Today’s trip ended up with a lot of photos… I don’t think I can upload them all. Madness but interesting at the same time. I’ll prolly upload the more interesting ones, of course food as priority over here.

Got up really early, around 6am Thai time. Couldn’t get back to sleep so climbed to the highest level and try to catch the sunrise.

Brekkie was simple but for me is good enough. Food is food, as long as it fills my stomach. But I may skip tomorrow as I’m planning to visit one of the best cafes in Chiang Rai for brekkie before I head to the mountains.

After brekkie, I went back to my room to get ready for the trip.

Below are some essentials before setting off!

The snacks are a good way to keep yourself awake and of course the charging adaptor for my phone as I’ll be using Google maps quite a bit.

And off I go, wanted to look for a cup of good coffee for me to bring along my hour drive to the Golden Triangle. Then I chanced upon this little cafe I-Auon (amongst many others) and was a great discovery!

The ice cream cakes are from Buds of San Francisco, and pretty awesome to go with your coffee. I had the Cookies N Cream one (THB80). Coffee is pretty alright, beans from Doi Chang hence the characteristics of the coffee is assured (THB35). However the best of all is I got to know Amy, who apparently speaks pretty good English and we chatted quite a bit before I had to take my leave towards Northeast.

Arrived at the Opium Museum and tickets was THB50. I didn’t go in cos not much of a historian. So I browsed around the souvenir shop. They were selling all the opium related tools and stuff… But no opium how to smoke??? Hmmm…

I took a walk from the museum to the Golden Triangle where the Big Buddha is sitting. This is where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet! Below are some pics that don’t need description. ;P

Then I headed further north toward Anantara Golden Triangle Resort where the Black Ivory coffee is served. Black Ivory ‘cos it’s basically elephant poop coffee and harvesting this is tough as can be seen in the pics description below. For THB1500++ per pack, it serves around 5-6 espresso cups. Taste? Mild bodied, fruity and a hint of tea flavor in it. Prolly due to the elephants’ diet. Pretty aromatic actually but too mild for my liking and although it seems like its a marketing gimmick, the fact is that 8% of the sales goes to the Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation to provide veterinarian care for the elephants.

After that I headed back to towards the city but took many detours to discover the place. You’ll spot a lot of stalls along the highway selling the famous mini pineapples which are so damn sweet, I can only eat one a day.

Then I discovered a nice resort with a cafe in front. The coffee served there are a blend of 4 single origins from different parts of CR (THB55, not cheap but tasted good!) I was offered a Thai banana and trust me, it’s blardy good!

After that the lady boss drove me around that area to show me the university and also developments for that area.

Headed back to the city after that to look for dinner as I haven’t had any lunch! Nothing much to eat at the Golden Triangle as I find it a little touristy. For dinner, I saw this place called Balarb yesterday hence I’m back today to try it.

The ice milk tea (THB30) was pretty good and low sugar as requested. Phad Thai Goong (THB35) was pretty alright but my version in Chiang Mai was better ;P. The mix BBQ meats (THB120) are ok, a little dry though. But the Esan sausages are awesome! Khao Niao Mamuang (THB70) is pretty good although the mango is a little sourish sweet. But the mango given is huge and the only sweetness was from the rice. The sauce is just plain thick coconut milk and it’s warm! The crunchy thing on top is crispy mung bean which most places don’t use due to unavailability.

After dinner, I went to try Yoddoi coffee with the best view of the Clock Tower musical display at every hour. The coffee blend here is just alright, mild body and smooth. Somehow most of the coffee joints here do not extract the espresso shots the right way according to what I was taught in Australia. Hence the coffee powder is wasted. That said, the milk frothing for cappuccino is good.

Gonna leave you guys with pics of foodstuffs I saw along the way and also in Central Plaza where there’s loads of food and snacks! You guys can follow me on Instagram #eatwithroy, #tourwithroy and #roythailand. Need sleep for my long drive to the mountains tomorrow! Nite y’all!