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Published: August 7th 2007
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The Golden Triangle
I'm standing in Thailand, Laos is on the right side of the river and the piece of land in the middle is Myanmar. From Pai I took a night bus (or rather a minivan) to Chiang Khong in the Laos border. My plan was to stay there for one night and another in Chiang Saen close to Golden Triangle. Once again the bus was early in the destination - this time at 5am in the pitch black silent town. I wasn't tempted to sit at the bus stop for a couple of hours and managed to persuade the same minivan driver to take me directly to Chiang Saen. I was there around seven - just in time to wake up the hostess of the guesthouse.
The day I spent in Golden Triangle was one of those when you know already in the morning that is not going to be easy one. First I couldn't find a decent bike - I hired one from the guesthouse and it was really bad. I couldn't move the saddle so I was cycling the knees close to ears. Fortunately Golden Triangle was only 9 kilometres away. It was a mistake to go there - the most touristy place you can imagine and the tackiest possible way: rows of charter buses and sun-burnt tourists with beltbags and baseball
caps... You know the type.
There wasn't that much to see. The Golden Triangle defined by the tourist industry is a piece of land surrounded by two branches of the river being the meeting point of Thailand's, Laos's and Myanmar's borders. Actually it means much wider area and is Asia's main illicit opium-producing area. I was determined to get something out of it, however, and visited two opium museums. They were interesting enough, and I know now not only how to cultivate, prepare and smoke opium (in theory!) but also lots about the history and effects of the drugs usage for the individuals, families and society. I became out utterly depressed of the badness of all that, and also feeling a bit lonely and bored. After eating a ridiculously expensive lunch I thought that this was enough of the Golden Triangle and started my way back.
After about one kilometre my uncomfortable cycling was interrupted by a flat tyre. I didn't really care - I had my ipod and the sun wasn't too hot anymore. A friendly passer-by, an elderly man, stopped though and offered me a lift. The only problem was that he was with a moped
(and stank of alcohol). I thanked and said there is no way that both me and the bike could be transported by the moped. "It's 8k", he showed me with his fingers (he didn't speak English but seemed to understand a bit). So I gave up and climbed back of the moped holding the bike behind my back. All the cars that passed us seemed to have a good time when they saw our unusual combination but none of them stopped and offered me a more comfortable lift. After some 4 kilometres my arms started to tremble so badly of holding the heavy bicycle that I needed to thank my chauffeur and walk the rest of the journey.
The guesthouse offered me a transport to Chiang Khong and a two day slow boat trip from Huay Xai, Laos, to Luang Prabang with a good price for the following day so I decided to take it. I felt ready to move on over to Laos - what does it matter if one Chiang Khong was left unvisited.
The following morning I knew immediately that I wasn't well - something was seriously wrong with my stomach - and on a
day I needed to travel for so long! I believe it was the ham-vegetable roll that the guesthouse hostess had fed me on the previous night as a thank you for advising her in her marital and staff problems. (It was quite funny: after she had checked how old I was and what was my profession she apparently decided that I qualified as an agony aunt and told me all her problems and then awaited some constructive suggestions on how to fix things - as if I had any.) Well, I took lots of Imodium and decided to go through the day.
It took several hours and various vehicles to transport us before we were through all the border formalities and on the boat. My guesthouse had told me there would be some 30-40 people on the boat, but there must have been close to 100 as my ticket number was 88. I got a wooden, uncomfortable seat and was wondering how an earth I will ever manage to sit there some 8 hours. More and more people were boarding the boat. Just before it was leaving I felt so nauseous that I decided I couldn't do the trip.
On the boat again
The second morning I went to the engine room to try and find my rucksack. It must have been the destiny, but I couldn't find it, instead I discovered a great little spot where I could lean on the bags in a very comfortable position. I felt truly blessed. There I slept for those endless hours until we came to Pakpeng, a little town where we spent the night.
I had met some of the fellow passengers during those border crossing hours, including a Japanese woman called Miwa and we had decided to share a room in over-priced Pakpeng. We were joined for dinner by a Finnish lady called Tuovi. Otherwise I felt that I had missed the party as I had only been sleeping in the engine room while everybody else was making friends.
How wrong I was! The party didn't actually start until the afternoon of the following day. After badly slept night (I was worrying if I was still feeling rough on the following day, if I could do the trip at all, if i'd get a comfortable place...) and nearly missing the boat, I landed to a very good spot on the floor in front of
the bar. Yes, the boat was different to the previous one - it had a bar area. After a few hours of waiting the first bottles of Beer Lao were opened and the boat changed to be a one big cocktail party. I came out with lots of friends and haven't traveled a day alone after that. More about lovely Laos a bit later.
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Maria
non-member comment
Maailmanmatkaajalle
Pikkasen parempaa maisemaa siellä tarjolla!! Sinähän olet ehtinyt näkemään jos jonkinlaista. Tämä tekniikka on sitten hienoa, kun voit laittaa tunnelmiasi tänne meidän ihailtavaksi. Voih, kunhan pääsisi aurinkoon ja katselemaan jotakin oikeasti arvokasta ja sydämet pysäyttävää. Ammenna kokemuksia minunkin puolestani ja pidä lippu korkealla. Ps. täällä menee ihan ok, kevät tulossa kovaa vauhtia.