Ferg & Jude\'s Thailand Adventure 2002

Monday 11th November
Army checkpoints, Golden Triangle and numb behinds..

We were up at 6.30am and packed a bag for the day trip on the bike. Downstairs the Chiangrai Coffee House next door was open and we had the most divine banana pancakes and freshly perked coffee (140bt). We were on the road by 8am, the traffic was fairly heavy with Monday morning commuters. It was fairly easy getting out of the city and the early morning air was brisk and refreshing. We took Highway 101 to Mae Sai and the signs were easy to follow. About 25km's from Chiangrai we turned off to Doi Tung. This is a large mountain which runs along the Thai - Myanmar border. The road was very winding and steep but the views were magnificent. We stopped at the Royal Villa but decided not to go in. We had a quick look at the beautiful gardens surrounding the Villa.

We took a back route through the mountains to Mae Sai, seemed to be only used by locals. We were stopped at a Thai Army checkpoint where they checked our passports and asked a few questions. We took their photo before we left.

The road became very steep and winding going down the other side of the mountain. At times I thought I would slide right over the top of Ferg. We passes a few armed soldiers on the way and one lone very suspect fellow carrying an ancient sniper rifle. It was a little scary as occasionally Myanmar rebels cross the border and are chased by the Thai Army. We went through another army checkpoint and again our passports were checked. We passed heaps of hill tribe villages and was sort of glad when we made it back to civilization.

What a contrast, Mae Sai was a bustling border town. We parked in the main street and walked up towards the main border gate. There were many jewelry shops as the Burmese bring gems over the border to sell. Unfortunately we saw an ugly side to Mae Sai, small children carrying babies on their back and begging for money in the streets. We didn't stay long, too many people, so we headed south east towards the Golden Triangle in the village of Sop Ruak. We stopped at a restaurant for lunch right on the Mekong River overlooking the river junction of three countries, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.

There were lots of tourist buses and vans spilling out people at the roadside markets. We didn't stop, just kept heading south to the next town of Chiang Saen. The road followed the riverbank and we could look across to the riverside villages in Laos. We turned off at Chiang Saen and were on the home stretch back to Chiang Rai. We passed many rice paddy fields with little thatched roof huts dotted amongst them. Our bums were getting numb and the sun was beating down fiercely. We finally made it back to the guesthouse at 3pm, gave the bike back and crashed into bed for a long sleep.

Later that night we went back to the night market and enjoyed another delicious meal from the street vendors. We had a front row table and watched a band play Thai music. Later the band was replaced by five dancing "Girls?" in long flowing gowns and head dresses. The lead singer badly mimed a touristy song about 'Sawadee" which kept us amused. It was a nice end to an interesting day.