My wife and I are planning to take a couple of weeks driving trip (from Bangkok) up north and although we will spend a few nights in Chiang Mai we plan to spend most of the time in the Golden Triangle area. We are pretty familiar with Chiang Mai as we visit there a couple times a year but the last time we were in the Chiang Rai (Golden Triangle) area was about 20 years ago so we are looking for some help there. Will go to Chiang Mai first then head up to Chiang Rai so will be looking for things to do/see in the area north of Chiang Rai particularly around Mae Sai and Chiang Saen. Any suggestions on hotels (cheap to mid-range) sights etc would be appreciated. I asked about this particular hotel, Greater Mekong Lodge, located in Chiang Saen, on the Chiang Rai board but got no replies. Anyone know anything about it?

Cannt help except for this http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g297920-d504931-Reviews-Greater_Mekong_Lodge-Chiang_Rai.html which means its a few Km away from Chiang Saen. Went in the Hall of Opium at the end of last year and was quite surprised (favourably), its worth a look.

If you have time, a trip up the river to Tha Ton is pretty cool. I did it from Tha Ton back to CR and we really liked both the trip as well as Tha Ton. TT has some nice hotels right on the river...great views and really relaxed.

I also rented a scooter and did the trip from CR up to Chiang Saen, up to Mae Sai and even up on some mountain where you could see Burmese troops and Thai troops watching each other from a fairly short distance...all in bunkers. Pretty weird.

This was several years ago, but it was a great trip. Lots of old wood houses, etc.

The Greater Mekong Lodge is in the new park with the "Hall of Opium". This should not be confused with the older "Opium Museum" at the Golden Triangle. they are only about 1 km apart and both are far from the town of Chiang Saen. btw, the older Opium Museum is well worth a visit for an hour or so. I avoid the newer Hall of Opium as they charge exorbitant prices for farang.

My hotel of choice in Chiang Saen is the River Hill Hotel. Internet rates are usually about 1000 baht, but if you deal with the hotel directly (either email or telephone) you can usually get a room for 800-900 baht. The River Hill is on the far end of town, heading towards Chiang Khong.

Hi,

http://sunnyhor.blogspot.com/search?q=golden+triangle , drive from Chiang Mai to Golden triangle approximately 6 hours. Check out my Blog and hope it helps. The hotel is fantastic!!! But Golden triangle is a sleepy town itself, nothing really much to do at night!