After checking out of our really cool hotel, The Legend Resort along the Kok River, we made our way to the Golden Triangle, where the three countries Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand meet at the Mekong River. There was a large shrine there built to honor the queen of Thailand with a large golden Buddha. There we boarded a boat and went on the river and drove by the Laos Vegas Hotel in Laos- a casino since they allow gambling in Laos. We had to leave our passports in Thailand, We disembarked along the river bank and came into a little area where they had a market in Laos. We peaked around there for a bit and I bought a cool purse that was hand made. Love it!
We also made a visit to the Opium Museum. This was funded and the idea of the Queen of Thailand. It was an outstanding museum, one of the most detailed and elaborate museum I have been through. They explained the history of Opium and how it came from Egypt it then went to China and then into South East Asia and India. We learned about Opium Wars that happened a couple hundred years ago and how they were based on the Chinese wanting to ban Opium and how the Europeans wanted to keep it legal so they could make money from it. The Europeans won and opium continued to flourish and they said that 1 in 30 people in China used Opium and it was destroyer of their culture of their people because of the addictive natures. Opium production came to Thailand through China and in these hills above Chiang Rai they were actively growing and selling it. Opium is used in many medications and is also the base of heroin, morphine and even in asprin. The museum showed the affects of opium, how it was grown, how it was traded, what devastation it caused to people and communities and how it was banned and how countries throughout the world came together to ban the use and illegal growth of opium. It was a bit dark going through this museum but left you with the positive affect of why would you ever want to do drugs when it destroys your agency, it destroys your desire to work or be productive, it destorys your family and health.
We ate lunch at a little Thai cafe and they also sold some wooden sculptures which were unique to anything else I had seen. I purchased a small teak statue with some gold- a remembrance from being in this area- chose that over an opium pot or pipe …not supporting anything opium after going through that museum!
On the way to Chiang Mai we stopped back at the White Temple again to get Sam some bamboo rice. It is rolled up in Bamboo so it is like takeaway sticky rice. It was nice to see the temple again without so many people and many monks that had come to see the temple. It is funny though, the men that are supposed to have nothing and are fed by the people each whipped out iphones from their robes and were taking photos of the White Temple :)
We then had a 4 hour drive to Chiang Mai. Half way we stopped and pulled over at the sulfur hot springs. Hopping out of the van they had a geyser that was shooting up and then a really boiling small pool that a man was selling eggs next to. Kendall selected a small basket of spotted quail eggs. He has about 6 in a tiny reed basket that you attach to a stick and float in the boiling hot spring for 5 minutes and then you can peel and eat. He has some hot and sweet sauces there for you to add to your egg. Most people were eating large brown chicken eggs and about 1/3 cooked and they would slurp up the egg. Kendall went for fully hard boiled and liked the sauces. The eggs were rather labor intensive to peel, so she only had a couple. We soaked our feet as well in the warm spring water and it was about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. It felt good to soak, along with many other locals that make this a good stop along their way between these sister cities going to and from Chiang Rai to Chaing Mai.
Once we arrived in Chiang Mai, a much bigger city than Chiang Rai, we checked in and went right out on the town. A few blocks away was the Night Market. Tons of people and shops and some great artists selling their work. Just loved the pieces, contemporary and colorful. Tempted to pick up a few and have them rolled and sent home. Kendall bought a couple things, we found Sam a Red Bull T-shirt with Thai writing which seemed authentic since the Red Bull ingredients come from the tea we saw growing yesterday. I purchased some beautiful handicraft cross stitch pieces that were made my the hillside tribes. Loved them! Tomorrow we play and tend to the elephants. Can’t wait!
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