I've updated both the previous posts with pics- I apologize for the state of us in that Thai club...
Well! How to summarize the last few days in one succinct paragraph? We should be already in Cambodia by now, according to our original plans. But then Gary and Lisa offered us a lift to Chiang Rai, and we thought 'why the hell not?' In Phayao, the day AFTER the day after the club was a lot more productive (but that's not hard, really...) For 20B, we took a canoe ride out to a submerged Buddha temple. It's funny- considering that its probably the slowest canoe ride in the world, they sure take a lot of precautions. Donning our lifejackets (heaven forbid we fall into the ankle-deep waters) and farmer-style straw hats, we settled behind four excited Thais, and slowly but surely made our way to the middle of the lake. Though all that remained was a golden Buddha atop some rubble, our four fellow Thais immediately bowed down before him and looked awestruck, as though this was the most ornate temple in the world. We met a Thai lady with the most contagious, originally from Phayao but living in Honolulu for 40 years. She returned to her home town for 2 months every year, yet this was the first time she was doing this boat trip to the temple! 'People very friendly in Chaing Mai' she told me; I assured her that, in our experience, they were just as friendly in her town.
A very original Buddhist temple...but let's move on to Chiang Rai. En route, Gary stopped off at the White Temple: a creation by Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpatat, a slightly mental but nonetheless devoted Buddhist. My first thought on seeing it? An ice-queen's palace...straight out of Narnia! Construction started in 1997, and is still going on; we saw two guys painting beautiful murials inside the temple. They predict it will be finished in 2070! So, unless he received intervention from Buddha for undertaking such a project, Kosirpatat won't be alive to see his masterpiece finished! The slightly surreal touches to the temple, such as the hundreds of hand scultpures reaching from the ground to symbolize 'desire' (though I think 'terror' is more fitting) is continued into the art gallery. As you'd predict, the first few rooms mostly contain beautifully painted pictures are of Buddha or his teachings. Then, as you walk into the last room...a picture of Bush on a rocket-ship, created iin 2009, simply called 'Bye-bye'. The next picture...Bush and Bin Laden on a rocket-ship, called 'Peace and Love on Earth'. Enough said.
We eventually made it to Chiang Rai...a chilled-out town that also has enough buzz to keep travelers hooked...and a night-market (the main draw for us these days!). The ornate, golden clock tower looks a little out of place in the understated city centre, but it was fun to witness one of its three nightly light-shows. Gary drove us up there with literally 30 seconds to spare. Dramatic start...lights out...then for 6 minutes, a Thai lady sings a pretty song as the clock changes colours...and a clam comes out and opens up, cuckoo-style. Not sure why a clam, but anyway... Cue lots of firework display-esque 'oohs' and 'ahhs'...well, from me anyway...everybody else was too busy taking photos on their I-phones...
I had my most effective Thai massage here, by Lisa's recommendation...of course, I was in agony for the first ten minutes, but every good massage starts out that way, right? She told me about muscle twists I didn't even know about! We even got a bar to open up at 6.30a.m to watch the Superbowl...my second experience of the huge tournament. One over-excited American and two Aussies also came to swear and cheer madly at the telly with us. Bit too early for beer (only just), so it was bacon butties (sandwiches...it was a British bar) all round for us instead.
Anyway, I'm so glad that we made the spontaneous decision to visit Chiang Rai. It was so much fun getting to know Gary and Lisa- two kind-hearted, interesting, well-traveled people. Gary has one of the best attitudes to traveling I've seen...we saw him on the day we left Chiang Rai, booking a ticket to Myanmar for the next day to renew his visa. A little while later, he rushed back into the hotel. 'What a difference an hour makes', he said. 'I'm off to China today!' Good luck on the rests of your travels, guys...although I'm not sure if you'll be able to read this in China, Gary! Thanks for all the cocktails and laughs! Hope your Laos trip worked out for you, Lisa- thanks for the masseuse advice!
And now, the end is near, and so I face, the final curtain...yep, Frank's got it right...we head to Cambodia tomorrow! We are in Aranya Prathet right now, right on the border. The train journey here was a lot of fun! Our fellow Thai passenger was so sweet; he spoke little English, but kept pointing outside at interesting things to look at, and was always smiling! See my final thoughts in the next blog post...
