After being in the same place for more than 2 months I was just a little excited to be going somewhere new.
After a brief stop in Chiang Mai we hit the Golden Triangle, the historical centre of opium trade in SE Asia and bordering both Laos and Burma.
Chiang Rai was somewhere I had been wanting to go, but it is the surrounding area that is the main attraction. Lush green mountains. Rice paddies. Temples. It really is stunning scenery.
We spent the days exploring temples that were stunning, with intricate carvings and paintings, jade Buddha statues and beautiful gardens. All in appropriate temple attire of course!
(What is life without a bike)
One of the highlights of the area is definitely the ‘black and white temples’. While neither are technically temples, they are definitely the stuff of fairy tales. Looking at them it could almost be classed as good vs evil, designed by 2 artists with polar opposite artistic styles.
One temple, black and sinister, is a collection of blackened buildings with different rooms decorated with taxidermied animals, skins and horns. Rooms that looked like you would sacrifice a human on a bed made of bones whilst drinking blood.
(Like a scene from ‘The temple of doom’)
Then at the opposite end of the spectrum is the white temple, dazzling white and reflective in the sun and almost the epitome of innocence. This ‘temple’ at least has a Buddha statue inside, however you are easily distracted from this by the paintings on the wall. Images of lotus flowers and Buddha mix with images of George Bush riding a rocket into space, Batman and Neo from the Matrix. Bizarre.
(Hard to get a photo without tourists!)
(The nice photo)
(The silly photo)
(Can you see me?!)
Outside it is equally strange with a metallic statue of the predator emerging from the ground, ceramic heads hanging from the trees and a pit of bodies with outstretched arms welcoming you….
(Selfie with the creator)
But the highlight of the trip would have to be a night out, spent drinking beer and line dancing with locals in the rain. Yes, you read that correctly!
We spent a couple of hours wandering the Walking Street market, trying different foods and buying presents – feeling like I was on holiday! At the end of the street we encountered what can only be described as Thai style line dancing. A large group of people were doing choreographed dances to a band singing on stage.
(Yes, that woman is wearing a pink plastic bag on her head)
This was something we had to be part of!
We took off to the 7-11, bought beer, put on our rain coats and sat in the rain to watch. It wasn’t even 10 mins until we were hauled into the crowd to join them. The only foreigners to participate and let me tell you, the Thai hand gestures are definitely not as easy as they look! Not even a crash course from the locals helped me out!
Thanks Chiang Rai!
