Part 2: Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand. Doi Tung, Mai Sae and Chiang Sean

Our adventure continues...

After checking in to our Doi Tung hotel, we hopped on the back of motorbike taxis and raced up a steep hill to Doi Tung Wat, the highest temple in Chiang Rai province. The ride up was breathtaking. Partially because of the steep, narrow, winding road, mostly because of the stunning scenery that stretched out for miles in all directions. 

View from the back of a motorbike taxi

After climbing a winding staircase with axe-weilding idols and following a bell-lined path, we reached the Wat. It was pretty nestled in the trees and a typical design like many other Wats in the area. However we both agreed that the ride up and down was the best part!

A little disturbing!

           

Smiling but slightly scary idols guarded the entrance

The more peaceful bell-lined path

Doi Tung Wat - the highest in the region

Surrounded by elephants...

...and more buddhas

Intricate designs and sparkly embellishments

Dragons are popular designs on the Wat

That evening, we were on our way out for dinner the same time as Ball - the owner of our hotel, and his wife. He offered to drive us to Mai Sae, a little town on the border of Myanmar about 12km away. Why not? A chance to see another town! The main road was lined with street food vendors, souvenir and clothing shops and colourful lanterns and we spent a relaxing hour or so enjoying our food and the constant movement of the border town.

Dinner outside on the street in Mai Sae

More dragons overlooking the town

Just through those gates is Myanmar!

The following day, we hired motorbike taxis again to take us to the home of the Kings mother and Mae Fa Luang royal gardens high in the hills of Doi Tung. The gardens were commissioned by the Kings mother as she wanted to create a place where Thai people could enjoy plants not commonly found in the region and also relax. The gardens are beautifully maintained and it was a relaxing place to spend an hour wandering around.

Views around the royal gardens

The focal point of the gardens...

...is this statue named Continuity symbolising continuous improvement and effort

The chalet that the Kings mother lived in overlooks the gardens and is also quite stunning with intricate detail both inside and out. The grand entrance doors, the balcony railing, even carvings of the Thai alphabet were on one of the inside walls. Another hour passed quickly listening to a recorded tour about the chalet and the well-loved Kings mother. It seems that she really cared about the Thai people and set up things to get them out of the opium trade and into ‘healthier’ work. Like setting up nurseries to supply the Mae Fa Luang garden with plants.

Front garden of the chalet

View from the balcony looking out to the hills of Myanmar

My own clothes were too skimpy so I got to wear this!

One of the many nurseries in the area

The great thing up here is that all these little towns are only 20-40km apart and there is plenty of public transport to get you around. A songthew and local bus drove us from Doi Tung to Chiang Sean, then a tuk-tuk took us up to the Golden Triangle.

Old-school local bus

In the back of a songthew

On a spacious tuk-tuk

This was a highlight of the week for me. Standing in Thailand, Myanmar on the left, Laos on the right and the swift-flowing, brown, murky Mekong River marking the borders. 

The Golden Triangle

And again with sort of a golden triangle

The contrast between each country was quite striking. Thailand was covered in tourist shops, food vendors and different religious shrines asking for donations. Laos had a gaudy casino rising over the simple local huts, while Myanmar remained in a completely natural state. I loved watching the shadows on the Myanmar hills as the sun set and the fishermen hanging just out of the current in their long wooden boats. 

Felt a bit like an amusement park!

Buddha collecting coins

Casino reminiscent of Las Vegas in Laos

The beautiful, unspoiled mountains of Myanmar

Chiang Sean itself is interesting to wander around. It is the site of a 14th century city and there are plenty of remnants to see - temple ruins, old city walls and of course the modern touristy souvenirs! Don’t expect flash western-style restaurants or much english to be spoken here either. It’s all very local but the people super friendly and you can always get food - even if you don’t know what it might be to start with.

One of many abandoned temples in the town

And another home to packs of dogs!

Young man casting his fishing net into the Mekong River

The border - where you get on a boat to go to Laos

Wat Chedi Luang is a focal point in Chiang Sean. It was originally the tallest Wat in Chiang Rai. It stood a staggering 84m high until an earthquake in 1545 reduced it to it’s current height of 60m. It also housed the famous Emerald Buddha for a while. It’s covered in moss and I often find myself wondering how people built these things centuries ago without the help of cranes.

Wat Chedi Luang

Setting sun looking out to Laos

After a week on the go, we arrived back in Chiang Rai town and took it easy for a couple of days. The walking night market on Saturday night housed some fabulous local food (no idea what half of it was!). There were good deals on t-shirts and souvenirs. And buskers added to the noisy atmosphere. You have to visit the clock tower at 7, 8 or 9pm too. Every night, it plays music, changes colour and is great for a laugh.

Walking night market

Normal golden colour of the clock tower...

Pinky-red...

...and blue were just some of the colours!

On our last day, Kristian wanted some decent coffee. So our hotel owner directed us to a Swedish cafe on the bank of the Kok River. And it was popular! Good food, more friendly people and strong coffee. We thought it was quite ironic sitting in a Swedish cafe in northern Thailand eating NZ pavlova.

