Wat Rong Khun

The long, long journey back to Chiang Mai was broken by a stop to walk round one of the true highlights of the holiday, Wat Rong Khun, otherwise known as the White Temple. The detail is stunning, all in white with mirrors stuccoed onto it. The artist Chalermchai Kositpipat has been quite controversial with his depiction of hell. We weren't allowed to take photographs inside the temple where the wall paintings were like science fiction film story boards, even with a depiction of the New York twin towers disaster.

In researching for this post I discovered that there was an earthquake (magnitude  6.3) in this area earlier this month (6 May 2014) and the whole temple site was feared to be unsafe. Luckily Chalermchai Kositpipat has now said that all damage will be repaired but it will take several years. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70N5B1t1dOE

The Golden Triangle

This area was once a no-go area for tourists with its history of opium fields and drugs trade. Nowadays tourists are made very welcome with excellent restaurants and even a fascinating Opium Museum. The Golden Triangle? The overlapping mountains of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos, once the world's major opium producer.

The Golden Triangle is where Thailand (yellow), Mynamar (light green) and Laos (pink) meet...

...with the mighty Mekong river as a border

The boat on the right ferries Thai punters to a casino over the river. Most forms of gambling are illegal in Thailand.

Wat Sop Ruak with its statue of Buddha was just by the river on an elaborately designed pirate boat structure

Here's where the Ruak flows into the Mekong (l to r Thailand, Myanmar, Laos)

Just above we visited Wat Phra That Phukhao with its excellent dragon statues. I was really thankful there was plenty of shade here!

Mae Sai

Andy was waiting for us in the car after our walk down from Yafu village. Thankfully he'd taken our overnight bags with him on a borrowed scooter. Mae Sai was our next destination, on the border with Myanmar (formerly Burma).

But first we passed some fields of rice. I don't think I've ever seen anything so green!

Here we are in Mae Sai, the northernmost part of Thailand... 

...and the bridge to Myanmar

Pan bought us some mangosteen fruit to try, a beautifully sweet taste

Road to Myanmar

Every town seems to have a Tesco Lotus, often open 24 hours even in the middle of nowhere.

How do you fancy sorting out this tangle?

Up above the town is Scorpion Hill... 

...with great views of Mae Sai and Tachileik, just over the border in Myanmar

Yafu Village (2)

We didn't sleep as well as we would have liked. No mosquitos but barking dogs, crowing cockerels and the hardest pillows imaginable meant many a waking moment!

Here's our overnight abode

Pan bringing us breakfast. He'd bought and carried corn flakes and croissants with him!

The government has provided each family with a solar panel which provides electricity for some lighting and other uses

The family's wood store

Inside everything has its place...

...except for the smoke which just disappears through the walls and roof.

Our hostess and her friend brought out all their handiwork for Tine to peruse (and hopefully purchase)!

It was time to leave the village, on foot this time but accompanied by black pigs

The village boundary: sacrificed animals are sometimes left here to ward off evil spirits

A final view of the village

Yafu Village (1)

It was a bit of a culture shock arriving in the village on the back of an elephant, to find about 120 people from the Lahu tribe living in palm tree dwellings on stilts.

Our hosts vacated their bedroom for us

Luckily the mosquito net did its job in the night

We wandered around the village, the locals obviously used to visiting westerners...

...and saw plenty of farm animals freely wandering about.

Here Tine's coming out of the shower. No hot water, I'm afraid!

This young man came to investigate us

Pan and our hostess prepared the ingredients for the evening meal...

...and Andy helped with the cooking.