Monday, 11/24

This morning Chap, Tom and Greg set off early for the Myanmar (Burma) border where Chap has to renew his visa.  They leave about 6:15 and it is fairly foggy for a while.  They travel through mountains and valleys, leeche orchards, corn, a tobacco field and others.  Some of the fields have scarecrows or scraps of fabric to deter birds.  There is not a lot of wildlife in Thailand though efforts are being made to conserve what little is left.  Chap says most of it has been eaten! They stop for pie and coffee.

Near Chiang Rai they stopped to see the White Temple.  Beautiful, amazing.  There is some slight damage from a recent earth quake.

They arrive at MaeSai on the border, about 10:30. Very busy area with a lot of coming and going.  Chap finds that the rules have changed and he will have to go to immigration back in ChiangMai. 

He does find a gem dealer that he knows and purchases a few stones before they head back to ChiangMai.  Thailand is about the size of Texas but has 66 million people, so there is not a lot of totally undeveloped land and there is some development along ½-2/3 of the highway. Small houses and local businesses.

They stop for lunch and have shrimp fried rice and coconut cream pie made from fresh coconut – yum! And head back to Chap’s shop where Beth and Sue have spent part of the day. 

Mam sent a Taxi for us this morning about 10:00.  We visited a bit with Mam and Mook and then went to a famous wood carving shop, followed by a visit to a wonderful coffee shop with pastries.  Then Sue and I wondered around the shops in the area and managed to find a few “treasures” J.   Mam took us to lunch at a  lovely nearby café and after a little more shopping, Chap, Greg and Tom arrived and took us all back to the hotel.

For dinner tonight we decided to try a French restaurant the Jim & Cheron recommended called La Fourchette.  This was very elegant and by far the most expensive meal we’ve had.  But it was delicious.  Beth had Duck a l’orange, Tom Beef Stroganoff, and Greg and Sue had chicken with mushrooms.  They brought us little appetizers (Russian salad and radishes), as well as delicious breads.  We shared Crepes Suzette and Cherries Jubilee for desert and they brought us each a tiny serving of ice cream as well.  About $75 for the four of us.  By contrast, six of us went to a Vietnamese restaurant later in the week for a total bill of $20.00.