The Golden Triangle - from rags to riches

Three months after Sue arrived here, she had to do the usual "border run". It may sound a bit dodgy, but it's actually just another piece of the irritating beaurocracy that is Thai Immigration. You see, you cannot renew your visa in the country. They insist that you have to leave the country and then re-enter to have your visa renewed. So when you live in Chiang Mai, the place to do this is at the town of Mae Sai and that Thai/Burmese border (and also home to Thailand's northern-most point). My father once (very accurately I thought) described Mae Sai as a "giant crap market". There is street after street of people trying to sell you everything from shoes, to air guns to comforters and feather dusters. It definitely has the feel of a dodgy, desperate border town.

Just outside the town of none-too-appealing town of Mae Sai are spectacular mountains and some lovely resorts. We stayed at a nice family-run place called Wanliya Resort. The rooms were reasonable and clean. Set in the beautiful hills just outside of the city, the resort also boasts a nice pool and some crappy Indian cable T.V. channels. After a night in Mae Sai, we went on to our next destination, the Anantara hotel in the small town of Chiang Saen.

In a silent auction earlier in the year I had bid on 2 nights stay at the Anantara Resort & Spa in the Golden Triangle. My mom's friend encouraged me to do so and since no one else had apparently heard of it, I didn't have to much competition. I didn't realise at the time that the package also included a two day mahout training course at the hotel's elephant conservation centre. I realised that this package was the perfect opportunity for me to surprise my best friend Sue with a once in a lifetime experience. The best part about it is that I convinced her that I had got some coupons for a discounted rate for some average Thai resort and I thought we'd have to pay about 1000 baht a night or something. So she really wasn't expecting too much. As we drove into the entrace of this luxury hotel in my shitty little two-door hatchback, she commented that it didn't look like we could afford this place. I replied, that she was right indeed, we could NOT afford this place, but that by my cunning bidding we would be staying here for two nights, my treat! I also told her to be prepared to learn how to bareback ride elephants at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning as we would also be embarking on a two-day mahout course.

The whole experience was awesome. The hotel was wonderful, the staff fantastic and the location stunning. From our private balcony we looked out onto the Mekong River and could see where Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet. As it was the rainy season, we could watch tropical storms drift across the verdant hillsides as the dense clouds clung to the mountain tops. We had a great time hanging out in the swimming pool watching the huge bamboo groves that covered the surrounding hills sway in the warm summer breezes. We also lucked out as we were there for Mother's Day, which is held on the Queen's birthday. To honor this day, the hotel had a cocktail party complete with free cocktails, wine and tapas. Perfect for two poor teachers! It was definitely an experience I'll never forget (and won't likely repeat with what the rooms regularly cost!).