The Golden Triangle (Poppy Count - Zero)

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7/7/06 - Took the obligatory boat ride on the Mae Kong River that skirts 3 countries. If you reach your hand out and skim various reedy river banks, you could say you’ve been to Myanmar (Burma), Laos and Thailand in a single day - Actually all 3 in about 10 minutes.

Don’t expect any passport stamps or uniformed officials; even the setting foot on official Laos soil comes with a mere 20 Baht landing tax and no passport request. The 30 minutes allowed by the boat company was plenty of time in the market seeing the same same merchandise of Northern Thailand with plenty of antique looking opium pipes thrown into the mix. The only real was the Laos whiskey bottles containing various snakes and scorpions, bottled in with the whiskey. Don’t miss the opportunity for a free sample - or the chance to post any as yet un-posted letters that you may have on your personage into one of the many post boxes giving the recipient the opportunity to ogle a Laos postmark, as proof of your entry - the other proof being your picture beside the Welcome to DonSao island, Laos sign and Laos flag.

You aren’t allowed to set foot on Burmese soil on this trip but pass along the red-roofed Burmese Paradise Resort on the river bank.

Back on Thai soil, the steep double staircase with Naka sculptures leads up to a refreshingly simple and old looking temple - Wat Saam Mum Mung, with beautifully carved hand carved wooden doors. Less ornate than most Thai temples it seemed a perfect place to sit on the carpet and reflect for a few moments. Outside stood some carved chairs, 2 gongs and a ceremonial drum, old looking and simple, in perfect keeping with the building. Part of the carving on the doors showed a procession with a cross-legged monk being carried on a board above the people’s heads - exactly reminiscent of the Bamboo Rocket Procession on the 2nd day of Phi Ta Khon, just 5 days earlier.

The House of Opium Museum had a reasonable amount of detail behind the history of opium and the Golden Triangle name but was really worth the 50 Baht entry fee for the hill tribe legends about where opium and poppies come from and the additional upstairs exhibition on the Longnecks and Giant Catfish.

The history behind the Paduang Tribe and their Neck Rings is something like this…

Several members of the tribe were attacked by tigers and died from bites to the neck. This worried the sorceress tribal leader so much that she made girls wear neck rings of gold to protect themselves from this bad luck. The rings have now been replaced with brass but the tradition continues…

The other interesting part of the museum were the logos of various ‘brands’ of Heroin. These included Tiger, Deer and KKK (whether this has any connection to the organization of the Southern United States - I have no idea!)

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Photos

Carved Doors of Wat Saam Mum Muang
Remeniscient of the Phi Ta Kohn rocket procession

Deer Brand Heroin
Never heard of it!!

Comments

[Beck]

The Opium/Tobacco Legend
So, Thai men don't go down then....? And how's the detox going? Will we get photos of that too? I'm still missing a red dob from my Lego hospital circa 1978. Let me know if it turns up. Weirdo........ xx

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Dob dob dob!
I remember dobs! They were the 1 x 1 pieces weren't they? Very useful for building chimneys and stuff, but why would a red dob turn up in the Golden Triangle? Oh - and can I get together with you guys wherever you are gonna be in August please? ..fish..