Thailand & Laos: Golden Triangle

Historically the Golden Triangle has been an area well-known for the growing of opium, and the name comes from a US State Department memo on the practice.

The landscape is hilly, divided by the Ruak River that flows into the Mekong (Mae Khong) River. These rivers form a natural boundary between the three countries Laos (to the east of the Mekong), Myanmar (to the north of the Ruak), and Thailand (to the west of the Mae Khong).

We took a short boat ride over to Laos.

Immigration was pretty simple.

immigration for Laos

Passport stamped in less than one minute.

 Welcome to Laos

There was a market selling everything from fake designer clothes to whiskey with snakes in it.

post box

I did send a post card but no idea if it will ever arrive.

Diesel

Some of the designer clothes were real but just had defects so they couldn't be properly sold.

When these kids weren't begging for money, they looked like they were having some fun.

whiskey

The ride back was gorgeous during the sunset.