Day 12: From Pakbeng to Luang Prabang

We woke up today and headed out from the Luangsay Lodge around 8:30am. It poured last night, so the air hung thick with mist and dew this morning.

Mist hanging over the mountains

After a few more hours of floating down the Mekong river and we made a stop at the Ban Baw (pronounced “Bow”) village. This village is a mix of Khmu people and Lao people.  The Lao people are the lowland people who live below 600 meters above sea level–they also are the majority ethnic group of the country.

Ban Baw Village in the jungle

This next photo is interesting as it shows the different architectural styles of the Lao and Khmu tribes.  The house on the right is typical Khmu and the one on the left is typical Lao.  The entire village is mixed like this, with Khmu and Lao families living side by side.  Some years ago these two tribes were joined into one village by the Lao government so that they could share resources for water, health care, education, etc.

Lao house on the left, Khmu house on the right

In this village we tried some of the local rice whiskey that the villagers make.  It tasted a lot like sake but quite a bit stronger.  I’m not entirely sure I understood the process for making the whiskey, but this was the apparatus being used to fill a bottle with the distilled rice whiskey.

Distilling rice whiskey

This village also had several villagers selling handmade silk scarves.  As usual, I couldn’t resist a silk scarf and bought a couple.  I bought a particularly lovely one from a young woman who was weaving them using this loom.  This wide-style scarf takes her 8 days to weave.  I bought a similar one.

Ban Baw Loom

We spent about half an hour in the Ban Baw village and then headed back to the boat to continue our journey.

View from the village–my first water buffalo!

After lunch and a few more hours of floating down river, we arrived at the Pak Ou Caves. The Pak Ou caves are located at the mouth of the Ou river, where it meets the Mekong.  These caves are located in a beautiful mountain jutting dramatically out of the water.

Pak Ou caves entrance is at the bottom left of the mountain

There are two caves, the Tham Ting (lower cave) and the Tham Theung (upper cave).  The caves overlook the Mekong River and are approximately 25 km north of Luang Prabang.  There are thousands of miniature Buddhas inside the caves.  We visited the Tham Ting cave first.

Some of the Buddhas in the Tham Ting Cave

And then we made our way up the 200+ steps to the Tham Theung, which is much deeper.  We all had to use our cell phones as flashlights to reach the depths of Tham Theung to see the Buddha statues there.

Buddha statue outside the Tham Theung cave

The view across the Mekong river was also particularly stunning.

View of village across the Mekong from Pak Ou Caves

We continued our journey to Luang Prabang and arrived just before sunset.

Luang Prabang river front

I am staying in a gorgeous hotel called the Victoria Xiengthong Palace.  It is by far the best hotel I’ve stayed in so far during my trip and I am SO happy I’ve decided to stay here for 5 nights.  Luang Prabang is utterly charming.

This evening, after I settled in, I visited the Xiengthong temple just next door to my hotel, which is delightful and so beautiful. I can already see why this town is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.  It’s really something else.

Xiengthong temple

Young monk at the Xiengthong temple

I spent the night and evening walking all over the main street in town, stopping into boutiques and shops and travel agencies to book tours.  I am so excited to be in Luang Prabang.

Around and about Luang Prabang

The architecture feels a little French colonial, which adds to the charm of these tree-lined streets.

Around and about Luang Prabang

Luang Prabang by night

I am utterly exhausted, so I’ll leave off there!

Day 11: Traveling down the Mekong

Today I woke up around 8am to eat breakfast and leave my hotel. I was picked up by the folks from Luangsay cruise at 9am and they took me to the boat pier. As it turns out, the boat I am taking also leaves from the slow boat pier I walked by yesterday, and not a different pier as I had originally thought.

Luangsay Cruise at the pier

I was the first passenger aboard. The boat is quite a bit nicer than the regular slow boats that leave from this pier. At 40 meters long, the boat has comfortable seating in the front and a little private area in the back. There are 2-3 servers who take care of your needs while on board, along with 2 guides (one English-speaking and one French-speaking).

Inside the main area of the long boat

Back area of the boat

The boat departed around 10am. There are about 20 other passengers on the boat—the usual Australian/German contingent, and then a large group of Swiss and French. We started the journey floating down river. After a short while, we passed under the Friendship Bridge IV that I had crossed yesterday.

Friendship Bridge IV

We continued onward. After about an hour, the English-speaking guide, Kee, told me that Thailand was no longer on our right and that Laos was on both sides of the river now. Farewell Thailand. Hello Laos. It rained this morning, a lot, so there was mist hanging over the mountains in the morning as we traveled.

