We decided that since we were spending some time in the Northern part of Thailand, we may as well do the "Golden Triangle" tour which takes you right to the borders of Thailand/Laos/Myanmar (Burma). The first stop was near Chiang Rai to see the hotsprings and natural geyser. They have cemented in these little pools around the geyser and sell quail eggs that they then boil in the steaming pools! LOL, we DID NOT try the eggs, but they seemed to be a popular snack to get there.
Natural geyser.....this thing was hot!
The ladies with their baskets of eggs waiting to be cooked in the boiling pools....
From there we drove on for another hour until we arrived just outside the city of Chiang Rai at the more modern Wat Rong Khun or the White Temple. It is very white and bright as many parts are done in mirrored glass mosaics set in white plaster. It was extremely creepy and Kim and I both felt there was a weird/creepy vibe to the whole place. 
Not a very welcoming looking fellow....
These would be heads hanging in the trees with plants to look like guts coming out....
These apparently symbolize the hands of Hell reaching out to get you and pull you in should you be a bad person deserving of this.....
Like I said, it was a very odd and bizarre place. After looking around for awhile, we drove further North to the border and hopped on a boat on the Mekong River to do a quick little tour of the Golden Triangle where we got to see Thailand, Laos and Burma all from one spot! They drove us by Opium Island in the middle of the river and we ended up being allowed to dock in Laos and look around the little tourist village of Done Xao.
Looking north down the Mekong River towards Burma near the centre and Laos on the right, while the boat and jut of land with the giant golden Buddha on the left is still Thailand. :)
That green island in the middle of the river is known as Opium Island where they used to make Opium drops and smuggle it over the borders.
Some fishermen out repairing nets....
National flag of Laos
So these containers were full of special whiskey.......sick, I know, as there were reptiles in them. Not sure what the appeal is, as there is no way I would even want to try that! :P
From there we took the boat back over to the Thailand side and drove to the Myanmar border. We obviously weren't allowed to cross, but we got a few pictures of the lineup to get across. LOL
The border crossing....
The long line up to cross over......
This lady was selling bags of roasted peanuts!
From the border we drove into the mountains to visit the Karen Long Neck Hilltribe people in one of their villages. The village was pretty basic. It felt very foreign and third world, that's for sure! The girls and the women were all done up in order to show their tradition of wearing rings around their neck. They were very beautiful and quite happy to show us their handicrafts and have us take a picture.
The sketchy bridge that we had to cross to get to the village on the other side!
The village!
Grass drying so they can be used to make brooms......
This girl was so cute! We ended up buying some scarves that she made. :)
After a week of exploring Thailand and going on many adventures in the jungle, on the backs of elephants and crossing borders, we decided to fly down to the laid back island of Koh Samui and spend the rest of our Winter Break laying on the beach soaking up some sunshine. :)
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