June 11,

It rained a lot last night! There was also quite a wind with it. I awoke because I heard a knocking. At first I thought someone was at the door, but realized it wasn't and was able to go back to sleep. Jeff slept through it all… as he had his ear plugs in. We got around and had our Javas. Then we went downstairs, as our breakfast is included. The owner had a waffle maker so we made our own waffles! We hadn't had these in quite a while!! They hit the spot. We had 1.5 waffles each; topped with strawberry jam and chocolate. The waffles stuck on the top of the waffle maker though, so they weren’t pretty. The owner then brought us a fruit plate with a whole sliced mango, little latticework-cut pineapples, rambutan, and dragon fruit.😋

Around 1000 we set out, hopping in our Yaris. I haven’t come up with a name for it. At first I thought silver bullet, but it is the opposite of a bullet. It is underpowered, Jeff says. Still I’m ruminating on her name. The day was very overcast and a dreary-looking, so we changed up our itinerary. We went up to the Golden Triangle, which is the meeting of Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), and Laos borders. It also involves the Mekong and Ruak Rivers. The area is famous, or infamous, for having been one of the largest opium-producing regions in the world.

We parked and walked around. There is a huge gold-gilded Buddha with his entourage of elephants & other statues; and many shops selling tourist’s bits and bobs. The Thai side definitely looks the most prosperous and the most active with boats all lined waiting for tourists. We did see a couple of these boats going up the muddy, rapid-flowing Mekong. From what we can see on the Laos side, there are buildings but it seems vacant, though while watching the ‘goings on’ a moderate-sized cargo vessel started up, coughing out billows of black smoke, and went down the Mekong River. The Burma side has one building with all the rest of the shoreline being vegetation. One lone fisherman was casting a net from his boat hovering close to the Burmese shore right at the convergence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers. It was fun just watching and taking it all in. We walked about more and saw some tourists, but it is most-decidedly low tourist season. Once we’d meandered enough, we loaded up, moving on in our car.

We went to the Hall of Opium Golden Triangle Park and Museum. It had a huge grand park like entrance, with a couple of security guards, who directed us to the car parking. At the car park we waited for a tram, as it started a very light mist-spit of rain. Once it arrived we boarded and went one way to get tickets – total of 240 THB ($7.40). Tickets in hand we re-boarded the tram and went back to just beyond the car park to the museum. Seemed to be a lot of mickey-mouse to end up back where we parked and could have just walked.

Anyway, once inside the Museum we were directed to a video presentation to start. The video was not that long and just went over the layout of the museum and what it was about. Then we went up to the third floor and meandered through. I won’t go in depth, but it was about the history of Opium and it’s long used and misused history: greed, corruption, consequences, addictions and the aftermath. One of the Queen mothers had a part in founding this museum; and her son, one of the past Kings, helped Thailand become less of an opium distributor. It was a sad museum to me, because of the whole addiction thing and the vicious cycle of farming the poppies for a living. Anyway, we finished and caught the tram back to our car. Once outside it was almost sunny, so we went to town.

We wanted lunch, choosing Mekong Pizza. We had Mekong Pizza (northern sausage, green olives & mushrooms) and My Kind of Salad (lettuce, tomato, bell peppers, onion, black olives & Parmesan cheese), whilst we decided want else to do with nice weather. We paid 400 THB ($12.33) for our yummy meal.

We left and went in the car to the northernmost point in Thailand, according to Google…but couldn’t get there kind of thing. The road was blocked off by military! Google failed us yet again. The road appeared to have blocked for quite some. As we went back to the main road we passed a rice paddy that was being worked and got a quick picture. It amazes me that the tractors don’t get stuck!

So back on the main road we followed signs to where the Thai’s label “The Northern Most of Thailand” – the actual border crossing between Thailand and Burma. It was in a town, Mae Sai, where Highway 1 crosses between the two countries. The road is a huge three-lanes-each way, and lined with all kinds of shopping. It is bustling with activity, like a beehive! We were able to drive right up to the large gate of the border crossing and snap some pictures before we had to flip a U in the road, which a lot of folks are doing!

We were ready to head back when Jeff saw a sign for Tham Luang Nang Non. This is the Thai cave where a team of teenage footballers, called the Wild Boars, became stuck due to flooding. The incident took place in June/July of 2018 and lasted 18 days. Major rescue operations from many countries around the world aided in a very successful retrieval of the boys – they all were bought out alive. Two of the rescue divers lost their lives, one during the operation, the other one later from a blood infection acquired in the cave. Most of all the signage was in Thai, but Google helped me fill in the information. The cave has some mementos from the rescue mission and has set up a kind of museum in the cave. A map translated shows the boys were 2,315 meters into the cave, which was 7,595 feet. It is aptly named Wild Boar Aven. We are only allowed in 200 meters (656 feet). Jeff and I remember hearing about this and following the story. Anyway, we exited the cave and saw the statue dedicated to the man who lost his life in the cave. There were also a couple of signs that show a flood that happened just last year on Sept. 11^th, when northern Thailand had more major flooding. Crazy! Also there was not any admission fee!

We now went back to our place. For supper we had “sour” (not sourdough😂 ) bread with hummus. Superfine day exploring. Bed by 2200.