Chang Saen

Our first stop of the day before heading up to the border was a pineapple plantation. I did not know they grew this way. I need to start paying attention to where my food comes from.

Next, we stopped at the Mae Sai Border market which was located at the border between Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand. We had the option of crossing over into Burma and checking out the market over there but the visa requirements were murky and I was envisioning my luggage being thrown over the border to me while I'm trapped there for the rest of the trip. Also, I knew that even if I was allowed to re-enter the country, it would shorten my visa by 15 days, which only gave me a couple days leeway, meaning if I had a flight delay or decided to stay for the Full Moon Party (because that's how I roll), I would be staying illegally. But I took a picture of the border!

Next stop was the Golden Triangle. We saw the river where Laos, Burma, and Thailand meet and located at this lookout point was a friendly reminder from the USA:

This bench reads:

Donated by

United States Drug Enforcement Agency

Royal Thai Police Narcotics Suppression Bureau

Sensitive Investigative Unit Bangkok

WWW.DEA-REWARDS.COM

At the Golden Triangle was a The House of Opium (Museum):

I like how Museum is added as an afterthought. Maybe they saw that bench and wanted to make sure it was clear. Either way, it was an interesting museum that shared how to make Opium, how to make the pipes to smoke it, and even the best position to smoke it in. It also had an exhibit about the local hilltribes.

On our last evening in Chang Saen, everyone was really excited to eat some local food. Unfortunately, there wasn't much to be had. Most of the group was tired of eating at the hotel so Kitti took us out to the local market to see what they had to offer. Here were some of our options.

We ended up eating at the hotel.

That night there was a gecko in the room. This had happened before but not with a gecko who was so vocal. Let me clarify the sound a gecko makes. The first time I heard it I thought it was the screech of a bat. These geckos are 3 inches long at best but the sound that comes from them is so unholy it will chill you to the bone. There is no sleeping through it. So once every hour or two I was woken up to the frantic scream of a gecko from somewhere in the room, moving every time I heard it. Luckily we had a long drive the next day so I could catch up on my sleep.