I left Chiang Rai after missing breakfast at the hotel so first stop was Starbucks…
After a venti latte lon and a warm almond croissant (sorry Dr. Onkarn, my endocrinologist at BDMS) fuelled and sugared up for the trip I headed north in my AVIS hire car. I really cannot understand why more people don’t just hire a car and get away from the crowds.
After 10 days in the north I only spent 3 days in Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai and sorry – but they were the least enjoyable because of the people. The traffic, the air quality, the crowds of tourists and the Thai chancers… I really believe that you meet nicer, more pleasant, real Thai people in the small towns and villages.
I drove North towards Mae Chan in the large SUV I had hired from AVIS it ate the miles up. North again to Mae Sai turning East North East through the fantastic twisty roads through the mountains. Travelling by car is so easy nowadays with GPS Google Maps on smartphones. My iPhone didn’t miss a beat. As I drove along comfortably sat in the big leather armchair that the Toyota Fortuner afforded me I thought of all those poor souls squashed in a tour bus, fighting for air and pavement space with many others.
I followed the course of the Ruak River on to where it runs into the Mekong and the area that is referred to as the ‘Golden Triangle’. In the Chiang Rai province, in the far north of Thailand. The name was coined in the 1960s to refer to the opium-cultivating regions of Laos, Myanmar and Thailand but nowadays the northern Thai tourism industry uses it to refer to the tripoint where the three countries meet. Locals call this spot Sop Ruak, since this is where the Mekong meets the Ruak River.
I stopped at The Imperial Golden Triangle Hotel as I saw a restaurant on the river. I parked up and walked back and into the eatery. It was jam packed of mainly Chinese tourists on two levels. The food looked ok but I could see that the frazzled staff were rushed off their feet. The sheer noise of the cacophony was extreme and I quickly realised that this was not for me. I swiftly left got back into my car and drove out of town!
I stopped 25 minutes down the road at a roadside restaurant where there were only two other customers. I ordered my food, minced pork with basil and chilli, two kai daow with rice it was freshly cooked delivered with a smile at cost me 60B!
Compare that with what I would have been stiffed in the packed, noisy restaurant opposite the hotel. The time I saved and the pleasant quiet surroundings that I was now eatimng my hot simple meal with bottled water whilst the car was parked directly across the road. I was in and out within 25 minutes and on my way. I imagined the guests at the other restaurant being herded back onto their coach to continue their tour.
I had the freedom to stop when I needed the bathroom, when I saw a site that stirred me. If I wanted a cold drink or a cup of tea. That’s what hiring a car offers you on your holiday – freedom!
Expat Life in Thailand is a community lifestyle magazine for expatriates (a person who has citizenship in at least one country, but who is living in another country) living in Thailand with an appetite and a zest for the best of life!
