Since day 3
was an extremely long one, we were pretty glad to have made it to the lakeside
town of Phayao comfortably. Of course, that meant a visit to the Phayao Lake
would take place next morning.
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| View of the Phayao Lake |
Phayao is a
small town with only 20,000 inhabitants and a very relaxed
atmosphere. The main attraction here is the Kwan Phayao, one of Thailand’s
biggest lakes! Fun fact- it is an artificial lake. The lakeside promenade is
home to countless guesthouses, restaurants and bars which meant our evening was
sorted!!
I’ve got to
admit that after the second day, luck was on our side as far as weather was
concerned. The rain had disappeared, albeit temporarily and that meant it was a
great time to embark on the second loop of our ride- the Golden Triangle, which
had already begun when we bypassed Chiang Mai on the way to Phayao the previous
day.
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| Entering the province of Chiang Rai |
Golden Triangle, the point where three country borders converge, is another classic motorcycling loop in north
Thailand that takes you all the way north in the Chiang Rai province to the
border area with Burma and Laos.
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| Mandatory picture! |
Our ride
today, an extremely relaxed 160 odd km, was predominantly going to be on Route
1 (also known as Route 1208), the super highway that connects Bangkok with the
northernmost parts of Thailand. As the name suggests, this highway is just
droolworthy. With about 2 hours of ride time to our final destination, we
decided to take it easy and left Phayao at 11 am!
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| My ride for the day- the Yamaha FJ09 |
The first
scheduled halt for the day was at one of the top 10 wondrous temples of the
world- The Wat Rong Khun or White Temple as it is popularly known, 65 km from
Phayao. With its extravagant and unique architecture, the temple reflects visions of heaven, hell and nirvana (that’s just some trivia I
had read :P)
 | ||
Majestic!
|
Wat Rong
Khun is a true masterpiece and very unique- the temple differs from all other,
colorful Thai temples, because it is completely white. The temple’s walls are
covered with a special plaster mixed with tiny particles of glass that create a beautiful glittering effect. Moreover, it turned out to be one of
those really bright sunny days, which meant we could get some really kickass
snaps of the white temple!
Another cool
thing that we saw here was a tree decorated with the heads of well-known comic
characters. Something like this -
After
spending about an hour here, we left for our final destination- the Golden
Triangle via Chiang Saen, a busy trade centre in the Golden Triangle region. About seven
kilometres after Chiang Saen you reach the renowned Golden Triangle. Indeed a
super-relaxed ride!
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| Thailand |
Our hotel
room was overlooking Myanmar and
Laos by the mighty Mekong river. Basically, we were staying in one country and
were able to see the other two through our balcony!
The Mekong River separates
the three countries that form the Golden triangle. Fun fact- This is the
world’s 12th longest river and the 3rd longest in Asia with an estimated
length of 4,350 kilometers. Mekong originates from the Tibetan Plateau and
runs through China’s Yunnan province, Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and
Vietnam before finally meeting the South China sea.
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| If you see this statue, you have arrived at the Golden Triangle! |
Without
wasting any time, we decided to go and check out the famed Donsao Island- the
Laos island at the Golden Triangle which is a free-zone meaning no visa is
necessary to enter this territory. A speedboat ride (one of the highlights of
the place) at the confluence of the Mekong and Ruak rivers brings you to this
island.
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| Again, a mandatory picture! |
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| Enroute Laos in a speedboat |
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| Laos looked beautiful! |
In the distance you also get a good glimpse of the rumored to be shut,
Myanmar casino which was built to cater to Chinese gamblers.
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| Must be a crazy casino! (Burma) |
The Golden
Triangle was once a dangerous land of opium, drug lords and rebel militia but
today is known for some of finest Thai roads. The road network built during the region’s
dark past now serves as a paradise for motorcyclists across the world.
If you want
to pamper yourself or your loved ones by exceeding all your limits, you can
stay at supposedly the world’s best resort, Anantara Golden Triangle, complete with baby elephants
that roam around freely inside! (it would cost you only 75000 THB per
night!!! :P)
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| I wish someone sponsored a night's stay here for me!! :( |
Stay tuned
as we learn more about the dark past of this region and make our way to the northernmost
point of Thailand!
Riding
Distances:-
1) Phayao-
White Temple – 80 km
2) White
Temple – Golden Triangle – 85 km
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