March 7, 2009
North of Chiang Mai, Thailand
Today we were booked on a tour to the north and were picked up by van at 7 am. By the time the pickups were done the van was full (17 including the driver and guide). The first stop was the White Temple.
The White Temple was, and is, being built by a famous Thai artist who wanted to dedicate a temple to the King. The King in Thailand is revered and it is taken very seriously if anyone says anything bad about him. Serious as in they put you in jail. The King and Queen’s picture is everywhere. Not just in post offices and offices but everywhere including huge billboards on the side of the road. If you are in a public place, like a railway station, at 6 pm policemen start blowing whistles and everyone stands for the national anthem facing a portrait of the king. For those of you in Canada imagine what Stephen Harper probably dreams about and you’ll have it down.
The White Temple is made of concrete with pieces of glass embedded in it. The carvings (or castings) are all of figures from Buddhism and are amazing. The Temple is not large but is really impressive. Nearby was a gallery with some of his works in it as well and they were very powerful. Like most temples in Thailand they ask you to not take pictures inside out of respect. Unfortunately one guy with our party was doing that while trying not to be seen. I gave him one of my happy looks and he stopped. What a moron.
After the temple, we drove for another hour to the Maekong River at the famous Golden Triangle. The triangle got its name from the opium trade. The sandbars in the middle of the river are a no man’s land and don’t belong to either Burma, Thailand or Laos. Perfect for trading.
Now the triangle is changing. The Chinese are financing an airport on the Laos side, the Burmese already have a casino and Thailand is supplying something I’m sure. The river here is huge – far bigger then I ever thought. We are in the dry season now and were told the river will rise by another 6 to 7 metres (about 21 feet) in the wet season.
A quick boat trip over to a Laos market let me try some unique whiskey. It is rice whiskey but then they put cobras in it. The jar I sampled from had a snake in it about 2 metres long. Tasty. Supposed to be good for the libido.
Next was the depressing city of Mae Sai on the Burma border. We took some pictures across the border but declined the high visa price just to cross to get our passport stamed. The street vendors here were extremely aggressive and only ignoring their existence let you get through the crowd at all. Didn’t see the big military presence here that I thought there would be but it was clear it was not an open border. Traffic was flowing but Detroit – Windsor it was not.
After that then another long ride and a sad visit to the “long neck” people. They are a tribe from Burma that has been forced out due to the ongoing civil war there. For some reason the women of the tribe place heavy brass rings around their necks as they grow. This elongates their necks and gives them a permanent weight of about 15 pounds of more on their necks. The area were visited was just for them to sell a few handcrafts but mostly they were on display. Very sad.
Afterwards we did the three hour drive back to Chiang Mai. There is a drought in Thailand this year and it has compounded the dry season. We drove through a grass fire at the edge of the road and I could see others in the hills. Back by 9 pm. Long day.
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