The misty mountains of Laos

Sometime near midday we arrived at a local Lao village called Ban Houy Pha Lam. It is a typical Lao village in the midlands. I believe the guide said that the people here are from the Khmu tribe, a people who live usually between 600-800 meters above sea level. We walked around the village and met some of the villagers. Like some of the hill tribes I visited in Thailand, the houses are built on stilts, with the people living inside above and the livestock and animals and firewood below.

Ban Houy Pha Lam Village

Children in Ban Houy Pha Lam Village

Baby and Mother in Ban Houy Pha Lam Village

View of our boat coming back from the village visit

We ate lunch on the boat after, which was a delicious buffet. I have no idea what I ate, but it was as good if not better than the Thai fare I’ve had on this trip so far.

We continued traveling down river, passing through gorgeous scenery for hours. It’s hard to describe how beautiful it is here, floating along the Mekong in such a rural place, so I’ll let the photos do the talking (even though they really don’t capture the natural beauty of this place). We passed many small villages along the river, making our way to Pakbang, where we are spending the night.

Villages along the Mekong

The Mighty Mekong

Mekong River View

Mekong River and Hills

Local village children playing in the Mekong

The Luangsay Lodge is the darker buildings closer to the river. This is where we are spending the night

We arrived at the Luangsay Lodge in Pakbeng around 5pm. This is where folks from our tour will spend the night. It is VERY rustic here. It’s beautiful, but rustic.

View from the Lodge of the Mekong

I have my own bungalow but there are no screens on the windows so bugs and things can just roam in and out freely. There are two cicadas singing to each other at the moment in my bungalow. There is an enormous net hanging over my bed, which is a first for me, so I hope it will be effective in keeping out the bugs. Thank goodness for the Malaria pills.

The decor here is charming and the staff is attentive, but it really feels like I’m sleeping in the jungle. This tour has received terrific reviews so I’m guessing this is all part of the “heart of darkness” experience, but I’m not going to lie when I say it’s definitely a little scary!

As has been the case since I arrived in Laos yesterday, there is no WiFi in the rooms so I’m posting this now from the reception area. This cruise is definitely fun and different from anything I’ve done before, but I just can’t wait to get to Luang Prabang!

View of the Mekong at sunset

 

Day 10: Getting to Laos

I slept in today and took my time packing before going to the bus station. My plan was to catch the 12pm bus to arrive in Chiang Khong (on the border between Thailand and Laos) around 3pm-3:30pm to then cross the border on the Friendship Bridge IV. My hotel in Chiang Rai called a taxi to take me to the bus station. When I told my taxi driver that I was going to the old bus station to catch the bus to Chiang Khong, he replied saying “I can take you there.” Within a few minutes we negotiated the price—1,200 baht or $37 USD — and he would drive me the 2 hours to Chiang Khong in his nice, comfortable, air conditioned car. I was told that the hourly buses that leave the old bus station in Chiang Rai for Chiang Khong have no air conditioning and just open windows with a fan. I wasn’t wild about doing that for 3+ hours, so the taxi worked out well. The drive to Chiang Khong was easy and fairly relaxing.

My taxi driver was an older man, who goes by Tony, and is originally from Phuket. He used to be a chef in a few different hotels in Phuket and Krabi and also taught at a culinary school. He retired and moved to Chiang Rai to care for his deceased wife’s 84 year old mother. Tony turns 60 next year. He was very friendly and polite and by Thai standards a pretty decent driver. He told me about his daughter and his son. He shared with me that his wife died in the Tsunami in 2004. Every December he goes to the temple to make fruit offerings to her spirit. Every time he says the word “tsunami” he gets chills on his arms and rubs them nervously. It was a very moving story.

I was able to glean quite a bit from our conversation despite the fact that his English was very poor. This led to a few misunderstandings. For example, while I repeated several times (slowly!) that I was going to Chiang Khong to cross the border over to Houeisay in Laos via the Friendship Bridge IV, he wasn’t able to understand and it added about a 30 minute detour to the trip. We did finally find the Border Control office at the Friendship Bridge IV. It is located 10-15km south of Chiang Khong, so DO NOT follow the signs in Chiang Khong to Immigration, as this will take you to a boat terminal that only Lao and Thai people use to cross the river. This is where me and Tony ended up. But it made for a nice photo op of the Laos side. The photo below shows Houeisay across the Mekong river. Funny enough, I can see my hotel in this photo (the Houeisay Riverside Hotel) even though I didn’t know it at the time. My hotel is the yellow-orange building just left of the center of the photo.

View of Houeisay, Laos from Thailand

The Friendship Bridge is how the rest of the foreigners cross between Thailand and Laos. There are signs pointing to the Friendship Bridge on the road to Chiang Khong, so if you arrive in town then you’ve definitely passed it. The border control building is quite large and looks almost like an airport building so you’ll know you’ve arrived once you see it. Once inside I had to find my departure card (which was given to me when I arrived in Bangkok last week) and I went through Thai customs. Once you’ve crossed into No Man’s Land, you need to buy a bus ticket to take you across the bridge to the Lao side. The buses run quite regularly—probably in 20 minute or half hour intervals—and the ride itself is just a few minutes long. You are literally just crossing a bridge.

