Sunday, April 29, 2012

Day 1 of Golden Triangle Trip

My friend and I spent a few days during April Break to visit the Golden Triangle, which is where Thailand, Burma, and Laos meet. You will have to get out a map of Southeast Asia and refresh your memory about the countries (I know I did before I came here)! We don't have a car, so we were all about public transportation after my roommate dropped us off at the end of the road!
The first songtaew on the way to the bus station- 30 minute ride...
The bus we were on for 5 hours...it was very nice and had AC!  The bus ticket cost about 6 dollars!

View from the dining area at our hotel... Mekong River divides Thailand from Laos (across the river)


There were signs everywhere that said "Golden Triangle" this was the 1st one we saw...

Laos is on your right and Burma is kind of straight behind me....
I liked this map but the tree made funny shadows...Burma (Myanmar) is yellow, Laos is pink, and Thailand is green.
Another cool sign
We went on a boat ride on the Mekong River ...
Burma (Myanmar) ...that is some resort in Burma.

Look straight ahead...if you look hard enough you can see China- 260 km  away...
at least that is what our guide said...he didn't say you could actually see China...but who knows...
maybe on a clear day?!?! hehe I touched the water so I think that probably means I touched China and Burma...it counts for being in another country right?!?!

Another boat on the river....

Woohoo we stopped at an island that belongs to Laos...now that really counts for being in another country!
No stamp on the passport...but we also didn't need to pay for a visa or re-enter stamp.
We did have to pay 20 baht and then got this paper that said we could be in Laos- so I have proof!

There were just a lot of shops for the tourist... 

and cool lamp posts...
On the way back...look at that green hotel in the background...:) that is where we stayed! Annalisa couldn't believe it was green because we had looked at pictures online...and none showed a green outside! It was a great place though...and I would high recommend it- even though it is green! 

Climbing up the steps to the temple...and then on to the over look...We weren't sure if we were allowed to take pictures from the overlook...but it was beautiful!!!

The hotel gave us these wonderful bathrobes...so of course we wore them and took funny pictures...this was the normal one! At our hotel we were given the choice of a river view for double the price or the street view! We choice the street view and enjoyed the river view at breakfast, etc!!! Don't need to be able to see the river while you sleep!

That was pretty much day 1...travel by songtaew, bus and boat. Oh and they were still celebrating Songkran, so we got some buckets of water dumped on us as we walked down the street:) It was ok though cause it was hot!


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