Chiang Rai

After arriving into Chiang Rai Wednesday evening accompanied by thunderstorms which persisted throughout the night, I was up bright and early on Thursday to explore the area, the weather luckily a lot better. Chiang Rai is often called the sleepy Chiang of the North and is often overlooked for the larger city of Chiang Mai. Just a couple of hours from both the borders of Laos and Myanmar, the city is historically famous for its opium trading. Nowadays most people come to visit the unique temples and pretty countryside in the surrounding areas.

The main attractions of Chiang Rai were pretty scattered which made planning my day difficult. Luckily there were relatively frequent public buses following the main roads out of town, so I headed north to the Baan Dam Museum, commonly known as the Black Temple. It's not actually a religious site at all, being the home of the late artist Thawan Duchanee. The complex consisted of 40 buildings, predominantly of a traditional yet gothic Thai architecture. Many of the buildings contained bizarre and eerie exhibits of animal remains, including meticulously displayed skulls and bones, black thrones made of antlers, an entire elephant skeleton and skins hanging from wood beams. Everything about the place represented death, but I found that fascinating and spent pretty much all morning there.

From Baan Dam, I walked to Wat Hyua Plakang. It was quite a fair way to walk however although it was only way of really getting there without risking a taxi. The complex was pretty new, consisting of this Chedi, a couple of temples, and a big statue of Guan Yin. I was able to climb to the top of the Chedi, which gave some great views of the area. This was eclipsed however by the opportunity to go inside the statue of Guan Yin and view the surrounding countryside through her eyes. The walls inside were white and meticulously handcrafted, which I could tell by the fact they were still building the staircase below, the locals literally shaping the dragons there by hand. When getting back to the temple entrance I got free food, the temple offering help yourself noodle soup to everyone.

Shortly after leaving the temple it started raining which scuppered my plans to visit Mae Fah Luang. I instead just headed back to the hostel, and luckily by evening it cleared, heading out to the Clock Tower, a golden structure on this roundabout in the city. In the evening it performed a light show although it was a little disappointing. I think I went at the wrong time, watching the 7pm show which meant it wasn't yet fully dark outside. Afterwards I headed over to the nearby night bazaar which had a massive street food area, as well this stage with local entertainment which I sat and watched for a bit before getting an early night.

The following day I was up bright and early, heading over to Wat Rong Seua Ten, more commonly known as the Blue Temple due to the fact everything was blue. I then headed to the bus terminal to catch a bus south to Wat Rong Khun, which is more commonly known as the White Temple. The complex is by far the most visited attraction in Chiang Rai, most people coming up from Chiang Mai with tour companies for the day. The main temple itself was carved with painstaking detail, with a pure white and ornate facade. I was particularly fascinated by the hands amongst other carvings at the entrance, designed as deep symbolic message of desire, greed, suffering and the heavenly. It was incredibly busy but the complex as a whole was brilliant, spending pretty much all morning exploring it.

From the White Temple I headed back to Chiang Rai, where I relaxed for much of the afternoon. I went for a walk round the city itself later that afternoon, where there were a few interesting little markets and temples dotted around the place. Like the previous days however it started raining which halted my exploration, although I had seen what I planned to see before it really set in. Luckily it didn't come to much so was able to go to the night bazaar in the evening for dinner, as well as watching the later 9pm clock tower light show which was a lot more impressive with it being complete darkness.

On Saturday I went up to the Golden Triangle for the day, combining it with a visit to the nearby town of Chiang Saen. There were pretty frequent buses to Chiang Saen from Chiang Rai, and the Golden Triangle was walkable from there which made it a lot cheaper than going with a tour company, the only other way to realistically get there. Chiang Saen was just a small town on the banks of the Mekong River, littered with an array of ruins, as well as a bustling locals market. The ruins weren't as impressive as Ayutthaya but it was still interesting walking round reading about the history. It was almost reminiscent of Chiang Mai in a way as the town had a moat on three sides, with an old wall and a gate on each side. The only difference was the Mekong River acted as the fourth side.

From Chiang Saen I headed to the Golden Triangle, the point where the Mekong River meets the Ruak River, forming a natural border between Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. There wasn't really much there other a couple of temples including this large Buddha by the river and a couple of viewpoints, but it was still worth the visit just to look at 3 countries at once. I headed back to Chiang Saen for lunch, before catching a bus back to Chiang Rai.