On our tour we saw many, many buddhas, one of which cost about $3 million to build; took a boatride over to Laos where we had 45 minutes to shop (we bought a wooden vase that had "Laos" carved into it) and mail off a few post cards; we rode that same boat past a Burmese casino that wouldn't even let you in unless you could show them you had in cash 20,000 thai bhat (almost $700); ate a buffet Thai lunch and tried to engage our fellow travelers into conversations to no avail; drove to the northernmost province of Thailand; the two of us had to walk over to Myanmar, get our passport stamped and pay for a Burmese visa, then turn around and walk back to Thailand to get our new updated Thai visa, all fast enough so that our fellow travelers wouldn't get bored while waiting on us; drove to a Hill Tribe village to look around and walk up and down very steep hills; husband took the hike over to the Long Neck Village (seriously that's the name) while I sat waiting for the group because they felt that someone as pregnant as I am should not be hiking (?); my "so pregnant" self sat and watched some of the villagers interact and felt very sad to realize that these long neck women only wore the rings on their necks because of tourists like us, and I vowed to research things better next time; drove back to Chiang Mai, making a nice pitstop at a 7-11 along the way.
Headed to Laos, home of Khan Souphanousinphone! 
Snake and Scorpion Whiskey in Laos
Million Dollar Buddha
Province of northern Thailand
Hill Tribe Village
Long Neck Girls. The guide told husband that historically they wore the rings to protect their necks from tigers.
View of Long Neck Village from Hill Tribe Village
6 comments:
Wow, that looks like a cool trip! I bet it was exausting though! 13 hours!!?! That boat ride looks like it was really neat! It looks relaxing too with your feet all stretched out!
Why did you have to get your passport stamped?
Our Thai visa is only for 30 days, and we're in the country for 31 days, so we had to show we had left and then re-entered.
tigers attack necks? no way! i would think they'd go for a meatier part of the body.
thats so sad that they wear those things on their necks. it probably hurts them doesn't it?
Great pictures. Miss Hazel won't know where home really is! We watched a special on National Geo the other night about the women that wear those things on their necks. They do it now mainly for the tourists and because their men find it attractive. Go figure.
Love you.
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