Long Neck tribe and Golden Triangle

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Woke up at 7 not feeling great! Got in the minibus as we drove North to the Long Neck Tribe. Caught up on some sleep on the long journey.

We arrived at the Long Neck Tribe where the women would put rings round their necks to stretch them. They have an extra ring put on every year up to about 27 rings. They are never allowed to take them off even at night. It looked quite painful but they seemed happy. It wasn't the authentic tribe I had hoped for. There were a lot of tourists and every tribeswoman had a stall selling the same scarfs and trinkets. I also got quite pissed off with some Indian tourists who were very loud and being quite disrespectful to their culture, offering them money to take their rings off. Scum.

We left there to drive North again past Chaing Rai to the Golden Triangle. This is the point of land where the Mekong River divides Thailand, Laos and Burma. The Golden Triangle has a complicated past as this is where a lot of the opium which is grown in Burma is transported into Thailand. After stopping in a great place for some buffet lunch, we drove to the top of a viewpoint where we could see the Golden Triangle (the island made of sand in the middle of the Mekong), as well as Burma and Laos.

We then went back down the hill to the river where we took a longtail boat (a little boat with a 16valve Toyota engine strapped on the back) and we zoomed along to see Burma up close. There was a massive Casino on the river and not much else. It was probably there to attract people because of the gambling laws in Thailand and Laos. It was probably the only place in Burma which wasn't messed up. We obviously weren't allowed to step onto Burma because of all the issues surrounding the country but I felt privileged to be able to see the country up close.

We then zoomed along in the longtail boat to the Laos border and got off to look in a little market there. It was quite discerning with people selling fake clothes, cigarettes, and phones. I felt sad about the amount of little kids surrounding us asking for money. I hope the real Laos won't be like this place. There was some Laos whisky for sale too, which had dead snakes in. I think it was made with snake bile and apparently it said it was good for backache and 'sexual power for man'. It looked too nasty to try.

After leaving the market to get back to Thailand, we had a short stop in the Opium museum to learn of the history and significance with the Golden Triangle, and then drove back to Chaing Mai. We stopped along the way at the White Temple which was stunning and the carving on the stonework was so intricute. We also stopped at the hot springs and Thailand's largest hot spring spraying water 30ft in the air.

Left there and back to the hotel at about 10pm.

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Comments

[Lara Hamilton]

Photos!
Thanks so much for uploaded some of your photos! Reading about it was exciting enough but actually seeing it was breath-taking. Keep up the good work! XXX

[The Hamiltons]

Snake-bile whisky
Adam, you disappoint me. Thought you were up for trying anything. Couldn't face the snake-bile whisky eh? Are you a man or a mouse ?!!! Mumsyxx