My 'butterfly-pea' drink

Coffee and pavlova :)

Chiang Rai. I so loved this small region of Thailand. While it is easily accessible and lots of tourists visit the region, it still has a very local, remote feel. I would recommend it to anyone wanting to get a bit off the normal tourist trail without too much effort.

Hot pot at the street market

Entertainment at dinner time

Part 1: Chiang Rai, Northern Thailand. Around the city, up the river and through the jungle

With our wedding over and my Swedish visa about to expire, Kristian and I jumped on a plane and ended up in Chiang Rai. 

Road signs, Chiang Rai style

It is one of the most northern provinces in Thailand and has a completely different feel to Bangkok and the cities in southern Thailand. With a population of about 69,000 in the city and 1.2 million in the greater province, it felt super quiet, especially as it only took 15 minutes to get from one side of the city to the other. We also found the people much friendlier and willing to direct us to interesting and remote places of their towns and villages.

Normal restaurant we commonly ate in

As we were on our honeymoon, it was supposed to be a relaxing week. However, there was so much to see and do in the region that I kept Kriss busy with new adventures and sites to see every day.

The White Temple is - according to Trip Advisor - the number 1 attraction in Chiang Rai. To an extent, I can understand why. The guy who designed and is still building the temple has combined traditional Buddhist icons and typical Thai Wat (temple) architecture with images of hollywood characters, world leaders, creepy skulls and mirrors to create a one-of-a-kind tourist attraction. I was certainly in the minority with my 1 star review entitled ‘Ghastly…with a hint of awful’, but am still glad to have seen the monstrosity with my own eyes.

The White Temple reflected in the pool

Skull-topped road cones are an unfriendly welcome to the Wat

Predator rises from the ground

Bodyless arms hold up bowls and heads

Batman, Freddy Krugar and others growing plants for bodies

Tiny mirrors reflect the light

Side view...

Sorry everyone, 2 thumbs down

Day 2 began with a cruisy long-tail boat ride up the Mae Kok River, followed by an arduous 15km trek. I honestly didn’t realise it was 15km when we signed up the day before. I believed the woman when she said 2-3 hours easy walking!

River boats - actually very comfortable and stable

The easy, relaxing part of the day. With Krill our guide

Not keen on swimming today

Buddha watching the river

Local woman fishing along the river bank

What made the day so memorable were our guides, the smiling brothers Chill and Krill (at least I think those were the names they said!). They led us, along with Matt from Ireland and Alberto from Spain, around hot springs, up and down hills, through the jungle, between houses and across waterfalls, all the time telling stories and teaching us about many of the plants along the way. (It was handy to know about the plant that stops bleeding when both Kriss and Alberto cut themselves).

56 degrees hot springs

Village in the jungle. 3 hours to walk there, 30 mins by motorbike

At the waterfall

Dodgy bamboo bridges

As we walked, the brothers chopped off stalks of bamboo and carved and shaped them. When I asked what they were doing, they simply replied, ‘a cup’ or ‘a spoon’. I thought they were just passing the time and practicing whittling. However, all was revealed when we stopped for lunch. Cups, a ladle, cooking tubes and chopsticks came out of their packs! All beautifully formed and finished.

Chill carving chopsticks

Our lunch table and cutlery

Chopsticks even tied together

Lunch was an omelette and noodle soup with pork and vegetables, all cooked in bamboo tubes over an open fire and then mixed together in banana leaves on the ground where we sat. It sounds simple but I think it was the tastiest meal I ate all week.

Chill and Krill did all the hard work...we helped a little bit :)

Cooking the omelette, veges and meat in bamboo tubes

Hot water for the noodle/vege/meat soup

Omlette anyone?

Best lunch ever!

Chill’s skills didn’t end with his bamboo carving. After lunch, he handed Kristian something wrapped in a banana leaf and said, “Open it - for Megan”. While we were finishing lunch, he made a braided ring from bamboo fibre - I still can’t find the beginning and end of it!

The mystery parcel...

My new ring!

The last 1.5 hours walking were tough with steep hills, hot afternoon sun and tired feet. The scenery was beautiful though, seeing winding valleys, rolling hills and a tea plantation stretch into the distance. 

Through the tea plantation...a rare downhill!

These signs list the names and house number of everyone in the village

A cup of tea overlooking the tea plantation

It was a welcome relief to sink into some natural hot springs at the end of the day and let the tiredness seep out of our feet.

Kriss lapping it all up

Crazy grins after a crazy walk

We slept in the next day, then jumped into a crowded minivan heading north of the city. We had no idea where Doi Tung was. And as very few road signs are in English, we wondered if we would get off at the right place. But this is where the hospitality of the Thai people really comes in. The guy who dropped us at the bus station, found us a minivan heading in our direction. He told the driver where we wanted to go, agreed the price (36 baht each) and the driver made sure we got off a couple of hundred metres away from our hotel in Doi Tung. Just wonderful.

To find out about our next explorations and the fun people we met, head over to Part 2...Doi Tung, Mai Sae and Chiang Sean.