Chiang Rai & the White Temple

  Chiang Rai Province, Thailand Wednesday, November 12, 2014

This was a trip we had originally intended to just do by ourselves. Then everyone seemed to think it was a bad idea and that we would be better off just hopping on a tour so reluctantly we agreed and here we are. Off on another mini bus heading to the northern most points of Thailand. First stop was some Hot springs. Now the trip guide had made it sound exciting but it was a bit like describing a trip up the M5 and saying we stop at the beautiful Malvern Hills viewpoint when actually they are just stopping at the services! That's all that was here really - a services for the bus staff to get their breakfast and there happened to be some hot springs here. Hoping the rest of the day was going to be a bit more eventful we hopped back on the bus and headed for the White temple. This temple is very famous and if you ever google Thailand Temples, be sure this one will come up (it does - i've just tried it). This too had been on our list of places to visit since our first trip to Thailand and as we pulled in, it certainly did not disappoint. It was stunning! We had about 1 1/2 hours to walk about and see the temple. We took lots of photos of the outside and saw many strange things including hands reaching up at you, skulls and other weird stuff incorporated into the design of the temple. Very strange. Then we walked over the little bridge into the temple and it got weirder and weirder. Inside were painted characters from film. Tiny little figures painted on the walls. Harry Potter, Batman, Michael Jackson, Elvis, Terminator, Superman & Pin Head from Hellraiser to name just a few. Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside the temple so you will just have to take our word for this or go and see for yourself if you don't believe us. We stopped and bought a prayer thingy to hang on the tree but we are going to hang it on our christmas tree instead Next stop - the Golden Triangle. This is an area of the Mekong River. It is where Myanmar, Thailand and Laos meet on the river and is so called because these 2 countries were huge producers of opium. There is a tiny island in the middle of the river which is no-man's-land and boats from all 3 countries would trade opium from this island. Gold was the currency of choice in exchange for the opium, hence the name the golden triangle. We all jumped on a boat and went for a trip up the river to see this No-Man's-Land island. and the popped over to Laos.  We had to go through a mini immigration thing but basically we just had admittance to an area full of market stalls. Most were all selling the same stuff but there were a couple of shops selling handbags. Thousands of handbags. Quite literally thousands and they were all set out waiting for the tourists to come and buy them. Not us though. We posted a couple of postcards from the postbox there and it was back on the boat to Thailand again. We got back on the bus and stopped briefly at the Myanmar border so the people on the bus could wonder about what lay on the other side then we headed off for lunch. It was quite strange. Busloads of people all eating from the same buffet and even though everyone on our table had all been on the bus together all day, no one wanted to talk really and some averted their eyes to avoid speaking to anyone else. Very strange. Last stop on the day was a visit to the Karen (long necked people) tribe. There was a village about an hour from the Myanmar border and we had really been looking forward to this part of the trip. We walked through their village and it was so peaceful and calm. The village ladies were all smiling and sitting quietly weaving away with their neck rings. There are many different accounts of why the Padaung (this sub-group of the Karen people) practice this bizarre custom. Their own mythology explains that it is done to prevent tigers from killing them as tigers kill by strangulation! Others have reported that it is done to make the women unattractive so they are less likely to be captured by slave traders. The most common explanation, though, is the opposite of this — that an extra-long neck is considered a sign of great beauty and wealth and that it will attract a better husband. Adultery, though, is said to be punished by removal of the rings. In this case, since the neck muscles will have been severely weakened by years of not supporting the neck, a woman must spend the rest of her life lying down. Adultery and divorce among all Karen groups is extremely low. The Karen in Burma have suffered oppression at the hands of successive regimes of that country for decades. Forced re-settlement and labor, incarceration, denial of political representation and citizenship status rights among other human rights violations have led thousands of Karen to move into Thailand. While many argue that they have a better life there, their status is yet unsure. Many of them are in Thailand as refugees. We were encouraged to buy the things they were making as the people are a proud people but very poor. By purchasing their products you are putting money in their pockets which they do need. We did barter a bit but not too harshly. Again it was time to move on and we had had a really lovely day. Highlights for us was the white temple and the Karen people. Tomorrow is a whole new day and we are very excited..........   [gallery columns="4" ids="9713,9727,9741,9752,9760,9772,9788,9793,9804,9813,9822,9824,9832,9841,9848,9858,9870,9879,9888,9896,9907,9914,9918,9927,9936,9941,9945,9946,9950,9953,9958,9961,9964,9969,9975,9980,9985,9987,9988,9990,9992,9994"]