Indochina Traversal - part 3 - Thailand

We spent most of the day continuing down the Namtha and into the much larger Mekong River.  Our driver made frequent stops on both sides of the river - the left side being in Thailand - delivering and picking up unknown cargo.  This is of course without any discussion with Lao or Thai immigration nor customs.  Well, up to him so long as he got us where we needed to go.

Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge

Due to the pressure of our schedule - we were to fly out of Yangon on January 3rd - I was anxious to cross the border from Lao into Thailand before the end of the day, so I'd asked for my family to be dropped at the base of the Thai-Lao Friendship Bridge.  There was no pier here, so the driver found a spot without too much mud and reasonably stable rocks which we jumped to, having thrown off our backpacks.  It wasn't quite clear how to get up to the bridge and where we would go through immigration, but we found some steps and walked 1/2 hour, passed through Lao immigration and took the bus to the Thai side.

The transition into Thailand is quite obvious - a very different feel.  Thailand is more worldly and the Thais either themselves more enterprising or perhaps it's just that the tourist industry is so much more developed.  A bit of a come-down from the sense of both isolation from the world and connection with the immediate we'd felt for the previous couple of days, but at the same time the convenience and familiarity of developed Asia was comforting - 7 Eleven etc.

Chiang Kong: Lao can be seen the other side of the Mekong

Our plan was to get to Lampang because they have a centre there where you can be trained as an elephant mahout (handler) - I was thinking of getting the children to do it if possible.  Also, Lampang is not a great distance from the border with Myanmar.  But getting there is a little complicated - we had to over-night in Chiang Mai.  In many visits to Thailand, it would be my first time in this the northern capital.  Not a bad place, but very much a tourist town these days.

This elephant successfully painted a scene with similar skill to a young child.
I believe it was principally repetitive training - but impressive none-the-less. 

We saw the elephant centre, though it was mostly a form of amusement park that targeted mainly local Thai tourists.  My older children were asked to go down amongst the elephants to assist in the show - which was a treat for them.

The town of Lampang, though has real charm.  There's a long street adjacent to the river - Thanon Tlard Kao - with a number of beautiful old wooden houses with a variety of architectural styles.  There is a night market on this street - foods, trinkets.  Very much a local scene.  I have a feeling Lampang might be gathering a bit of a vibe based around this street - expect higher prices and more tourists.

 

Grand old mansion and the night market