On the Way to Lunch

After crossing the border from Myanmar back to Thailand (Day 12A), we piled into these farm vehicles in Chiang Saen to drive though farm country to our lunch spot.

Our Lunch Spot

We were treated to a delicious barbecue lunch at a farm in the hills. Take a siesta in a hammock if you wanted.

House of Opium Museum

After lunch, we visited the House of Opium Museum, a museum devoted solely to opium––how it is grown, where it was grown, who grew it, pipes used to smoke it, etc. A museum definitely on the odd side, though very interesting.

House of Opium Museum

A poster depicting all the stages of opium production:

March– April, Preparing farming tools.

July–August, Clearing and burning field.

September, Poppy seed broadcasting.

October, Thinning and weeding opium field.

November–December, Scoring poppy pods and scraping raw opium.

February–March, Seed collecting.

I have put my photos of our farm lunch and the House of Opium on a slide show. Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/chiang–saen–farm–lunch–opium–museum/

(Slide Shows, Asia, Thailand–2, “Farm Lunch, Opium Museum).

The Golden Triangle

After our visit to the House of Opium Museum, we boarded a boat to view the Golden Triangle, where Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos meet, and then to visit Laos. In the photo, Thailand is on the left front of the photo, Laos is across the Mekong River, and Myanmar can be seen way in the back middle between Thailand and Laos.

Welcome to Laos

We are on the Don Sao Island in Laos. All we really saw in Laos was this souvenir area. I have put my photos of our Golden Triangle boat trip on a slide show. Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/golden–triangle–thailandmyanmarlaos/

(Slide Shows, Asia, Thailand–2, “Golden Triangle: Thailand/Myanmar/Laos”).

Back in Chiang Rai

Joyce, Dave, and I decided that we enjoyed our dinner at  Da Vinci in the town last night so much that we did it again. Pizza for Joyce and Dave; lasagna (very tasty) and a margarita for me. We finished off our “Thai–style” dinner with ice cream again at Swensen’s––who could resist those pictures on its wall.

This time, we took the hotel shuttle into town but had trouble finding a taxi to take us back to it. There were plenty of tut tuts around, so we took a very breezy ride back on one.  Quite a day today: crossing from Thailand to Myanmar and then back, lunch on a farm, the House of Opium, a boat ride on the Mekong River to Laos, and dinner in town. An unbeatable day! Tomorrow, we would visit the hill tribes and then head to Chiang Mai.