Well! How to summarize the last few days in one succinct paragraph? We should be already in Cambodia by now, according to our original plans. But then Gary and Lisa offered us a lift to Chiang Rai, and we thought 'why the hell not?' In Phayao, the day AFTER the day after the club was a lot more productive (but that's not hard, really...) For 20B, we took a canoe ride out to a submerged Buddha temple. It's funny- considering that its probably the slowest canoe ride in the world, they sure take a lot of precautions. Donning our lifejackets (heaven forbid we fall into the ankle-deep waters) and farmer-style straw hats, we settled behind four excited Thais, and slowly but surely made our way to the middle of the lake. Though all that remained was a golden Buddha atop some rubble, our four fellow Thais immediately bowed down before him and looked awestruck, as though this was the most ornate temple in the world. We met a Thai lady with the most contagious, originally from Phayao but living in Honolulu for 40 years. She returned to her home town for 2 months every year, yet this was the first time she was doing this boat trip to the temple! 'People very friendly in Chaing Mai' she told me; I assured her that, in our experience, they were just as friendly in her town.
A very original Buddhist temple...but let's move on to Chiang Rai. En route, Gary stopped off at the White Temple: a creation by Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpatat, a slightly mental but nonetheless devoted Buddhist. My first thought on seeing it? An ice-queen's palace...straight out of Narnia! Construction started in 1997, and is still going on; we saw two guys painting beautiful murials inside the temple. They predict it will be finished in 2070! So, unless he received intervention from Buddha for undertaking such a project, Kosirpatat won't be alive to see his masterpiece finished! The slightly surreal touches to the temple, such as the hundreds of hand scultpures reaching from the ground to symbolize 'desire' (though I think 'terror' is more fitting) is continued into the art gallery. As you'd predict, the first few rooms mostly contain beautifully painted pictures are of Buddha or his teachings. Then, as you walk into the last room...a picture of Bush on a rocket-ship, created iin 2009, simply called 'Bye-bye'. The next picture...Bush and Bin Laden on a rocket-ship, called 'Peace and Love on Earth'. Enough said.
 |
| And then we bumped into the artist himself! (not his cardboard cutout at all...) |
We eventually made it to Chiang Rai...a chilled-out town that also has enough buzz to keep travelers hooked...and a night-market (the main draw for us these days!). The ornate, golden clock tower looks a little out of place in the understated city centre, but it was fun to witness one of its three nightly light-shows. Gary drove us up there with literally 30 seconds to spare. Dramatic start...lights out...then for 6 minutes, a Thai lady sings a pretty song as the clock changes colours...and a clam comes out and opens up, cuckoo-style. Not sure why a clam, but anyway... Cue lots of firework display-esque 'oohs' and 'ahhs'...well, from me anyway...everybody else was too busy taking photos on their I-phones...
I had my most effective Thai massage here, by Lisa's recommendation...of course, I was in agony for the first ten minutes, but every good massage starts out that way, right? She told me about muscle twists I didn't even know about! We even got a bar to open up at 6.30a.m to watch the Superbowl...my second experience of the huge tournament. One over-excited American and two Aussies also came to swear and cheer madly at the telly with us. Bit too early for beer (only just), so it was bacon butties (sandwiches...it was a British bar) all round for us instead.
Anyway, I'm so glad that we made the spontaneous decision to visit Chiang Rai. It was so much fun getting to know Gary and Lisa- two kind-hearted, interesting, well-traveled people. Gary has one of the best attitudes to traveling I've seen...we saw him on the day we left Chiang Rai, booking a ticket to Myanmar for the next day to renew his visa. A little while later, he rushed back into the hotel. 'What a difference an hour makes', he said. 'I'm off to China today!' Good luck on the rests of your travels, guys...although I'm not sure if you'll be able to read this in China, Gary! Thanks for all the cocktails and laughs! Hope your Laos trip worked out for you, Lisa- thanks for the masseuse advice!
And now, the end is near, and so I face, the final curtain...yep, Frank's got it right...we head to Cambodia tomorrow! We are in Aranya Prathet right now, right on the border. The train journey here was a lot of fun! Our fellow Thai passenger was so sweet; he spoke little English, but kept pointing outside at interesting things to look at, and was always smiling! See my final thoughts in the next blog post...
 |
| Train ride from Bangkok to Aranya Prathet... |
No comments:
Post a Comment