A weekend in Chaing Saen, Thailand!

On the weekends, volunteers have the opportunity to travel. We are able to stay at Mirror on the weekends, but there are no meals prepared. The community is on the outskirts of town, so it isn’t too exciting.

January 24

A large group of us decided to travel to Chiang Saen, Thailand this weekend. Chiang Saen is home to the Golden Triangle, where Laos, Thailand, and Burma/Myanmar meet. Like advertised in Lonely Planet, it was very sleepy town. Before arriving, I was convinced that we were going to be able to stand in all three countries at the same time…similar to the setup in Tennessee. Unfortunately that was not the case and we could only see the three countries at once. Needless to say, I was disappointed. To make up, the other female volunteers and I decided to have Thai massages along the river. I have never had a massage, so I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve heard that Thai massages are rough so I prepared myself for the worse. The massage was amazing; this lady knew what she was doing! The combination of concrete “mattresses” and long bus rides have made my body feel so old. The massage was definitely needed. She cracked and stretched me in ways I never though possible. I did surprise her and the other ladies when she stretched my back and I bent in half. I’ve always been flexible, I just didn’t know it was that odd. If you ever come to Thailand, you must get a Thai massage! Not only are they cheap (1 hour for 3 dollars) they are very soothing. I was going to wait until Ko Tao to get my massage, I’m so glad I changed my mind. I would like to get one every week! : ) I just need to talk James into getting one now!

My favorite aspect of Chaing Saen was dinner along the river. In the late afternoon, the food stall owners set up squat tables along the boardwalk and serve dinner. Since we were a big group we decided to order many different dishes and try them all. We sampled Tom Yom, fried rice, bamboo chicken, papaya salad, and many other things. I feel as if I am becoming much more daring with my meal choices, so I actually ate the meat! The bamboo chicken was absolutely amazing! They took a hollow piece of bamboo, placed chicken and a spicy sauce inside and threw it on a fire to cook. It was quite spicy, but super tasty. I think this meal was my favorite throughout the whole trip. We thought our bill was going to be rather high, but once we calculated it, it was only 70 baht per person. That’s two dollars per person! We had so much food! I cannot get over the prices here. Do Thais know the meaning of profit?

After dinner we moved to a local bar called 2 b 1. It was a fun setting for there was a DJ and an extensive drink menu. We had way too much to drink the night before at the birthday party, so we stuck to the large Chang pitcher for all of us. All in all it was a low key night, but a lot of fun.
We stayed at the Chiang Saen Guest House…..super sketchy, but oh well. When in Thailand… I have come to the conclusion that the worse part of a sketchy or buggy bedroom is laying in bed trying to fall asleep. During this time I lay there thinking about the dirty sheets or bugs crawling around me. I know most of it is in my head because once I fall asleep I am fine. My bug tolerance has definitely increased!

January 25

Lonely Planet also recommended walking to the Chiang Saen ruins, so of course we had to do it. It seems as if once an attraction is written about in Lonely Planet, then it becomes a touristy area and souvenirs vendors set up shop. The ruins themselves were quite impressive, but the vendors and tour groups took away from it.

After the ruins we ventured back to Chiang Rai for lunch and food shopping for the rest of the week. Dinner is not served at Mirror on Sunday evenings, so we had to find a meal to bring back. The Australian girls were throwing an Australia Day party, so we had some yummy treats with them. They sure know to made rice pudding and roasted bananas with chocolate. I sure do love trying all the different cuisine types here!

The rest of the night was spent planning for our Hilltribe lesson….yes/no questions! Wooho!