11th May - Black House, Golden Triangle and Tea

Our first port of call today is the Black House. Another marvel of art. This time however we have a monk studying the art form from an "inside out" perspective, where he uses the skulls and skins of animals and moulds them with wood. He built a number of houses on the property. Each are now filled overflowing, with the life's work of this Buddhist art master. His ashes reside atop of the wooden platform in the first building.

We next move to the Golden Triangle where the borders of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand meet. This is where the Ruak River (the border between Thailand and Myanmar) meets the mighty Mekong River (the border between Thailand and Laos). There is of course a view point, a number of tacky shops and a big Buddha, this time perched upon a boat.

Lunch is a set menu of a number of Thai dishes.

After lunch we visit a Tea Plantation, established by Chinese interests some years ago, and now produces some of the best Thailand tea.

This evening we visit the Chiang Rai Saturday night market. It is very much a local market with clothes, food and many and varied other items. It is hot. We stay for dinner but need to retire to a local restaurant to wet the whistle.

A variety of sights today. A hot day too.

Black House

Black House

Black House

Black House

Black House

Black House

Black House

Black House

Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle

Tea Plantation