No trip to northern Thailand is complete without visiting the golden triangle; the place where three countries meet.    

We had the luxury of being taken around by our volunteer hostess, so we didn’t have to do much thinking. Only get up very early! The day started out at Chiangrai city’s white temple. We’ve been there before, but it was equally spectacular the second time around with much less Chinese tourists around. 

    

  

 
The artist has some pretty controversial ideas depicted in his art and he refuses to be bought so no money is charged and he doesn’t take donations from anyone. I liked it, but I think he has delusions of grandeur.
Anyway, we fluttered our way around to the black temple museum for some more extreme weird. Buffalo horns, snake and alligator skins abounded in the temple. And on the greater estate some triangular rock arrangements, a big snake in a cage and an even bigger, black, concrete fish. All the buildings are wooden and finished in black, but we had a suspicion when we heard the name.   

   
No afternoon is complete without some thaifood and a trip to a tea plantation for an iced tea!   

   

   
Monkey Temple and cave exploring after a lovely tea was just up our street. The monkeys were forward and some very aggressive but the cave gave us all a bit of anxiety. Felt like I was doing a Bear Grylls adventure. The tunnels were tight and very hot with not a ray of light anywhere close by. 

     

The town of Maesai is the border crossing into Myanmar. There’s a big sign warning against doing visa runs. We explore the market and is agog at how many people are crossing in and out. 

  

  Last stop, the golden triangle, home to a Laos Casino and previous opium smuggling hub. Buddha sits high looking down the Mekong into Thailand while barges happily float down  from China delivering all kinds of cheap stuff. The casino is accessible to everyone and you don’t need a visa to cross over for gambling.    

 We head back to Chiang Khong in the late afternoon thoroughly, but pleasantly exhausted.