Shane's Trip Journal

April 2nd was on the bus (approx. 15 hrs) to Bangkok then the 3rd was spent sightseeing more temples and Chinatown in Bangkok. April 4 I was on the bus (couple of hours) to Ayuthaya, the ancient capitol of Thailand. It was built at the fork of three rivers and was the dominant city of Thailand from 1350 to 1767. After 2 years of war the Burmese took the city in 1767 and the Thais re-established their power near the center of present day Bangkok (ref. lonelyplanet). Today Ayuthaya has over 130,000 people and give tours of the ancient ruins. After my tour of the ruins, I boarded a sleeper train to Chiang Mai. The train left Ayuthaya at 9pm 4/4 and arrived at Chiang Mai 9am 4/5. The train was quite comfortable, with two sets of bunk beds facing each other in each compartment. There was a curtain you can close for privacy and overall the car quiet. I had heard that the trains can get cold and that was correct, the a/c must have been on max. April 5, I checked into my guesthouse and did a bit walking around Chiang Mai. April 6, I took a tour of the white temple, the border crossing at Myanmar, the golden triangle (where the Mekong river meets Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos), and the Karen Long-neck tribe. The 6th was  a lot of driving with a stops here and there to tour the areas. One surprising thing I learned was, although I technically entered Laos, I did not have to go through customs because the area that we toured is considered a economic trade zone. A wealthy man from Hong Kong has bought up the area around the golden triangle and is now building a casino among other things. The golden triangle was historically a trade route for opium and other drugs but the government has retrained the locals to grow fresh fruits and other types of plants that will benefit them via the tourist trade. The Karen Long-neck tribe was authentic to a point. As you walk into the village you walk through several three sided huts that are selling various tourist items. Even the long-neck villagers themselves were selling some commercial goods next to their own hand-made items. The border crossing at Myanmar was apparently used mainly for tourist visa runs and locals cross for the casino. Today (April 7) I did not have any activities planned so I walked a bit in some of the less touristy areas of the city. Tomorrow I am off to Doi Suthep which is a bit north of here and is reported to be the most important temple in the north of Thailand.