Chang Rei and the Golden Triangle

Days 36-38, August 21-23, 2008 (No Malaria)

I am sorry that I haven’t updated this in a week. I have not had very good internet access and have also had some pretty long days that have prevented me from having the chance to type. I will be providing several updates over the next few days. So back into it…

The day after the elephant park, I took advantage not having anything specific planned and explored Chang Mai some more. Chang Mai is an 800 year old walled city. Well, the original part of the city is still walled, at least. It is also surrounded by a moat around the entire perimeter. I walked around the entire “Old City” and then crisscrossed the streets for hours finding some used book shops and stocking up. The more that I walked around Chang Mai, the more I enjoyed the city. It is such a friendly, laid-back place that I don’t know how anybody couldn’t like it. As a matter of fact, the more people that I meet traveling around, the more that I realize that it is almost everyone’s favorite. People seem to be drawn here and then drawn back.

The next day was my excursion to a city farther north called Chang Rei and an area called the Golden triangle. Chang Rei (along with Chang Mai and several other “Chang” cities in the area) was once part of the powerful Lanna empire which existed at around the same time as the Khmer Empire farther south in Cambodia. They were both at the height of their power in the 12th and 13th centuries. It is another charming little city tucked in the hills of northern Thailand. On the way, we had a few stops. The first was a natural hot springs just south of Chang Rei. Call me crazy but when it is already over 100 degrees, the last place you want to be standing is next to a boiling pond or geyser. I sweat enough already.

We also stopped at a place called the white temple in Chang Rei. It is the completed part of what will one day be a large Buddhist complex. I have seen too many Buddhist temples all over SE Asia but this was, by far, the most beautiful. It is all white to begin with (as the name would indicate, I guess) and is also covered in thousands of tiny mirrors. This has the effect of making the entire temple look like it is covered in ice and snow which is really odd and out of place considering the heat. It is truly gorgeous though.

Our guide for the day, Tassa, was very good. She was extremely knowledgeable and helpful at every location. More importantly, she was very funny. Humor is something that often doesn’t translate well when one learns a language and even if one is funny in their native language, it is difficult to be in another. At one point, we stopped for a roadside “pit stop.” Before we got out, she was explaining how even though the Thai’s are Buddhists, they still hold onto some animistic beliefs from deep in their past. Animism is the belief that every object hold a spirit…every home, plant, rock, or tree. These spirits need to be kept happy in order for day-to-day life to go well. So while on a roadside pit stop, it is customary to ask the forest or tree for permission to take your liberties. She says, “you have to ask the tree for permission…but don’t have to wait for the answer. If you hear an answer, run.” OK, maybe my telling isn’t as good as hers but we all got a good laugh out of it. She had several good one liners throughout the day.

The Golden Triangle is the area along the Mekong River in Northern Thailand in which Myanmar (Burma), Laos and Thailand all come together at a point. It is called “golden” due to the fact that is was once one of the largest opium trading posts in the world and the only currency that was allowed in trade was gold. The opium traders used to sit out in little island in the Mekong River between the countries that would be exposed during the dry season and do their business just out of the reach of any government authority. Our guide told us that when a bust did occur, most often the evidence would disappear from the local police offices anyway. The traders most often avoided prosecution and the police had a few happy weeks to smoke their evidence.

Since the three countries come together here, it is possible to visit the two others in one day. We took a boat to a market in Laos and walked across a bridge to a market in Myanmar. In Laos, we drank king cobra whiskey. It is a giant vat of homemade whiskey that just happens to have a giant snake adding to the already tasty goodness. It is supposed to increase virility. Lucky me. I’m stuck on a Laotian Island in the middle of the Mekong River and my virility is being increased. What the hell good does that do me? They should start serving that stuff at the bars in Chicago.

The Myanmar visit was very short and really just an excuse to get the passport stamp.

To compare the attitudes of the two countries towards tourists, Laos didn’t even check our passports until we forced them to for the stamps. Myanmar granted us 30 minute visas under the supervision of armed guards. Myanmar also charged $10 US for the border excursion but would only accept clean, new $10 bills. I had several US bills in my security belt but none of them were good enough for the immigration officials. I thought that a dollar was a dollar but the Myanmar officials were more picky than a vending machine. Finally, one of the girls in the group traded me a clean, new dollar for one of mine that was equally as clean and new but for some reason was not good enough. The other thing that I discovered about the Myanmar officials was that the only thing that makes them as touchy as an old $10 bill is when you cross the border and don’t buy anything from their market. I don’t think they were not sad to see us go.

On the way back to Chang Mai, we made our last stop at a tribal refugee camp. There are several ethnic tribes that live in the hills of Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, and Myanmar and, to this day, try to maintain their lifestyle, customs, and traditions. One of these is called the Karen Tribe and is originally from Myanmar. They are one of the last peoples in Myanmar who are consistently fighting the military government there and many have taken refuge, illegally, in the Thai hills. The camp that we went to has been there for 8 years and tolerated by the Thai government. The biggest distinction of the Karen is that their women elongate their necks. They wear snug, heavy rings on their shoulders which push their shoulders down and neck up. They survive on tourism and off of the land. They were very kind to us, welcoming, and also enjoyed seeing the pictures on the camera after we took them. Like typical women everywhere, if they didn’t like the picture, they wanted it erased…I’m not kidding you.

In the tradition I have started of meeting some great people, I met a very nice couple from Trinidad on the bus. They names were Kenrick and Stacey. They are currently living in London and were fun to hang out with for the day. One of my new goals is to chalk-up as many international invites as possible while I am abroad…so far, so good.