Map of Golden Triangle

Thursday, November 21st ~ Today is another big day.  Heading toward the border town of Mae Sai we pass many rice fields with farmers harvesting the crop.

Rice harvesting

Rice

We do not need to get an entry visa ahead of time to enter Myanmar (formerly Burma) as they can be obtained at the border.  The “official” fee is $10, but we paid a bit more to expedite the paperwork.  They call it paying “tea money” here.

Entry point, Welcome to Myanmar

Tuk Tuk’s had been arranged for us to help us cover as much ground as possible in the two hours we would be here.

The marketplace was fascinating to wander through. The highlight was a visit to Schwedagon.

Schwedagon Pagoda

Back across the border into Thailand we traveled in the back of farm trucks to our lunch stop:

Transportation for lunch stop (also used as school bus)

Then back on our bus to the Golden Triangle where we boarded a boat for a cruise on the Mae Khong River.

Our group of 14 on the Mae Khong River

Our third country was Laos.  Really just a quick stop on land with no entry formalities, as we were corralled on an island.  We did get our interesting food of the day offered here with large jugs of potent alcohol, each with a different item soaking inside.  The first one contained a well pickled cobra, next had tiger penis, and the one I tried a very benign plant – gensing.

Returning once again to Thailand, we could see the point where all three counties came together.

Intersection of three countries – The Golden Triangle

Final stop of the day was a visit to the Opium Museum.  Drugs are still a problem in this region, but Thailand is working hard to eliminate the opium trade by replacing the poppy fields with other crops and making the punishment for being caught with drugs very steep.

By the time we got back to Chiang Rai for the night, we were too tired to go out again so chose to have dinner at the hotel.  Since there was no internet available I fell asleep early and got a wonderful long restful night.