From Chaing Rai we wanted to go to the Mekong river and the Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle is formed by the borders between Tailand, Laos and Myanmar and is known for having been the center of the opium trade. We had planned to go the town of Chiang Khong which is south of the Golden Triangle and take a boat upriver to Chiang Saen. We wanted to have a nice boat ride on the Mekong, finishing at the Golden Triangle and then head back to Chiang Rai to fly back to Bangkok. Well, not everything worked out as we wanted and the Golden Triangle proved to be rather disappointing.
We found our way to Chiang Khong alright and our guesthouse even had a pool. The town itself did not have much to offer. Along the river shore was just a huge construction site. At some point it’s probably going to be very nice but right now the river is pretty much inaccessible. We did however get the best strawberry smoothie here. The boat we wanted to take was nowhere to be found so we decided to take a Songtaew, which is a pick-up truck with benches and a roof, to Chiang Sean. But in the morning, after waiting for over an hour for more passengers the driver told us we had to pay three times the regular price for him to go. So, we went back to the regular bus station and took a bus back to Chiang Rai where we changed busses to Chiang Saen. Here we also learned why there is no boat running from Chiang Khong to Chiang Saen: It’s a charter done in Chiang Saen. This was not clear from the information in our guide book… Well, in the end we decided not to do any boat trip on the river. The Mekong is just a wide, rather boring river. Due to fires started by farmers in the mountains to get more farmland it was also rather smoky and the view was not good. Maybe it’s better further downriver and if you do a longer boat tour than a few hours, since we have heard reports that the boat tour on the Mekong was fantastic. We just didn’t see it here…
Since we were already in the area, we did want to see the Golden Triangle. Our first idea to get there by bicycle did not work out because either they had run out or we were asked for a price double what we had paid so far but the bikes we just as crappy… In the end we walked to 10 km to the Golden Triangle. This place is worth only a short stop along the way to anywhere else and it tells. There is lots of restaurants, food and drink stands, and souvenir shops waiting for the busses filled with tourists. While we were there no busses were there and it was very, very quiet. So we took our pictures and wanted to catch a bus back into town. But we were told they weren’t running. Since a taxi was too expensive for us and we had time, we decided to walk back. Just then a bus passed us! But after a while we got lucky again, as a car stopped for us and offered us a lift. After having been a little unlucky previously this kind gesture made us really happy.
Laos right
Every night at the riverside of Chiang Saen there are several restaurants set-up. The ‘kitchen’ is very much like those you find at the night markets but they set-up mats on low tables where we could sit for dinner. Here we had some excellent fish dishes! It’s a little more expensive but one dish is usually enough for two. This place also seemed to be a popular place to have a family dinner for the locals.
From Chiang Saen we took an early bus back to Chiang Rai to catch our flight back to Bangkok. In Bangkok we had booked the same AirBnB again. It was really nice there again. The hostess is just so friendly and greeted us with some Mango with sticky rice, a popular Thai sweet dish. It felt a little like coming home because we had been there before and because we received great hospitality.
We visited Wat Arun and the Backpacker district of Kao San road, which we hadn’t done before. Wat Arun is an old temple with a Chedi decorated with lots of porcelain. It has well visible shape that can be seen from the river. In the evening we wanted to see some of the Bangkok nightlife and started at one of the rooftop bars. The bar itself was very nice and we had picked a lower one without glass windows. The dinks were not bad but definitely watered down which was not what we had expected at the price… We had also ordered a water which turned out to be a mistake to do so blindly as two cost almost as much as one cocktail. Well, that’s a lesson learned, right? After we went to Kao San road where we expected to find some cheaper drinks. We were not disappointed. Even though it seemed to be not too busy there are lots of bars playing music and trying to get you to sit down. There is lots of people standing in front of the seating area waving with the menus trying to convince you they have the best offer of beer, cocktail, food…. Sometimes it also feels like it only about who plays the loudest music and has the most staff trying to get customers. We found a few good offers and had good time to wander around and watch the people. It is kind of absurd and much like what you see in the movies.
One thing we learned about Bangkok is, that during rush hour nothing beats the metro. But outside of rush our busses go everywhere and are much cheaper than the metro. Especially if you are going to places without a metro stop it’s worth getting to know the bus system. From Bangkok we took a flight to Sihanoukville in Cambodia. There we will spend few day on an island and then a few days in the jungle.