Crossing the Friendship Bridge IV. Left side is Thailand, Right side is Laos

On the Lao side I had to fill out a visa application. They require a passport photo for the application. I had read about this in advance so I brought 2 extra passport photos with me and they did in fact request one. Some sources I read said that you’re supposed to have a 3” x 2” photo but the one I brought was the standard American size (2” x 2”) and that worked out just fine. I also read sources that say that you can pay a little extra fee if you do not have a passport photo with you. I paid my $35 USD visa fee and they gave me my visa and I walked on through.

From Border Control I negotiated a tuk tuk to take me to my hotel in town. The tuk tuks here are little trucks/buses. There were 5 of us needing to get to Houeisay, so we all piled in the back and paid 100 baht each (apparently bahts are accepted in Laos) and the tuk tuk drove us the 10 kilometers north to Houeisay.

Main Street in Houeisay

Houeisay is a lively little border town. My hotel, the Hoeuisay Riverside Hotel, is located right in the middle of the main street. There are several guest houses and little eating spots around. The room is very basic. Internet does not work in the room, which is an annoyance I expected. I do have a small balcony with river views, which I requested so that I could take photos of the river. Here’s my view.

View of Thailand from my room

After dropping off my stuff at the hotel I decided to hit the streets and walk around. I met an Australian couple just outside my hotel who were walking down to the slow boat pier—this is where most of the tourists get their slow boat to go from Houeisay to Luang Prabang. I had made plans to take an organized cruise via Luangsay Cruise from Houeisay to Luang Prabang, which leaves from a different pier south of town, but I still wanted to see the slow boat pier. It’s exactly as it looks here: lots of boats lined up at the end of a little street in the northern part of town. I’d say it was about a 1 km walk north along the main road from my hotel.

Slow Boats at the pier

We walked back to the center of town near my hotel and took a rest at a little bar called Bar How? because it started to rain. After awhile I left my new Ozzie friends and decided to walk around the main road to find a little place to eat. Then I found stairway leading up to a temple at the top of a hill. Obviously I needed to climb to the top to see the temple there and admire the view.

Wat in the center of town

Looking down from the Wat at the long stairway I just climbed

Children playing and dancing on the stairway

I went back down and decided it was time for a hot meal. A yummy chicken and ginger stir fry later and it’s time to rest! Tomorrow I’m off on my Mekong cruise, where I’ll spend the night at a lodge in Pakbeng and the day after tomorrow I’ll arrive in Luang Prabang. The highlight of my trip is nigh!

Travel Note: Between April 12-16 in Thailand is a water festival called Songkran. This seems to be a particularly big deal in Chiang Mai. Most of the travelers I met in Chiang Rai were making their way back to Chiang Mai for the water festival and were surprised that I was leaving Thailand right before the festival begins. As it turns out, the New Year in Laos is from April 14-16, which is also celebrated with the water festival (since the timing coincides), so I will in fact get to experience these festivities in Luang Prabang! The water festival, from what I understand, is pretty much a huge water fight, so it looks like I’ll be living in a swim suit over the next week. It’s probably not a bad thing since it’s so hot here. Funny thing is, the kids have already started preemptively celebrating the water festival. Several times today, both in Thailand when I was in the taxi as well as on the tuk tuk in Laos, there were children by the side of the road with buckets of water and hoses spraying everyone driving past. This should make for an interesting week!

Day 9: Hill Tribe Trekking

I was able to book a one day hill tribe trek for today. This was a remarkably difficult feat as it turns out because its the off season at the moment in Chiang Rai, there are few tourists and not a lot of them are booking trekking tours. I spent my last two evenings in Chiang Rai going from tour office to tour office looking for someone organizing a one day trek the next day. Last night I made my way to a tour office — called Japa Tour — where the office manager Charlie told me that he had a client currently on a 3 day/2 night trek of the hill tribe villages, and that the next day would be the last day of this trek.  If I was interested, I could join on for the last day and catch a few hours of trekking with the client and the guide.  The plan seemed a little makeshift, but I didn’t mind.  I wanted to see these hill tribes around the Golden Triangle I had heard so much about, and a few hours of trekking seemed like a nice way to get the full experience.

We started at 8am.  The guide picked me up at my hotel and off we went to an Akha village to meet with the client, who we’ll call F, finishing his 3 day trek.  On the way we passed by an elephant camp, which was a bit sad because the elephants were chained.  I’m hoping to visit an elephant sanctuary in Luang Prabang to see happy elephants there.  We stopped at a tea plantation on the way to Akha so that I could take a few photos.

