Burma, Laos, White Temple, Zip Line, CHAING MAI!

swadeekaa friends and family. this last weekend i took a trip up north to chaing mai. this part of thailand has the mountains, some hill tribes, FRESH AIR, and a lot of history.
i flew in on friday night and saturday was a full day. i went on a tour to the golden triangle. this is an area where burma, laos, and thailand converge along 2 rivers. it use to be an area where trading was done (opium!). i went into laos for about half an hour, and that's that. there was a little market and i was there. burma was not imprinted by my feet, but i did see it. i got a ride in a boat with an edge about a foot high that was flying down those rivers. it was fast, and you go right around the triangle (the triangle is actually an island). on the way up to the golden triangle (it was about 5 hours) we stopped at the white temple- everything is white and shiny, and on the inside the east wall has the "zen" images associated with buddhism and enlightenment while the west wall has the destructive images of dragons, and materialism on it. it was really neat to see those two opposites, and the west wall even had a picture of keanu reeves in matrix costume on it. i kind of think though that all of the images that are harming the west also affect the east- slightly different ways, but all the "bad" isn't just a western thing. on sunday, i wanted to get into the jungle a bit more. what better way to do this than to go zip- lining? none of the girls i was travelling with wanted to go, so i signed up for a tour, got driven into the mountains with some other people, and had a party. if you don't know what zip lining is, you basically fly from tree to tree on a cable. there were guides helping, but for your brake, you have to use a piece of bamboo (its that little v- shaped object in the one picture). we had to do a bit of rappelling too, and the trees were huge. at some places you couldn't tell how high you were just because of the canopy- it was quite dense, but at times, you could see that you were a full 50 meters or so from the bottom of the jungle. unfortunately, i didn't get to see any animals, but the trees were stunning. the guides said that some of them are around 600 years old. crazy. when i get back, if you want some more stories from this trip, i'll have to tell you them...they're kind of funnier in person.
and its ok mom, i'm alive. yes i was swinging in the jungle at the mercy of 2 thai men who i probably weigh 110 pounds each. yes, i had a v-shaped bamboo stick to stop me from slamming into a tree that is older than canada. and yes i was very high up. haha...very high now that i think about it. if i would have died, it would have been a really good way to go.
see you in a month.