Golden Triangle (Laos, Myanmar & Thailand)

After that ferry ride to Laos by the others, we were brought to the Golden Triangle. We were hopping mad when we got to the Golden Triangle as it was only like 5 mins drive or less away! We could have been dropped off here earlier while the others went on their ferry ride. There were drinks stalls and a long row of shops lining the street. We could have things to do. I voiced this out to the tour guide but he said he couldn't as he was responsible for us and our safety and what if we disappeared at the Golden Triangle? Ok, point taken but still...things could be better.
Anyway, apparently on one side is Myanmar (former Burma) and on the other side is Laos. And then there is Thailand.
Just a signboard stating I saw Myanmar and Laos from across the river. Whoopee!

Chiang Rai Ferry to Laos

We were then brought to the ferry terminal (if you can term it as that) for those who had opted to go over to Laos. This was a sore point for us as when we booked the Free n Easy package with Chan Brothers, we already indicated we just want to go to Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and were not interested to go to other places at all. And we thought we would be dropped off in Chiang Rai city center while the others went on to do the other activities, but nooooooo.....we had to be in the same minivan even if we did not want to do the activities. So this was the terminal area, it was so deserted and there was nothing for us to do.

It was still under renovation or refurbishment or whatever. It was a dead place.
View of the gate of the terminal area. V wanted to walk out and explore but I advised her to stay put as there were nothing in the area at all or within a few mins walking distance. After all, we were new to the area and it would not be good for us to disappear.
The courtyard where this was the only place which seemed built.
The office where we finally waited and cooled our heels. We were so bored. There was nothing at all. No magazines, no tv, no music. We had to entertain ourselves with my phone in the end. Lucky I had some mp3 downloaded in my phone so we listened to that, plus my mini ipod and my camera to amuse ourselves.
The ferry where the others took to get to Laos border. And what do they do there? Shopping! Yes, just there to buy fake tees or what not to say they have been to Laos. How crap is that? This would really be the last time I would ever book a free n easy trip with any travel agent.

Chiang Rai - Lunch by Riverside

After the White Temple, we were brought to the riverside to have lunch. It was a rustic little place where it was the lone outdoor restaurant in the vicinity. Fried fish and morning glory (aka kangkong?). We were near the river but not by the edge so the view was pretty good. Being outdoors, it had its share of insects. We saw a tiny cockroach on the table and ants too. Definitely not a place for those who are used to modern hygiene.
Our lunch - tom yum soup (not too bad), sweet and sour pork (didn't like it), ngoh hiang (didn't like it either). Basically V & I just focused on the vegs and fish as we were not big fans of pork dishes.

The view of the river. Right across was Laos. So once again, I am always seeing another country from across the border :p
A boat ferrying people over to Laos from Thailand. Because of its proximity to Laos, the wait staff could also speak a smattering of French. There was a table of French speaking tourists and they conversed entirely in French to the wait staff.
Another view of Laos and the river from the restaurant's car park.
The washroom. It was pretty clean, the standards of cleanliness in Chiang Mai/Chiang Rai's public washrooms were actually very good for developing or developed countries. They were much cleaner than certain places in Singapore or Vancouver and definitely way better than in Malaysia. I was just tickled to see the blue container on top to collect the rain water. It reminded me of the outdoor open-air water tank in my dad's village in China.
The restaurant with its thatched roof (not sure which leaves they were from - attap or coconut?) and its scenic view.

Chiang Rai - White Temple

We were brought to the White Temple after the hot spring at Chiang Rai. It was amazing lovely weather with its coolness and bright sunshine.
Next to the White Temple is this Gold Temple. Errr....I don't really have a clue of its actual names for these 2 temples :p
The architecture and design are so delicate and intricately created. It is pretty though I didn't exactly enter the buildings at all.

Bridge to the White Temple. It was fairly quiet with some renovation or construction going on.

A lone pink hibiscus among all the white flowers.
Another view of the gold temple. After a while, I feel the temples in Thailand all look about the same?

Ciba Vision AquaComfort Plus

I received 5 trial pairs of Ciba Vision daily disposable contact lenses as part of the Shape Run runner's kit goodies. Unfortunately they didn't fit me at all.

They were very thin and I hardly felt them when worn. Unfortunately they were a pain to remove as the thinness made it so hard to pinch them out (after 2 hours of wearing).

I tried another pair a couple of days ago and one lens actually popped out of the eye. I was so shocked. I was just testing the new colors at the MAC counter when it came out. I couldn't do much since my fingers were full of shimmery eyeshadow colors. The MAC MA just shrugged and pointed me to the nearest washroom to clean my hands.

I was pretty disappointed by that service and attitude as how could it not have any water at all? Or couldn't the MA just wet a tissue or something and let me clean my hand first before I went to the washroom to settle my contact lens issue? Luckily I was familiar with the store and popped upstairs to the washroom and try to wash my hands and not drop the lens down the sink.

In the end, I managed to rinse a little with the eyedrops. Then I went to find the nearest optical shop (I didn't manage to find small vials of saline solution in the drugstores) for help. The people at Capitol Optical allowed me to use their saline to rinse my lens, which was very nice of them. Not sure if they still practise it, but they used to service/clean the conventional permanent lenses very quarter. The optician said it popped out either my eye was dry or it was too big.

After a day of wearing, it was still a pain to remove the lenses as they tend to stick to the eyeballs. The one which popped out was easier to remove after I dripped eyedrops into the eye. But the other lens, it just hugged the eyeball and refused to budge. Despite the numerous eye drops dripped into the eye and trying to "soak" or "wash" with water, it remained stuck. I started to panic after many attempts.

