The Golden Triangle

This is the third of three posts about our recent trip to Laos and Thailand - so if you want to take a look in chronological order, then tab down to "Luang Prabang"... or not!

Crossing over to Thailand

Hmong village, Northern Thailand

For our venture into the Golden Triangle area, the area bordering Thailand, Laos and Myanmar,
 we decided to use Chiang Rai as a base,
 as it provided accessibility to Hmong villages and rural Thailand without the big-city atmosphere of Chiang Mai.  We arrived via long boat across the Mekong and sped through villages and rice paddies to arrive at our hotel in time for a soak in the pool before dinner.  We stayed at a Le Meridien - very nice.....  We were met first thing in the morning by Charlie, a very energetic and knowledgeable guide, and his driver, Pok.  Providing too much detail here - must cut to the chase.  We spent two sight-seeing-packed days, visiting temples, hill tribe villages and including a quick excursion into Myanmar, a real treat.  The market in Tachilek, which was right at the border with Thailand, was worth the price of admission by itself.  I was kind of surprised that we were just about the only Westerners there, and learned later that
it is more of a crossing for Thais to take advantage of lower prices.  The five pictures around this text were of Tachilek Market.  Myanmar is now on our list for a week-long visit while we are in Asia -