Travel Chiang Rai and get off the beaten path

Chiang Rai is a popular destination for tourists seeking a 2 or 3 day trip from Chiang Mai and discover more of Thailand. To head off the beaten path (the direct route from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai), is a suggested route to 3 head to Chiang Mai 77 km north of Chiang Dao, one of the 25 districts of Chiang Mai and Chiang Dao mountain home the second place in the mountainsThailand. In earlier times this was a busy shopping area, where they were transported to and from Burma. Today it is popular with walkers and those who rely throughout the hustle and bustle of Chiang Mai without risk. The main attraction is Chiang Dao Cave at the foot of the mountain, exploration is open to a tunnel lighted street on foot. About 90 kilometers north of Chiang Dao Doi Angkhang lives.

Doi Angkhang largely unknownforeign tourists, but a popular tourist destination for Thai is a series of wild and mountainous border, which is on the edge of the border between Thailand and Burma. A group of peaks and valleys, is also home to mountain peoples such as the Palong, Lahu, Lisu and Hmong colored.

Sitting on one of the most remote corners of northern Thailand, you will definitely feel at the end of the road on a precipice and the remote and wild. Here you can relax in an idyllic location, the view, cool climate, freshMountain air and mountain peoples.

Thai military base camp on a ridge at the edge of the border can the views of no man's land and the vastness of Myanmar and its remote Shan State. With binoculars you can even see the flag waving is the basis of Burmese military junta on the other side. Besides this, there are several Palong, Lahu and Lisu villages visited and are still very traditional.

One of the main attractions here is the RoyalAgricultural Center, where beautifully manicured gardens also host a series of colorful flowers, there are also the greenhouses where the cultivation of heavy stuff continues to organic farming, which are normally found in colder climates, such as strawberries, rhubarb, khaki grow. More than a lovely place, this place has a special significance because it is a showcase for the success of the king, who began 30 years wean opium-growing hill tribes to productiveCrops.

Once located head to Doi Angkhang fishing and Thaton then, a quarter between the Kok River and the border with Burma. The main attraction is the temple of Wat Thaton beautiful hill with splendid views of the Mae Kok River Valley, this is another point where the boundary between Thailand and Burma see mountains. The hill is dotted with large Buddha statues in different styles, Chinese, Thai and Burmese. The city of Thaton is small and quiet, less visiblemarketed by tourism, with a handful of hotels and guesthouses.

From Thaton You can also use a boat along the Kok River in the south of Chiang Rai.

More on this route, but to the north of the Chinese village of Mae Salong unlike Santhiriki (an ancient Pali name means peace) is known. Mae Salong is home to descendants of the Kuomintang soldiers who fled the Chinese communist regime in 1949. This village is full of Chinese restaurants and Chinese Visible ShopsSelling tea and products. The terraced tea plantations that Mae Salong, the only place where his brand oolong tea is grown to make. While here, try Chinese food dishes Yunnan needs, you see all the menu items are pork, mantou (Chinese steamed bread), followed by oolong tea accompanied.

To Mae Salong start to the plains to Mae Sai the northernmost point of Thailand. Parking on the street is a fun fish cave Tham Pla, "while there are a lotFish main draw here, the monkeys are roaming, you can see the page of the cave and rock scaling trees. You can be in the vicinity of the monkeys and feed them, watch for the signs, though, these monkeys can get as if violent aggravated. A few miles north of Mae Sai, a bustling frontier town where you can cross the Friendship Bridge to Burma to visit the city of Tachileck.

After the town of Mae Sai's time to go back to the main tourist route of the GoldenTriangle once notorious opium trade time in the past and where the Mekong are the meeting point of three countries, Thailand, Burma and Laos. This is probably the name "Golden Triangle", but could be due for another reason on the amount of gold in circulation in exchange for raw materials and opium.

The Golden Triangle is a bargain coaches with large and bustling tourists take their cameras. OpiumMuseum worth a visit and offers an interesting insight into the historical surroundings and the opium trade.

Chiang Saen, a sleepy town on the banks of the Mekong, the number of tourist activity, not what is happening here is, is China rather than as a busy port, where provincial river ships to transport the goods to and from Yunnan. From here you can also as a tourist in the harbor by ferry to Yunnan. Chiang Saen is also a historical significance, as this was one of the first places of civilizationof the Kingdom of Lanna. It has ancient roots in the ruins of ancient temples and beautiful, how can Wat Luang Jedi and Wat Doi Jom Kitti Prathat be seen where if you look closely enough influence Cambodian architecture is evident in their projects that resemblance to temples like Angkor Wat. For more historical information and relics from this era can be seen in Chiang Saen National Museum in.

Back on the main road to Chiang Mai and the final profitStop is the famous Chiang Rai White Temple (Wat Rong Khun), a spectacular temple, looking for all in white, a showcase for modern art and architecture of Thailand.

A minimum of three days and two nights is recommended that you may want to include the above path that goes from Chiang - Chiang Dao - Doi Angkhang - Fang-Thaton - Mae Salong, Mae Sai, Golden Triangle - Chiang Rai - Chiang Mai travel both. This includes landmarks and touristthrough some beautiful natural scenery, such as rice fields and mountains, villages and / Thailand border with Myanmar.