Chiang Rai: July 2015

Bus to Chiang Rai

We took the bus from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai. Our ride was uneventful. When we arrived, we walked to our hotel. We were pleasantly surprised by our reception. The guy at reception, Toddy, spoke flawless english, with the exception of his think english accent 🙂 Up until now, we had been having difficulty communicating with people. Toddy told us that he lived in London for 10 years where he went to school, learned english, and sold street food (phad thai) on the weekends to make extra money. He said on a Friday or Saturday night, he could make more money selling phad thai than a day at the office. He only came back to Chiang Rai when his father called him and said they needed his help running the family business. Toddy not only made it exceptionally easy to communicate, but he also knows how to make westerners feel comfortable and provides little details that make a huge difference. For example, it’s really hot in Chiang Rai, and there’s a bucket of water bottles strategically placed around the small guesthouse. In addition to the two bottles in the room that are replaced daily, you are free to take as many bottles throughout the day. Plus, it’s all very green! The bottles are glass, and recycled! Toddy booked our bus to Laos for us, and also took our laundry, so we didn’t have to spend time dropping off and picking up. We only had a day in Chiang Rai, and he said we should spend it looking around, not running errands. 

Chiang Rai, Thailand

For our first night, we visited a restaurant recommended by Toddy. On the way there, we stopped by the clock to watch the show. There is this clock in the middle of a roundabout and on the hour, from 7-9pm, it plays music and puts on a light show.

We were pleasantly surprised by the service at the restaurant. It’s a family-run place, the food was really good, and the girl who serves everyone speaks perfect english, with the exception of a thick Australian accent. 🙂 Like Toddy, she spent several years over seas going to school, learning english and working. Also like Toddy, she only returned when her family said it was time to come home and help out with the family business. Javier and I were surprised. In the small city of Chaing Rai, we happened to come across two people with perfect english. What are the chances?

Chiang Rai transportation

The next day, we went on a bit of an adventure. We walked to the bus station to catch the local bus to Wat Rong Khun, the white temple. We were told which bus to get on, and when we entered, it was like a fiesta. There was so much color, the music was blasting, and there were decorations hanging all over the place. It was quite a scene. Toddy had written down our destination, so we showed the driver and the woman collecting money and they both just nodded. After a short ride, there was a lot of commotion and yelling in our direction. We took it as a sign that we had arrived. The lady pointed across the street and kept repeating something. Again, that was our cue. We dodged traffic to cross the street and wound our way through market stalls. After making our way through unscathed, we had arrived- the white temple. 

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Wat Rong Khun, “The White Temple”

The first thing we noticed (alongside the fact that everything was white) was the unusual decor adorning the grounds. As we walked toward the temple, we came across a bridge. As we crossed the bridge, we looked on either side. There was no water, like one might expect. Instead there were arms sticking out, like hundreds of people reaching out trying to grab something. Of course, there was also an arm sticking up their middle finger with a red painted fingernail. There are little mirrors all over the temple, which only add to the brightness of the whole place. There are dragons everywhere, and it seems like everything has a spike on the end. It really is a crazy place.

Alien and Michael Jackson in a temple. nice.

When we arrive at the temple, we took off our shoes, as was customary. I don’t know what I expected in this temple, but I definitely didn’t expect what I saw. The inside was painted with bright, vibrant colors. There was Buddha, of course, but I hardly remember him. What I remember most was the back wall. It was painted like a bad dream, mixed with outer space, volcanoes and ancient ruins. It was futuristic, looked like Hell, and a badass Chinese tattoo. The weirdest thing was the characters that were in this world. There were minions, Freddy Kruger, and Michael Jackson. Roger Rabbit, Jessica Rabbit, and Kung-Fu Panda just to name a few. The coolest/strangest temple we’ve ever stepped foot in. 

Maleficent and Wolverine.

Now that we knew exactly how strange this place was, we were on the lookout. On the temple grounds, they have planters hanging from trees. The pots have faces on them. They all look like heads. The moss that grows out of these pots, hang down through the bottom. It looks like someone ripped the heads off, and their insides are dangling. Of course, all the heads are familiar, from Batman to Hellraiser. Again, super weird. They have a post office on the premises, and while we didn’t send anything from there, I took the Chiang Rai stamp, and stamped my passport. They have predator coming out of the ground, and some green character I’m not familiar with, sitting on a bench, wearing a golden thai headpiece. Talk about strange.

Getting back to the hotel was an even bigger challenge. There was no marked bus stop, so we stood under a small shelter we thought could possibly be a bus stop, and hopped on the next minibus that came our way. Lucky for us, it worked out. We spent the evening eating ice cream and walking the night market. 

Notice the red nail.

We slowly packed in the morning, received our laundry, and made our way to the bus stop. We had a 17 hour over night bus ride to look forward to. To our disappointment we were in the back seats, closest to the toilet. And even more to our disappointment some German guy uses the bathroom and stinks up the whole place before we even left! Why he couldn’t have used the station restroom is beyond us. Let’s just say, it made for a less than comfortable ride.  

To see more pictures of Chiang Rai, click HERE.