o you know the familiar saying, " You can do anything if you put your
mind to it?" Well, try as we may, it didn't seem like we could turn
back the hands of time (or just create more time) for our big
adventure. As we sat and discussed our options and plans for
the next six months, there just didn't seem enough time to do all
the things we wanted to do.
year seems so big, so unmanageable from the start - just small
potential scribbles on a piece of paper - only to arrive at a place
where you can account for the destinations of all the months ahead
and realize that some places have to be left out. The big question
is "Which ones?" You may have a sarcastic notion in your mind that
this is not such a rough problem to have, but for us, we think of
it as our one big shot, and maybe only shot, to "see it all".
Knowing that every choice involves a tradeoff somewhere, we could
only gather as much information from other travelers as possible,
check on visas, and hope we choose carefully.
n the
end, we decided to focus on the Golden Triangle - Thailand, Laos
and Myanmar (formerly Burma). The triangle is aptly named for the
intersection at one point of the waters that flow through all three
countries, but most notoriously know for the beautiful poppies that
are grown in the hills of these countries. Initially cultivated by
hilltribes for village consumption and local trade, opium mushroomed
into an international commodity during the various wars in this
region from the 50's through the 70's. Trade flourished, and
local peoples' lives became dependent upon the growth and sale of it.
merica dubbed it the Golden triangle for the illicit funds
they received through the export of opium during the Vietnam War.
The CIA used these monies to pay for covert operations throughout
Indochina, of which the U.S. public was unaware. Drugs not being
the draw for us, we wanted to experience and see golden people and
places of this trio of nations. (On a side note, this Golden
Triangle shouldn't be confused with the "famous" U.S. Golden
Triangle formed by the cities of Shelby, Havre, and Great Falls,
Montana that encompasses some of the best wheat-producing land in the
world.)
ur route was to fly to Bangkok from Hong Kong, then head north and
loop through Laos, crossing back into NE Thailand and returning to
Bangkok. We knew we'd have to fly in and out of Myanmar due to the
controlling nature of the military junta currently in power there.
When we first arrived in Bangkok at the end of January, we felt a
momentary loss in the adventure aspect of our travels. We had prided
ourselves on missing the tourist crowd throughout our journey to
date, only to find that we were making up for it all in one country.
We knew we were going to be in Thailand during the peak travel
season, but we had no idea of how overwhelming this would be.
awatdee (Hello) from Southeast Asia!
o you know the familiar saying, " You can do anything if you put your
mind to it?" Well, try as we may, it didn't seem like we could turn
back the hands of time (or just create more time) for our big
adventure. As we sat and discussed our options and plans for
the next six months, there just didn't seem enough time to do all
the things we wanted to do.
year seems so big, so unmanageable from the start - just small
potential scribbles on a piece of paper - only to arrive at a place
where you can account for the destinations of all the months ahead
and realize that some places have to be left out. The big question
is "Which ones?" You may have a sarcastic notion in your mind that
this is not such a rough problem to have, but for us, we think of
it as our one big shot, and maybe only shot, to "see it all".
Knowing that every choice involves a tradeoff somewhere, we could
only gather as much information from other travelers as possible,
check on visas, and hope we choose carefully.
n the
end, we decided to focus on the Golden Triangle - Thailand, Laos
and Myanmar (formerly Burma). The triangle is aptly named for the
intersection at one point of the waters that flow through all three
countries, but most notoriously know for the beautiful poppies that
are grown in the hills of these countries. Initially cultivated by
hilltribes for village consumption and local trade, opium mushroomed
into an international commodity during the various wars in this
region from the 50's through the 70's. Trade flourished, and
local peoples' lives became dependent upon the growth and sale of it.
ur route was to fly to Bangkok from Hong Kong, then head north and
loop through Laos, crossing back into NE Thailand and returning to
Bangkok. We knew we'd have to fly in and out of Myanmar due to the
controlling nature of the military junta currently in power there.
When we first arrived in Bangkok at the end of January, we felt a
momentary loss in the adventure aspect of our travels. We had prided
ourselves on missing the tourist crowd throughout our journey to
date, only to find that we were making up for it all in one country.
We knew we were going to be in Thailand during the peak travel
season, but we had no idea of how overwhelming this would be.
