Trip to Mae Sai

On December 27 and 28, we rented a car and drove north to Mae Sai and the Golden Triangle. Cyndy's friend Judy, from Vancouver, also joined us for the trip. Our first notable stop was the "Pie Place" where Arthur ordered the corn pie which turned out to be a sweet cream pie (like banana or coconut) with pieces of corn in it. This stop was not only a place for pie but also a resort with a swinging bridge to the bungalows and a small menagerie.

From there we went on the to current King's mother's gardens in the mountains. She decided to experiment with gardening at a high elevation and the result was a beautiful garden. We had enjoyed the flowers, paths and water plus it was fun watching the Thai's pose. We tried some of their picture techniques ourselves and you can see the result. You may want to try this at home with household objects.

Mae Sai is on the river-border between Thailand and Burma. Most of us had been there before but it was fun to be there together. One supper, we ate overlooking the bridge between the two countries. In the photo below, which I took the next morning, you can almost see the Thai flags flanking half the span of the bridge and the Burmese flags carrying on from there.

In the morning, we visited the school where MCC sponsors a lunch program. Unfortunately none of the students were around because it was a holiday but we got a tour and were able to ask some questions. This photo below seem to highlight the absence of students.

We also went to the Opium Museum, which was a multi-million dollar establishment designed to stop people from taking drugs. (We weren't sure at first if it was dedicated to the use and abuse of drugs or dedicated to erradicate opium production and use! It was clear by the end.) We were not allowed to bring cameras with us so we have no photos.

Above: Arthur's bee photo.

I intended to post more pictures but the system is running slowly tonight so I'll stop now.