DAY 11

We decided to head up to Doi Tung today and take advantage of having the car to get around in. Doi Tung is a mountain in the area, its name means Flag Peak and the reason it is called that is because King Achutarat of Chiang Saen ordered a giant flag to be flown from the peak to mark the spot where two chedi were constructed in AD 911. The chedi are still there and it is a pilgrimage site for Thai, Shan and Chinese Buddhists. We were relying fairly heavily on a road map we had purchased for our road trip, the map had the names of places in both Thai and English, we thought we were very clever. This way we could ask for directions on the map and if the people didn't speak English we could point to the names on the map. Unfortunately we outsmarted ourselves by thinking that people would be able to read the map or even know where they were, as we found out when we stopped for directions! The Thai family was very friendly and pointed in every direction, while speaking Thai they looked at the map but couldn't tell us where we were. Eventually we left and continued driving along the same road. We were basically driving along the Thai/Burmese border, past numerous villages all the while keeping out a watchful eye. It is recommended that you have a guide when trekking in this area as you can sometimes be mistaken for a drug runner by authorities or as a United States DEA agent by the drug dealers! Luckily we're not into trekking and happily viewed the countryside from the safety of our little car.

We stopped intermittently to take photos and eventually met another group of tourists with a guide, this was a good sign as it meant we were on the right track. They raced off ahead obviously working to a timetable of 'things they must see before the sun sets', but we meandered along. Eventually Jay got out to take some video footage, I looked out the windscreen in front of me at a compound that almost looked like it was some kind of fortress. A stick version of a fortified fence with a flag flying that looked distinctly Burmese to me got me thinking, were we still in Thailand? Jay jumped back into the car and as we rounded the corner we found a road block in front of us, uh oh! A few Thai military personnel with big guns came to my window, 'Where are you going?' 'Doi Tung!' we replied innocently. 'Oh Doi Tung!' they replied with big smiles as they lifted the boom gate for us to drive through. No, we weren't in Burma it was still Thailand but we were right on the edge. This is where they basically sit watching each other with binoculars with guns trained on each other. We were able to go up and have a look at the Thai Military's bunkers, as we walked up the steps the tourists we had seen earlier were coming down from the bunkers. They said they had been worried about us we had taken so long, they also told us that what we had seen was the Burmese compounds, they then informed us that if you take photos there they confiscate your cameras and sometimes grab you as well. Lucky Jay only took VIDEO FOOTAGE then!! Jay said one of the guys waved to him so we don't think they were as bad as the rumours tell us, luckily! We were able to go and sit in the bunkers on the Thai side and look out at the Burmese. They are on good terms at the moment but that can change in a second in this part of the world.

On to Wat Phra That Doi Tung, heading up to the temple are an almost endless row of bells which you are supposed to bang on as you walk up to gain merit. Someone had thoughtfully left a pile of sticks beside the first bell so we grabbed one each and started banging away, we have so much merit now it's coming out our ears! Apparently the chedi here houses relics of the Lord Buddha. This relic is the bone that links the front shoulder to the lower throat portion under the Adams apple. There is a legend that over 1,000 years ago the relics were brought from India to be enshrined on this hill. Anyway, there was a great view from there but again lots of tourists wandering around. We got back to the car and decided to drive up the road towards the temple to see if there was anything that we missed and we're glad we did. Along the side of the road was a beautiful rainforest and in amongst that forest were scores of Buddha and other statues that had been there for so long that moss had grown on them and they had turned a wonderful golden green colour becoming a part of the forest where they sat. Walking through a worn path in the grass we arrived at a large reclining Buddha surrounded by statues of monks wearing orange robes. Worshippers had obviously been here as there were candles that had been reduced to puddles of wax, offerings that had been placed recently and tiny gold and copper Buddha's placed around the area. These tiny statues were everywhere, digging into the dirt at your feet revealed more and more of them. The thing that amazes us in this country is the respect they have for religion and the fact that these things had been left here, nothing had been vandalised or taken whereas in Australia they probably would have been. The other magical thing about this place was the fact that there was no one else there, no backpackers, no tourist buses, just us. It felt like we had stumbled into a magical place and we could have spent hours just looking through the forest and taking only photos as a memento.

A full day had passed and we contentedly headed back to the Mai Sai Guest House for a cold beer and to discuss the day's activities. Tomorrow we head for the Golden Triangle.

THE PHOTOS FROM DAY 11 ARE NOW UP IN THE GALLERY!