Mae Kompong

Mae Kompong is a village in Chiang Mai Province. Once a poppy growing area, but now home to a small community of forest dwellers who cultivate tea and coffee plantations.

Mae Kompong is also home to the Treetop eco-tourism village where visitors can take an exhilarating flight (with zip line and slide) through a 1500 year-old rainforest in the “Flight of the Gibbon” adventure…

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Amazing Race Asia 3 – Ep 2 – Chiangmai to HCMC from YeinJee's Asian Blog

I know most of the regulars here are not watching this show (or not able to), thus I’m not going to bore you with the details… but will share some Asian cultures and places that are featured in the race instead.

Tuk-Tuk

The race started at the Rama 1 Monument in Bangkok… the first feature that came onto scene was the famous auto-rickshaws commonly known as ‘Tuk Tuk’ in Thailand.

Similar auto-rickshaws can also be found in other South Asian countries, but Thai’s Tuk Tuk is probably the most iconic version. Little known fact though, is that Tuk Tuk was originated from Japan and was brought into Thailand in late 1950s. Most of the Tuk Tuk these days are local made.

Tuk Tuk in Bangkok (Image from Heinrich Damm)

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Amazing Race Asia 3 – Ep 1 – Bangkok to Chiangmai from YeinJee's Asian Blog