A selection of Wi’s Golden Triangle photographs from her recent tour – the first part of our Northern Laos and the Golden Triangle tour from Chiang Mai to Vientiane via the UNESCO sites of Luang Prabang and the Plain of Jars.
Stag beetle store On departing from Chiang Mai and heading north, the group’s first stop was the local hill-tribe market near Mae Krachan. Apparently it’s stag beetle season, (we never knew there was one!?), and the overgrown insects are much sought after for beetle fighting bouts and where, not surprisingly, large sums of money often change hands for the most promising looking contenders.
Fruit wines The northern Thai hill-tribe peoples have become pretty adept at making fruit wines from the more temperate fruits – plums, cherries, strawberries etc – that grow in the higher altitudes since their more traditional, though more illicit, products have been prohibited!
Black Lahu hill-tribe woman And a couple of views on the way from Chiang Rai to the Burmese border at Mae Sai.
Emerald green paddyfields 
Traditional fishing methods Below is a view of the ‘Burmese Market’ at Mae Sai – still on the Thai side of the border.
Mae Sai It is possible to cross over the border on a temporary pass but for now, it’s not really practical to go much further than the towns of Tachileik and Kengtung on the Burmese side.
Thai/Burmese border crossing point From Mae Sai we follow the banks of the Mekong past the town of Sob Ruak where Thailand, Laos and Burma meet, the historic town of Chiang Saen to our destination the small riverside town of Chiang Khong.
Mekong with Laos in the background And we’ll finish with a couple of pretty sunrises Wi took at Chiang Khong….
Sunrise at Chiang Khong 
Sunrise 2 …..cheers and thanks to Wi for her excellent selection of Golden Triangle photographs.