I wondered if I would need to go see a doctor or if I would scratch the cornea accidentally if I forced it. The lens was just too thin to be pinched out. It was probably too big too as I could hardly see or feel the bottom rim of the lens. I couldn't even move it around the eye, unlike my regular lenses. Thank God I finally managed to get it out, and by then my eye was all red and blurry.

I am giving my eyes a bit of rest for the moment before I wear contact lenses again. So yeah, I returned the lenses to the optical shop as they don't fit at all.

Chiang Rai Hot Spring

This was actually my favorite part of the trip. Chiang Ria where the weather was much cooler and it felt like being in an air conditioned place. If only the weather would always stay like that worldwide. The hot spring in Chiang Rai. It was actually more like a geyser and not the hot spring I would have envision. You definitely could not have a soak in it. Then again, it was probably too hot anyway.
See the sign board stating it is a hot spring? I was pretty surprised that this place was very well maintained. Not modern but definitely clean.
VC and I taking one of the very few pics together. Yeah, we were there.

The view from across the hot spring. The mountains and valleys. Lots of that during the 4 hour journey from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai.
With hot spring, there would be sulphur eggs. I don't really know the correct names, but I remembered the hot spring in Taiwan also had sulphur eggs for sale. The sulphur sure stank mightily. Quail and chicken eggs for sale.
The ladies carrying baskets of eggs for sale. They would cook the eggs in the well if there are interested customers.
The shops lining both sides of the hot spring. The washrooms were surprisingly very clean too. Tiled floor with proper modern plumbing. A very pleasant and welcome surprise. And yes, the stores sell silver jewelry, Thai handicrafts and touristy stuff and clothes. The usual.
One of the coffee shops around. I ordered an iced Thai milk tea. I love the milk tea and coffee in Thailand.

Chiang Mai - Late night dinner (Den Duang Restaurant)

After exploring the night market on the first night, we decided to scourge around for food. It was definitely not as chockful of food carts as in Bangkok. There were more stalls selling the same stuff (e.g. sarongs, costume jewelry, pirated dvds, cds, fake bags, clothes and Thai touristy products) than there were food. Finally, we saw a restaurant along the street which was hidden by the roadside stalls and decided to try the food.
I ordered the basil chicken with rice. Somehow I fell in love with basil chicken after I had a fantastic yummilicious one in Bangkok. There was a roadside "restaurant" in one of the alleys near the hotel in Bangkok and the food was all so nicely done. This was pretty ok. Not too bad.
VC had the basil beef with rice. I was so glad the portion in Thailand was always just enough. Not too much like other places. Being her first visit to Thailand, VC was shocked when I declined to just order one dish to share. She understood after our plates arrived. The portions were really not that huge. Even smaller than in Singapore. I was always amazed by the Thais, how they could just have rice and 1 meat or veg. In Singapore, we are so used to rice with at least 3 items (1 meat and 2 vegs or something). Then again, that probably explained why Thais are so tiny too :p

Chiang Mai - Saa Umbrella

After the silver factory, we were brought to the umbrella "home" industry. We got to see them make umbrellas (paper from Mulberry aka Saa) from scratch. Amazing.
The Saa tree (mulberry) where the bark was extracted and paper made by dipping into water and then letting out to air dry.
This lady was applying glue made from rice or something onto the wooden spine of the umbrella, then pasting the mulberry paper over it. Once it was dry, someone would paint it.
This lady was doing the same except the umbrellas were bigger and she was making them all straight.
Then after it was painted, an artist would paint images on the umbrella. There were other artists who could even paint on your body or tees if you want.

This was definitely one of the more interesting industries to learn more about things.

Chiang Mai - Silver Industry

I saw Amway once we left the airport in the transfer van. I seemed to be surrounded by Amway references no matter where I go.

The jasmine "lei" which the travel agency people actually put over our heads. They even took a picture, but surprisingly didn't try to sell that to us. Anyway, we didn't bother wearing it for long and wound them round our wrists instead. Flower bracelets.
Just outside the hotel and after lunch at the hotel next door. The food was nothing to write about. It was buffet but nothing nice at all. We hardly ate much. While food was provided as part of the package, the bottled water we ordered was extra charge.
The first home industry we were brought to - sterling silver. A lady carving or making patterns on silver.
You could also try your hand in making your own designs using the hammer and long "nails"
A dragon seat. I just had to take a pic of that. I looked pretty tired here.

Centara Hotel - Chiang Mai

We stayed at the Centara Duangtawan Hotel in Chiang Mai. Chan Brothers gave us the wrong information when we booked. The guy said it was the Amari group, so it got me happy for a while before I realized it was a different chain. Apparently this is still considered one of the beter hotels so yeah. At least it is at a convenient location, the night market is right outside.

Our room. The size is pretty ok for a superior room. After a bad experience with a superior room in Bangkok's Hotel Asia, I try not to book that. I need space and window. I cannot do with a windowless room.
I was surprised by the bathroom. It is actually quite nice. Separate bathtub and shower area. Spacious too.
One of my breakfast plate. Steamed veggies, bacon, bee hoon, chicken sausage, potatoes and fish plus a side of omelette.
Another breakfast plate with middle eastern fare of the fried okra, pita wedge, hummous and tomato with cheese and fried rice.
Strawberry yoghurt with sliced bananas and granola. Super sweet brekkie dish :p The swimming pool. I didn't get the chance to swim as it was always crowded and we were out for 2 whole days. No time at all. This was the view from our room. We saw fireworks one of the night from the window. Awesome!