The Mekong river winds and meanders through six countries and our current view from the hotel can see two of those. We are 25 minutes from the border crossing between Thailand and Laos. This is our last night on the Thai side and we will miss it along with three of our trip guides that we must farewell. Chai, Sunny and Nam have helped make our Thailand trip full of adventure, good food and lots of laughs and we wish them all the best.
Today we acknowledged all those who have fought and died in wars before us. We read poems, shared stories and had a minute’s silence for Remembrance Day. Some of us have been to places like Gallipoli and Flanders Fields, and some of us have relatives who fought in different wars. We are thankful that we now live in peacetime because of them.
We also learned about the golden triangle and the opium wars. The golden triangle refers to an area that covers parts of three countries, Thailand, Laos and Myanmar, and is a kind of no-man’s land where large volumes of opium used to be produced. The opium museum was very educational and the eerie displays and music represented the dark nature that this drug has had on many societies in this region for hundreds of years. Named one of the best museums in Thailand, the Hall of Opium had multimedia exhibits on the history of opium, the wars fought between the Chinese and the British, the Thai government’s role, and the harmful effects on the body. A very informative afternoon.
Tonight we have prepared for our border crossing tomorrow and we are looking forward to exploring a new country – Laos.
