The two countries of Thailand are North and South. Part 10
Part 10. In which we visit the most beautiful flower park, look down on Myanmar and spend the night in the opium museum.
November 27, Tuesday. Mae Salong - Mae Sai - The Golden Triangle.
Plans for the day:
-botanical garden (flower park) Mae Fa Luang Garden (Doi Tung)
- Doi Chang MUB observation deck (located on road 1149)
-Wat Pha That Doi Wao (temple with a scorpion)
Unscheduled:
-Arboretum Mae Fah Luang Arboretum
Total mileage 116 km
map for clarity:
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By the fourth day, we were somewhat tired of driving a car. I'm even tired of describing all this. Usually a trip to the north is calculated for three days. Less than four. I stretched the pleasure for all five days, because I knew that I would not be able to master many sights in a day, I do not like to hurry and I do not know how. I crossed out a bunch of stuff along the way!
Therefore, let's not rush)
The morning was great! We woke up in a great mood, quickly put our things in our suitcases and went to have breakfast.
The dining room is high up, so the view from the window is just crazy.
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Traditional round tables, Chinese style in the interior and mountain views from the windows promised to make the breakfast very atmospheric.
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But it didn't work)
Breakfasts are included in the room rate, there are three options - European, Chinese and some other. I chose the usual, European, and my husband decided to show off and ordered a Chinese breakfast. Well, he hasn't been to China yet and he thinks Chinese food is delicious. But no) They served him rice porridge with fried minced meat. The brew was very thin and absolutely tasteless. I looked at his suffering and, touching his swollen gums with my tongue, silently changed the plates. Anyway, except for porridge, I could hardly eat at least something. Minced meat, of course, interfered, scratched the wound, so I also ate porridge with difficulty. We ate breakfast because of this for a long time.
I liked coffee and fruits)
But I was sad. I don’t want to go to the doctor, where in these villages to look for a doctor, but obviously I’m not going to go through it myself.
We leave at 8:30.
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If after Mae Salong you still don’t have enough terraces, then you can stop by Choui Fong Tea. There are beautiful views and delicious tea cakes. I think so) Unfortunately, we missed this place.
Photo from the Internet
At 9:50 we are at Mae Fa Luang Garden
The driver drops us off at the ticket office, but he himself returns down the road, there is a large parking lot.
We buy tickets for 90 baht. The park is worth every baht.
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It's cold here.
I'm in shorts and a light windbreaker. I'm trembling like an aspen leaf. We are drinking coffee. Coffee is also 90 baht. Not worth it) But it warms. And saturates, because with a cake. My long-suffering mouth is no longer childishly swollen, and it hurts even to talk. Cake is the only food I can eat. This cake is far from perfect, but uplifting. The world is getting colors again
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You know, I have not been to the famous flower parks, but I have already seen Thai parks. Therefore, I can say with confidence - this is the best in Thailand.
The orchid pavilion is not as wild as the Royal Park Rajapruek in Chiang Mai. But it's incredibly soulful.
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We wandered around for a long time back and forth. The place is absolutely amazing. And the wicker dome! Who comes up with this? )
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Entrance to the Looking Glass? )
No. Just park art.
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But the most beautiful thing in the flower park is the central flower arrangement.
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Believe me, I sifted photos with great regret)
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Because you have to go and see for yourself!
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We already walked there, sat, lay. . .
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I didn't want to say goodbye.
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We spent 2 hours in the park. On the way to the parking lot, we also went to the market and bought small pineapples. If you're in the area, be sure to buy and try! Nothing tastes better than pineapple. But we couldn't eat them. My husband still couldn't. I was no longer allowed) Therefore, they did not take it with them. We ate a bag for two and went to look for our beads.
We're only 15 minutes away. The driver stops, waves his hand forward. We go out and look around. This is Mae Fah Luang Arboretum. We don't have it in our plans. But since they arrived, I think. . .
The ticket costs 90 baht. Of course, it's expensive for such a place.
We go down the long stairs.
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The feeling that this park is less well maintained. But a touch of decadence gives naturalness.
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The plants on the roofs always touch me. As a symbol of vitality. You should not wait for special conditions in order to live and enjoy this life. You don't have to think you're out of luck if you grew up on a rooftop. But, you can see further) And you are closer to the sun)
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The park is very photogenic, it looks worse in real life than in the photo.
There are almost no people. In addition to us, several people are wandering among the cabbages. No one in their right mind wants to pay 90 baht for this.
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Flowerbeds with agricultural products) We have seen cabbage before, but beets for the first time.
We spent a total of half an hour there. And even that was a lot) Entertainment for 15 minutes.
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We return to the car. I show the driver on the map where we actually aimed. About seven hundred meters up the road, there is a gorgeous observation deck on the very border with Myanmar. It is this point that the driver has in the plan.
There is one of our funny dialogues going on between me and the driver:
- We need this place.
-Not.
-Why not?
- You can't go there.
-How can you not? My friend went there yesterday (I always say that when it takes a long time to explain)).
- You can't take the bus.
- Which bus?
