a decent breakfast at the Anantara, sitting by the open doors to the terrace, looking out across the Mekong to Laos beyound. Koon and the driver picked me up on time and we headed a short distance South to Golden Triangle. This is dedicated to tourists with lots of shops and, somehow, a little reminiscent of the Golden Mile at Blackpool. There's a long row of empty market stalls running along the promenade next to the river. When it's open, a lot of Lao cross the river in small boats to sell their stuff. There's a small Thai Immigration post to deal with this traffic. Just of the main road, there's a row of tourist shops leading to the Opium Museum - slightly amateur but a lot of effort has gone into presenting a coherent history of opium which I found very interesting. Then we drove past the inevitable Wat (temple) and up a twisting road to a viewpoint at the top of the hill. From here, you have a good view of the three countries Thailand, Myanmar and Laos.
Next, we head for Chiang Saen and Wat Chedi Luang which date from the 13th century. Only some brickwork remains from the early buildings and restoration has prevented any further deterioration of what's left. But this is still a very active place of worship and a fairly modern overall roof has been provided (but no sides). There's a collection of tourist stalls here. In the street outside, a marching band seems to be forming up for some sort of procession, but it's all fairly relaxed at present. We then leave Chiang Saen, passing what looks like another part of the procession getting ready.
The area becomes very rural and eventually we reach the mountains in the North and the vehicle has to do some serious climbing to reach Mae Fah Luang. Here, the Princess Mother of the current King established hillside gardens which are open to the public. Now deceased, she was a keen botanist and the gardens have a high-tech propagation centre you can walk through. On the hilltop is the Doi Tung Royal Villa, only around 16 years old. Although concrete, the Villa is built in a style reminiscent of a Swiss Chalet and clad with wood. Parts of the interior are open for public viewing. The view from the terraces across the mountains is certainly imjpre3ssive. We have lunch in a nearby restaurant and checkout the fairly high class tourist shops.
Our vehicle then descends to the plain and heads for the Northernmost tip of Thailand at Mae Nam. (More later)
