Golden Triangle and Long Neck Tour

On Wednesday we were picked up at 7:15am to go on our Golden Triangle and Long-neck Tour. There were only three of us on the tour so we were just in a ute. It was lots of driving but ok for me cos I just napped in between stops! We saw a thermal spring (not as impressive as Rotorua!) and people selling eggs boiled in the water…rather novel! Next stop was a stunning temple which was completely white (the only one of it’s kind in Thailand), this was just breathtaking and made the trip worthwhile. We then drove some more and took a boat across to Laos where we got our passport stamped (wahoo) and looked around the markets on the riverbank. This is where the Golden Triangle is, an area known for it’s illicit drug trade (Thailand, Laos and Myanmar).

After stopping for a disgusting buffet lunch, we drove further out to some more tribes to look at their wares. It was cool seeing them in traditional costume and seeing families interact. The most “exciting” part of this was seeing the long neck people (originally from Burma). The females have rings around their necks which stretches their necks, kinda freaky looking! It originally started hundreds of years ago for girls born on Tuesdays to be protected from the tiger attacking them but over the years it was used on all girls and now it’s a sign of beauty. We were wasted when we arrived back to Chiang Mai around 8:30pm that night, but as it was our last night we went out and had a lovely meal and also visited the night markets again (where I got a fantastic $5 haircut … cheap cheap Hayley fun).