CHIANG .. what?

i promised to throw in my next post a little quick. so here it is – as close to the one before as .. never! well, i mean, some of you may not be surprised about me unveiling the places i visited over the holidays, as i’ve posted about it – and maybe we’ve already talked about it.

but ANY WAY, to all of the others:

SURPRISE …. CHIANG RAI – AND PAI – AND CHIANG RAI (again, i know) i chose! and YES the names are real and rhyme. the places are situated to each other and each have their own charme! anyway, i was excited to go – and even happier about a friend joining me for a bit in chiang rai for christmas, and then chiang mai for new years! i’m gonna tell you a bit more about it. but watch out, this is about to be a long one.

1st stop: CHIANG RAI
a lot of people told me it doesn’t really pay off to stay a few nights in chiang rai. but i really do think it did. it may be because of my need of some time away of big cities and busy streets. so at that time, chiang rai seemed just perfect. and i loved the hostel. and the walks through the streets..

..without any plans of needing to do sightseeing. well, almost. i felt like i should go see some places so i booked a day tour. it was quite a tour! 8 places or so in just about 12 hours. but that way i saw the white temple, the blue temple, the black house, a long neck tribe, a tea plantation, the monkey cave, the golden triangle, the opium museum, did i forget something? i don’t even know, at least that’s the places i remember. and they were great!

i loved the WHITE TEMPLE because of its seeming modernity and the unusual approach of building a temple. it is kept in white, which is a traditional color of grief in thailand, but also seen as buddha’s purity and wisdom, the guide told us.
it is still under construction, and most like not to be finished anytime soon. Chalermchai Kositpipat, the artist’s want to stay independent from big donors, so everything that’s there right now is funded by his own money or independent donations of low sums of money. it will most likely take a few more years and decades to finish it, expected in about 50 years. if you see the detail in and outside the temple you will definitely see why.

the BLUE TEMPLE was blue. and that’s what i loved about it as .. well, it’s blue! unfortunately i missed g. w. bush and osama bin laden in the devil’s eyes inside of it. there was much more information but, honestly i don’t remember much more of it. maybe because we rushed through to not be late for the bus leaving again?! this should definitely not lessen the beauty of it!

the BLACK HOUSE, often thought of as the black temple, which it isn’t, was just interesting! i still wonder why you would create art out of animals‘ bones and skin. looked very dark. and, well, interesting!

we also went ahead to visit a LONG NECK TRIBE village, called that because women (only.) start stretching their neck at a young age. these rings are heave and rather than stretching the neck (like i thought it would) the heavy weight on their shoulders pushes down their shoulders, as well as their spine and rips, making this process irreversable. we were told the legend that the rings were supposed to protect the inhabitants of fillages from tiger attacks. they would try to attack the victims in the neck.
i wonder why then only women should protect their necks…? oh, we’ve heard this importance of „protecting women“ habits.. i only heard this story there – there may be other reasons for it. trying not to judge, just wondering. i don’t think i would have visited myself, but the information the tour guide provided was another interesting reflection on tourism. and politics. on the one hand going inside the villages and some people maybe buying things, this may help them make a living – but may not (very likely does not!) show their everyday life. and at the same time i think there should rather be a more critical reflection on this situation than planning for tourist visits. as refugees from myanmar because of war many people of the tribes crossed to boarder to thailand and settled. having a ‚temporary stay‘ as refugees caused by national conflict, they live in villages in northern thailand, without being able to leave their villages and areas without permit – not owning a passport, being pretty much stateless, without a way out – even with marriage the problem isn’t automatically solved, this looks like a very problematic situation ongoing for over 20 years.

the TEA PLANTATION was pretty impressive. it somehow reminded my of austria – and the wine all over my home town area. actually i found it quite interesting to realize, that white, green and black tea are all the same plant, just different harvesting and  processing. i don’t really feel like i know enough to go into detail about it, but it’s definitely been worth going there AND learning (and tasting) on teas!

the MONKEY CAVE actually wasn’t on my list as much. but at the same time i hadn’t seen any monkeys yet during the past almost 4 years. so honestly, i was kind of curious of the experience! at the same time i felt a little concerned, when they handed us sticks to defend ourselves from the monkeys around there. WHY WOULD YOU NEED THAT? – well, soon we’d find out. these monkeys were cheeky! and smart – they are easy-going when you have food. if not, they may come at you and make you give it to them. oh well, most of us tried to stay away. and still felt like they would try to come at us. yes, an experience and no, i didn’t use my stick. but after seeing one attacking a woman and jumping at another group when exiting the cave, i was kind of glad i had it. even though i probably would be too shocked to make use of it. long story short: it’s alright, not too crazy cool though.

now, coming to one of my favorite places, the GOLDEN TRIANGLE. it may be simply because ever since i knew i was going to live in bangkok i’ve wanted to go to myanmar, or caused by the beautiful view and imagination of three countries meeting in one spot. and the river. and the landscape. and the opium museum. it was good!

stay tuned – this holiday travel was to be continued ..

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recommendations wanted?

CHIANG RAI
* fly to chiang mai and take a bus to chiang rai (when wanting to save money) – but be ready to wait for the busses. i don’t know if it’s that normal, but mine had MAJOR delays on the way there and back – maybe i’m just not used to it living in bangkok..
* ‚happy nest hostel‘ (i REALLY liked it!)
* do a day tour – it may sound stressful, but makes it easy to see the interesting places all at once!