To Chiang Sean: Golden Triangle area

November 30, 2016

Now I'm at the Mekong!

I lingered a bit over the hotel breakfast, and then got delayed trying to get my bike out of lock up. I got rolling at about 8 o'clock.

Breakfast at Baan Pordeedin. Heart shaped fried eggs and home made jam. And of course a hot dog.

The King Mengrai Monument, leaving Chiang Rai. Tradition says it is the first thing to see when you arrive. Whoops.

I took the route avoiding the super highway, route 1, and ended up on 5023, a new road past the airport. Its so new it doesn't show up on the map on my Garmin, where it looked like I was riding cross country with no road. But it's a big divided highway with a lot of traffic already, and I was happy when it ended and I turned onto 1209.

This sign popped up about every kilometer along the new road. I have no idea what it says.

Except there was a construction zone, down to one lane with a flag man. I've seen a lot of road construction in Thailand, but this was my first flagman. Once past the construction, it was really a nice, pleasant ride through rural Thailand.

Rice drying along side a nice, rural road.

Along the major roads, with full gas stations, the toilets are easy to find. I had to ask where this one was. Rice drying next to it.

I was stopped and looking at my map when a roadie stopped to ask if I needed help. It was Neal (originally from the UK, I think, but didn't ask) whose girlfriend owns 6 bike shops in Thailand, including one in Chiang Sean. He was on his way there. He quickly dropped me, but I caught him at a beverage stop and we chatted some more. He offered some route advice, as well as a suggestion for accommodation in Chiang Sean. I left and took the shorter, more rural route to Chiang Sean, and he said he was taking the longer way to add kilometers to his training ride.

The rural route was quiet and made a nice, rolling ride. There was one short, unexpectedly steep hill. When I got off my bike the Garmin was showing a 15% grade.

Not a great picture, but there was an array of solar panels near the small road approaching Chiang Sean. This is the first time I've seen that in Thailand.

Chiang Sean seems to be a quiet city. The activity is a few km up the road in a town called Golden Triangle. This area was the center of the SE Asian opium trade, until the government tried to shut it down. I understand that Agent Orange was used to spray the fields. The only reason for me to visit the town of Golden Triangle would be to see the Opium Museum, and I'm not that interested.

Instead, I stopped by the bike shop and used their floor pump to pump up my tires. They were quite low. And I checked into the guesthouse Neal suggested. It is Sripraten Hotel. I have a room with fan for 250 baht. It is clean, but the hot water heater for the shower didn't seem to work, and my bike is outside downstairs while my room is upstairs. For 250 baht it's a good deal, as it's really clean and has what I need, including wifi. It's located along the main river road, on the north end of town, between the old city wall and the ring road. Its opposite a train car, which looks to be in some sort of small park.

After I showered, I wandered around town and admired the river. There were s variety of food vendors who wer

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e setting up for the night, but I went back to a fancy resort near my hotel and ate in their restaurant. I'm sort of on the edge of having stomach problems, and I wanted to be careful with the hygiene. The resort had an extensive menu, but they didn't have everything on it. I ate a club sandwich, which was pretty good after I picked out the really potent onions on it. The resort is Gin's Mekong View, and it looks nice if you're ready to splash out a bit.

Approaching this, I thought there must be a huge area of rice field burning. On closer look, it is just a small pile burning. The dog in the picture (look closely) gave chase until he was called back.

Co-motion, still in Thailand. This is in Chiang Sean, at the river front. The backside of the sign has the history of Chiang Sean in English.

Thailand's border at Chiang Sean, in Thai, English and Chinese. There are a lot of French tourists in this part of Thailand, too.

Interesting details on the wat in Chiang Sean.

Welcome to Chiang Sean, Land of Golden Triangle.

View from Gin's Mekong View, where I ate and lingered.

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Today's ride: 62 km (39 miles)
Total: 1,058 km (657 miles)

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