Day Trip to Chiang Rai
Updated: Dec 13, 2020
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Got up early and walked a couple of blocks to a hostel where the tour company was supposed to pick me up to take me to Chiang Rai, a city about 3 hours north of Chiang Mai. They got there about 30 minutes or so late and had already picked everyone else up...there were about 10 of us total.
The van stopped about half way there at a tourist trap--the "hot springs"--which is basically a bunch of people selling things and a few tiny pools of natural hot water. Their big gimmick is they boil eggs in the hot pools and then you can buy/eat them. Fancy.
After a brief stop here (where I bought some chips, not an egg), we drove the rest of the way to the White Temple in Chiang Rai. This is an interesting attraction--it wasn't even built until 1997, and was designed by an artist, not a group of monks or royalty. He chose white, rather than the usual gold colors, because he felt gold only appealed to people who are greedy. It isn't even finished being built yet--there will eventually be 9 buildings, but it will take over 100 years to finish. It IS beautiful...but seems like a glorified tourist trap more than anything. You enter by crossing a bridge over a sea of hands, symbolizing temptation. It reminded me a lot of Dante's Inferno.
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Once you make your way through (no photos allowed inside), there are a lot of grounds to wander around. You can buy these little key chain looking things, then write a prayer or happy thought on it and leave it to be hung on trees or the roof of some walkways. Kind of a cool way to leave your mark on this place...so of course I did it :-)
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There were a few other cool buildings and sculptures (my favorite was a colorful one seated on a bench...my guide said his name was "iron man")...and a spot where you could get a passport stamp to show you had been there. Then it was time to have lunch.
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We had lunch at an outdoor restaurant on the grounds. Soup, rice (of course), and some vegetables. Then we left for the Blue Temple. This is even MORE of a touristy place. Sort of in the middle of nowhere...but like the White Temple...really beautiful.
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We only stayed here very briefly, then headed to the Black House...which is not a temple, but a museum of art by a man named Thawan Duchanee who was from Chiang Rai. It is a strange collection of his pieces, animal skins and skeletons spread throughout several buildings. When we arrived, there were several groups doing musical performances/dances around the grounds.
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There were a few stalls outside with some crafts and food...love the tiny pineapples (which are apparently a big thing here) and the odd flavors of Lays potato chips (hot chili squid flavor?).
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Next we headed to the Karen long neck village...those women who wear the rings around their necks to lengthen them. I did not sign up for this part of the tour as I felt a bit weird about going to stare at these women. When I was at the Karen tribe village a couple of nights before, Gulu had told us about this village and that it wasn't cool--they make NO money at all from these tours. And because the government does not recognize them, they receive no government subsidies the way her tribe does. The only way they make any money is selling crafts...so I didn't go and gawk...but while I was waiting on everyone else to do so, I walked around the stalls and bought something small to support them.
Then I had a conversation with our guide who was also waiting on everyone to finish. He asked me what I did for a living and I had to explain voiceover to him (like I had with Gulu a few days before). He said he had wanted to do something with videogames, but it is very hard in Thailand to do anything with that or film because it is so highly regulated.
After some time here, we headed to the Golden Triangle, which is the part of Thailand on the Mekong River that meets Laos and Myanmar. You can see both countries across the river. Another MAJOR tourist spot, with a long row of stalls selling the same old souvenirs. I walked around a bit, and then had some Pad Thai spaghetti. Most of the other folks took a boat ride across the river to Laos (to what turned out to be another bunch of souvenir shops--glad I didn't go).
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Then we all loaded back in the van for the 4 1/2 hour trip back to Chiang Mai...with just a brief stop at a 7-11 for gas (and I got my regular breakfast chocolate chip banana nut muffin for tomorrow :-) ) Finally made it back, showered and fell into bed. Up early again tomorrow to head to Doi Suthep.
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