- On this - points to the small bus.
While we are talking, cars drive back and forth past us. There are no vans among them, but I point to them with hope:
-You can go there!
-We can not.
And then I realize that we will not go along the border road again, as I planned. Minibuses are not allowed there. And according to the plan, we have lunch in a cafe overlooking the mountains, on this road.
Okay cafe. That we have never seen a cafe in the mountains or something.
(In the Carpathians, in Pylypets, on Mount Gymba, there is a cafe Chayovnya. The view of the mountains there is simply incredible. If you are in our area, you should definitely visit. )
But we could not miss the observation deck at the border point. Even if there were three kilometers off-road to go there.
Let's go on foot, what to do? The road rises a little, but, in general, it is not difficult to go, there are few cars.
13:20.
The checkpoint is located a little further than the buildings of the border checkpoint. He is clearly visible. Parking nearby.
We pass through a small labyrinth, woven from some dry plants, and here it is - Myanmar!
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Barbed wire, a palisade of flimsy sticks and magnificent mountains.
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This is a real border post. You can climb into the trench.
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The mountains are similar to the Carpathians. I love such places. As if nothing special, but you can endlessly sit and look at the beauty.
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We sit under a canopy on chairs and soak.
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The place is free, affordable, great. Highly recommend!
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We stomp back from the mountain rather quickly, but we see some kind of campsite. There are no tents, but an interesting bridge beckons us in the distance.
Look at the unusual moss on the railing. Maybe it's not even moss, but mushrooms.
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It turned out that the bridge leads to the observation deck to the arboretum, which we had previously visited. But nothing interesting can be seen from there)
On the clock 14:00.
I cross out the mountain cafe from the plan and go to the city of Mae Sai.
The road takes a little less than an hour and here we are at the northernmost point of Thailand. This is not just a city on the border, it is a city divided by the border. On the Myanmar side, it is called Tachileik. Each half refers to its own country and pretends that it is a whole city)
Here we have two goals - to have lunch and look at the wonderful temple Wat Pha That Doi Wao
It is located almost on the very border. Not reaching the border crossing just a couple of hundred meters, we turn right into the market. Slowly, pushing the onlookers aside, we make our way through the malls. You can climb a long staircase, but we are not heroic, we drive by car.
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From here you can see the city of Tachileik. I wonder how they live there? )
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Burmese temple on the mountain. Tourists stand there too and are curious about how we live here.
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Wat Pha That Doi Wao is, of course, very unusual. It is a mixture of styles, religions, eras. I'll put on my best at once.
Especially green 
I like it.
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It seemed to me that the temple, after all, is Hindu.
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Or not? ) Peacocks are made of ribbons. In Thailand, in many places we saw figurines woven from silk ribbons. But these birds were the most beautiful.
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For some reason, I could not leave the feeling that we were at a wedding)
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Or in the children's amusement park.
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Who do these monks look like?
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The main object here is the figure of a scorpion. Its claws and sting are directed at the neighbors. Don't get in!
You can admire the booty of a scorpion from the side of the temple, there they arranged a waterfall. And you can climb onto the terrace nearby and, in the dazzling sun, try to catch it in the lens, if not from the front, then at least from the side.
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Descending the same way, we deployed near the border and parachuted for lunch. The driver was told that in an hour we were going further.
For about half an hour we are looking for somewhere to have lunch, but everything is not right, not right, not right... I want color, local dinners and soup for 40 baht. And there are coffee shops and shops.
We go to a small shop, buy snacks for dinner and, fortunately, we finally find soda. The very next day I could talk normally, and after a couple of days everything was clear.
We pass to the market and immediately come across a cafe. Color is present, visitors are absent.
We ate spicy soup with the romantic name Suki.
- But wake up! - the waitress swears, but my mouth is squashing like in Golokhvastov's heart.
-Sssss....
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The time is 4 pm. Now I regret that we did not go to the market, it looked very exotic, but then I wanted to go home and sleep)
We drive about 40 minutes to the hotel, which is located in the opium museum, next to the confluence of the three borders - the Golden Triangle.
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When I was looking for and even when I found this hotel, I had no idea that we would spend the night in the museum) Well, not in the museum itself, of course, but in pretty houses in the opium territory)
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Here I wanted to write something smart about the Golden Triangle and opium, but I thought that you yourself probably know that a few decades ago there was a drug district here. I can only say that according to Wikipedia, the opium museum is the only one in the world. And on the Golden Triangle there are two of them - Hall of Opium and House of Opium. Entertaining mathematics)
The hotel was strange. And not because it's in a museum. Although, therefore, too)
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The houses are cool, no doubt, but worn to death. And wifi is gone. When he fell off the first time, I ran after the administrator, who was just running around the lake. She re-entered my password, but after a few minutes the Wi-Fi dropped out again.
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There is no kettle in the room, so I ran for a kettle too. In general, I ran there a lot and was satisfied with the run) I was much less satisfied with the number.
But, by the way, there are no terrible horrors, it is clean, quiet and mosquitoes bite infrequently)
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