Rockin' the Golden Triangle

Well, we had our first visitor come and go. Fun was had by all. Last week, after a very busy time at work, we took some time off and did a road trip up north to the Golden Triangle and made a few stops along the way.

We got an early start and made it to Charin Garden for a delicious lunch. I have been there 3 times now and it gets better every time! I get the same thing--Chicken and basil followed by a cup of coffee and a slice of ice cold lemon pie. Mercy! It's so good! We all enjoyed our food as well as the relaxing scenery. Charin is comfortably nested by a gentle creek.

Then, we hit the road and made our way through Chiang Rai to visit the "White Temple." It is a Buddhist temple that is well, uhhhhh white. It's something though! It almost looks like it's made out of sugar. It's really weird. The designer is famous for his very contemporary interpretation of this century's temples. The inside had super modern imagery on the walls. Typically, you'll see very ancient renderings of Buddha's timeline....birth, enlightenment, etc. However, this artist chose to capture today's events so that it will be recorded in this new history. The graphics on the walls included many skulls and crossbones, the Pepsi logo, the Twin Towers, Converse high top sneakers, and most oddly--Keanu Reeves in his Matrix get up. VERY WEIRD. Anyways....we couldn't take photos inside but the outside is really wild. Check it out.

On up the road, we stopped in at a village where there were about 5 different people groups living on shared land provided by the government. We were particularly excited to see the Long Neck Karen people. The females all stack super heavy brass rings around their neck, arms, and below their knees. It's really something to see.

Then, we headed on up to the Golden Triangle--where Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos meet. We stood right on the bank of the Mekong River. We ended up having time to squeeze in a boat ride over to a market in Laos. This was really cool! The Mekong is a really cool looking river. We rode for about 15 minutes to the market. When we got out of the boat, we paid a visitor's tax like thing and then we started browsing. Well, since we weren't particularly in the market for snake whiskey or cigarettes, we didn't find much that we couldn't live without. Check this stuff out though! It could definitely put some hair on your chest!

We then headed back to town. It was an awesome day trip! This was one of the many things we did while Terri was here. More posts to come. Terri, thanks so much for making the effort to come and experience life here with us! We had a blast and hope to see you again soon!!