You start your day heading for Chiang Dao, north of ChiangMai, winding along the bends of the road high above the Mae (River) Ping. You will arrive at the Chiang Dao Elephant Camp in time for the 40 minute, 10 am show.

The show begins with a majestic procession of elephants marching up the Mae (River) Ping. Then it is bath time with much splashing and trumpeting. Later, the elephants demonstrate how they move large teak logs as if they were matchsticks, a skill employed for more than a century in the teak forests of the North.

After the show, you come back on the road and pass Chiang Dao; it runs through tall teak forests before entering the plains around Fang and from there to Tha Thon.

After a lunch on the riverside, you climb inside a boat (carrying up to 8 passengers) for a one-hour journey down the Mae Kok River, on the way to Chiang Rai (the capital of Thailand most northerly province - 180 kms -112 miles- from ChiangMai), that will take you past hilltribes villages (cf. Doi Suthep Route) and grasslands.

Wat Phra Singh and Wat Phra Kaeo

You can spend your afternoon with a visit to the two temples in Chiang Rai that are worth a close examination : Wat Phra Singh and Wat Phra Kaeo.

Wat Phra Singh is a modern temple distinguished by a pair of doors designed and carved by a local artist. The guardians both don penises, one in the shape of a serpent and the other, an elephant's head... - Wat Phra Kaeo is a fine-example of Lanna-style architecture - the viharn having lacquered doors and a carved wooden gable. The temple is believed to have been the original residence of the Emerald Buddha - wich is now kept in the temple of the same name in Bangkok.

Wat Phra Singh.

Chiang Rai city pillars.

Then leave Chiang Rai to spend the night in Mae Chan - a town on your way to Mae Sai and the world famous area called the Golden Triangle ...

After your breakfast, you head for Mae Sai, the northernmost point in Thailand (some 870 kms from Bangkok). There, at the Sai River Bridge, the burmese border - closed except to locals for decades - is now open to foreigners doing a day trip (the fee to the burmese authorities is 10 U.S. $). For a couple of hours, you'll have the opportunity to make some exotic shopping - the town trading all kinds of goods from Burmese jade (cf. Shopping Tour) and antiques to coins and stamps.

Next on the programme - after a lunch on the border - you must see the Golden Triangle, the world-famous point where Burma, Laos and Thailand meet. You take a photograph of the signpost marking the juncture - and then climb in a boat for a 'cruise' around the numerous islands in the Mekong. It's shopping time again. A 15-minute journey in a laotian island will give you the chance to try and maybe take away some 'beer lao' or other outlandish products.

The signpost marking the juncture.

A view of the Mekong River delta.

Then you'll probably be rather exhausted... As the road back is long, it's a good idea to make a break. On your way back from Chiang Rai to ChiangMai, take a rest at Suan Charin Resort, a complex of luxury bungalows in picturesque settings - where you can have coffee and pie - leafy. In addition, there are plenty of very beautifull roses to admire.

e-mail : vieng@chiangmai-online.com

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