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Published: November 19th 2015
Golden Triangle
Golden Triangle located in the far northern part of Thailand. Its where the the Ruak River flows into the Mekong (Mae Khong) River and forms a natural boundary between the three countries Laos, (to the east of the Mekong), Myanmar (to the north of the Ruak), and Thailand (to the west of the Mae Khong).สวัสดี S̄wạs̄dī - Hello from the Golden Triangle, Thailand! This morning, we left the small city of Tha Ton and headed for the Golden Triangle located in the upper northern part of Thailand. Its where the the Ruak River flows into the Mekong (Mae Khong) River and forms a natural boundary between the three countries Laos, (to the east of the Mekong), Myanmar (to the north of the Ruak), and Thailand (to the west of the Mae Khong).
Before reaching the Golden Triangle, we visited the long-neck Karen tribe village near the border of Thailand and Myanmar. The Karen are a tribal group who have historically lived in the hills on the Myanmar (formerly Burma) side of the Thai border. Best recognized for their elongated necks, the Karen women wear heavy brass rings around their necks, forearms, and shins. Thousands have had to flee Burma over the decades due to political unrest. Fleeing to Thailand was a very safe choice for many, but the ones that came are largely illegal immigrants and do not have options for gaining Thai citizenship. While things are much better for the Karen that have fled from Burma, the lack of opportunity for the Long
Group Photo at the Golden Triangle
Golden Triangle located in the far northern part of Thailand. Its where the the Ruak River flows into the Mekong (Mae Khong) River and forms a natural boundary between the three countries Laos, (to the east of the Mekong), Myanmar (to the north of the Ruak), and Thailand (to the west of the Mae Khong). Necks has confined the groups to small pockets separate from most of modern Thailand. As it was explained to us, only females born on a Wednesday night wear the heavy brass rings around their necks.
After visiting the Long-neck Karen tribe village, we rode for about an hour to Doi Mae Salong. We visited a Chinese tea plantain and had an opportunity to taste some of Thailand´s best tea. We then jumped back on our bikes and rode along the winding roads to Mae Sai, the northern most point of Thailand. Here we visited the Wat Tham Pla (Monkey Temple) where we were able to feed wild monkeys. Sinse the monkeys roamed free around the temple's grounds, we had to make sure all of our belongings were secure. This included all riding gear, sunglasses, and even motorcycle keys. I guess in the past, monkeys had stolen keys from some of the motorcycles ignitions. Although there were hundreds of monkeys everywhere, there were two very special monkeys that I nicknamed Nikolas and Tia. See photos below. The visit to the Monkey Temple was cut short as it began to rain. We jumped back on our bikes and rode about another
Monkey Temple "Tia"
A monkey at the "Monkey Temple" I nicknamed "Tia". two hours in the rain until reaching the Golden Triangle. We made a quick stop to the official landmark before heading to our accommodations for the evening.
BONUS: We reached our hotel fairly early today, so we thought we would try and catch a boat to one of the neighboring counties. I inquired about entering Myanmar, but I was told that, in the past, they have had issues getting Americans in to the country. Our tour guide said it was never a problem for Australian or U.K. citizens, but always a problem for Americans. So we set our sights on Laos. After about a 30 minute wait, we handed over our passports and boarded a small long-tail boat. It was only a short 10 minute ride until we reached the banks of Laos. Once in Laos, we did a little souvenir shopping and drank a few Laotian beers.
The weather was a bit warm today, with lots of rainfall in the afternoon. All-in-all, another great day of riding and sight seeing.
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Maria
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monkey temple
The kids enjoyed reading about the monkey temple and you naming the monkeys. They said "dad is crazy" ?