Well I just got back from another weekend trip, this time to
Chiang Rai in northern Thailand. I went
with three other teachers, basically just on a whim because we were able to get
a really cheap flight. On Friday night
we arrived and went straight to the night market, which was rumoured to be very
good. After walking around a bit, we
decided to find a hotel for the night.
This was the first time that we went somewhere without first having a
reservation or some idea of where we were staying. It was actually more difficult to find a
decent hotel by wandering than we anticipated (even though it is the tourism
off season). We went first to a hostel
that was borderline grungy near the night market. After a look at the rooms, we decided to try our
luck at finding another place. We ended
up asking a tuk tuk driver where we should stay, but turned down his suggestion
because we thought it was too far away.
Next we looked at a hotel that was even grungier than the hostel. By then it was getting pretty late and we
were all tired. We ended up turning on
our heels and going back to the tuk tuks to take us somewhere cheap but a bit
nicer. The place that we had originally been
recommended is where we stayed, and it was ideal for what we needed. My lesson learned: trust your tuk tuk and
book ahead.
 |
| The white temple. |
The next day in Chiang Rai I got up early and walked back to
the night market (about 20 minutes away) to get breakfast. When the other girls woke up, we decided to
tour the white temple first. As far as
temples go, this one was pretty unusual.
It is not actually finished yet, for the inside walls are still being
painted with an elaborate mural. The
outside of the temple is completely white, true to name, and tiny mirrors are
embedded into the plaster that covers it.
The result is that the temple is somewhat blinding in the sun. Inside, the temple was far from what I
expected. The wall opposite the door was
painted with a large Buddha and heavenly figures on clouds. The wall with the entrance was painted to
look like a dragon, with what I assume to be the sins of humanity plastered
around it. The dragon featured hellish
figures along with popular icons such as tiny superman, spiderman, avatars,
kung fu panda, and more. The result was
a strange mix of modern with traditional Thai.
The connecting wall showed human figures riding dragon boat shaped
clouds towards the Buddha painting, changing into monks as they neared. In the end, I was very glad that I did not
pass up the opportunity to see this temple, which was truly original.
That afternoon, we also went to see a small museum featuring
the hilltribe people. The museum was not
very impressive, but it was interesting to see photographs of some of the
people. One of the tribes is called the
Karen, and they stretch their necks with golden hoops. It is unfortunate though, that these people
are not considered Thai citizens and are severely exploited through the tourism
trade.
 |
| The black house. |
After that, we headed over to the House of the National
Artist, or “Black House” right outside of Chiang Rai. It is actually an estate filled with displays
that are mildly horrifying. I think that
the art is meant to disturb viewers because it is composed largely of dead
animal parts, including horns, skeletons, and furs or skins. There were rooms filled with crocodile skins,
and massive dinner tables draped in skins with chairs made of horns for you to
look at. Also, groups of people there
are dressed entirely in white, which is rather off-putting as well because
everything else is painted black.
 |
| A display at the black house. |
After the black house, our group met up and got picked up to
be taken to another hotel for our second night.
This one was called Akha Hill House, and was located right in the midst
of the mountains of Chaing Rai, near the Akha village. A truck came to pick us up, and we were told
to stand in the box and hold carefully onto some handrails. It seemed very dangerous at the start, but it
was surprisingly easy to stand while the truck was moving, even in the
mountains. Actually, it felt similar to
quading and I really enjoyed it. The
mountain air was very refreshing, and it was awesome to be out in the mountains
and away from a city for the weekend. At
the hotel, we checked into some sparse bungalows with great views of the
surrounding hillside. We were very
worried about the threat of malaria (and none of us remembered to take our
pills), so we lathered up in thick layers of bug spray the whole time. Here in Thailand there is really no limit to
the amount of deet a bug spray can contain, so I had on a 50% solution. That night, we hung around and talked to the
other travellers at the hotel (who were from Holland and France).
 |
| The view from our bungalow. |
 |
| Me attempting to make a bamboo cup. |
The next day, we signed up for a one-day jungle trek tour
through the hotel. Our guide was very
nice and spoke English very well. The
hiking was difficult to begin as we started by heading straight up the side of
a mountain, but overall it was not hard.
Our trek was centered on a jungle lunch that we helped to prepare. We had to make our own cups and bowls out of
a bamboo tree using the machetes they gave us.
It was actually really difficult to do (and not just for me!). Afterwards, we trekked farther and went
“fishing” in a tiny stream. This kind of
fishing didn’t really appeal to me too much, because we were really only
scooping up minnows and other crustaceans that looked too small to be
appetizing. To “fish”, you first needed
to construct a dam to block the stream.
Then, you splash around in the shallow water to find the fish. We collected them in a bamboo piece. Afterwards, our guide told us that Thai
people who fish that way traditionally would go to a bigger stream and catch
bigger fish, but that it would take far too long for us to do it on that scale. Our next stop on the trek was where we cooked
lunch. Actually, that is not very
accurate because the guides kept us busy trying to make chopsticks out of
bamboo while they took care of the cooking.
Everything was prepared by boiling it in hollow bamboo over an open
fire. I stayed clear of the minnows, but
ate some of the instant noodles that the guides cooked, some bamboo soup, and
some omelet. For dessert I had two
slices of pineapple as well, which really turned out to be a bad idea because I
immediately started to feel sick. On the
way back to the hotel, we got to experience the rainy season first had for the
first time. It poured the entire hour
and a half we spent walking back, and the rain turned the red mud trails into
absolute slides. It didn’t help that I
felt sick most of the way and ended up puking on the side of the mountain
before long. Luckily for us, the people
at the hotel were very nice and let us shower before taking us back to Chiang
Rai to catch our flight. Overall, I was
very happy to spend time in the mountains, which were breathtakingly
beautiful. We packed a lot into one
short weekend, and ended up getting back to Bangkok pretty late before our long
day of teaching Monday.
 |
| Creating a dam for fishing. |
 |
| Our jungle food. |
 |
| Preparing the instant noodles, jungle style. |