View of the remote tea plantation. Oolong tea is grown here.

Shortly after the tea plantation we arrived at the Akha village where F was waiting.  After a brief breakfast, F showed me the little guest house he and the guide shared last night.  They were very simple rooms.  This home stay room was at the top of a steep hill.  There was an outhouse nearby.

Outside of the guest house for the tribe village home stay

Inside of the guest house. Behind each curtain are the mattresses for the guests.

We began the trek and left the Akha village.

Akha Village hidden behind banana trees

Shortly after we arrived at a waterfall. Our guide and F had bathed in this waterfall the day before on their way to the Akha village.  Because I had joined the group, we went back so I could see it (I really wanted to a see a waterfall!). I didn’t swim in it since we just started the trek and I wasn’t hot or sweaty yet.  Also, I knew that we would go to a hot spring at the end of the trek so I figured I would take a dip then.

Waterfall outside Akha Village

Then we climbed up a crazy steep path next to the waterfall. It was difficult, but we made it to the top of the waterfall and continued onward.

View from the top of the waterfall

We continued along.  F and our guide told me that there was a lot of burning in the forests over the past few days.  The farmers in the area, apparently, burn the land so that they can do their crop rotations and plant new seeds before the rainy season.  The problem is that often times the burning interferes with the trails within the forest.  We saw quite a bit of burning and hiked along several trails that were covered in ash.  Needless to say, my legs were covered in soot and ash within just an hour of walking!

Burning in the forest

Onward we went, through fire, ash, and gorgeous scenery.  We saw pineapples growing in the fields.

Pineapples growing in a field

We made our way through the forest and hills to a Lahu and Yao village (apparently both tribes live there together). We visited a home, and sat on the porch drinking water and relaxing for about 20 minutes.

In the Lahu – Yao village

Yao – Lahu village. The space beneath the homes is where the families keep there animals and livestock

View of the Yao – Lahu village

Yao – Lahu village in the hills

Next it was lunchtime.  We arrived at a point in the trail where there was a little spring.  This is where our guide started a little fire to boil some water.

Guide starting fire for cooking

He took a long bamboo piece, filled it with water, stuffed a banana leaf in the top and put it next to the fire to boil the water. He cut a few pieces of bamboo and tied a chicken around it and placed it to cook over the fire.

Cooking: F is holding the bamboo cooking the chicken. You can see the bamboo boiling water just next to the chicken in the upright bamboo

The water took awhile to boil, but once it got there we put in some noodles and then some chopped eggplants.  We washed banana leaves and laid them on the ground to use as a strainer for our eggplant-noodle dish.

Noodles with eggplant

So our meal was noodles with chopped eggplant and roasted chicken.  It was quite good too!  It’s been several hours and I’m not feeling sick or anything so it looks like our guide did a good job cooking everything.  There were small cut pieces of bamboo nearby that had already been fashioned into little cups by previous cookers.  We used these as little bowls for our noodles and chicken.  Our guide sliced some pieces of bamboo into small sticks that we used as chopsticks.  It was a lot of fun.

Once we cleaned up, it was time to move on.  We were at the last stretch of our trek for the day.  Unfortunately our trail was blocked by smoke from the fires the farmers had lit, so we had to take a detour into fairly uncharted forest.  We found another path through the trees and made it to a backroad. After walking for about 5-10 minutes we arrived at the spot where our taxi was waiting for us.  The taxi took us to the hot springs and the three of us took a well-earned dip in the hot spring pool.

Hot springs area

The trek had come to an end and it was time to go back to Chiang Rai.  It was a fun day.  Back at my hotel I took a little dip in the pool and just had an hour long Thai massage.  Tomorrow I travel to Laos.  I started taking my Malaria pills here in Chiang Rai so I’m ready to get there!

View on the drive back to Chiang Rai after our trek

Traveler tip: If you’re looking to do a hill tribe trek and you are a solo traveler on the off season (like I am), I would recommend one of the following options: the first option would be to take the trek from Chiang Mai where there are A LOT more tourists and a lot more organized treks happening.  The downside is, there are a lot more tourists in Chiang Mai than Chiang Rai so you won’t get away from the crowds as much.  The other option would be to do what I did and go around to each tour operator and see if they’ve had other travelers sign up for treks the next day.  The reason I had trouble with a one-day trek is that most tour operators won’t take just one person for a one day trek.  If I wanted to book a 2 or 3 day trek, I probably could have done so as a solo traveler–I would have had to pay a lot more, which would make it worth while to the tour operator. I was open to doing a 2 day trek, but I wasn’t comfortable with the idea of doing it alone with a guide, hence why I decided to trek with other folks.  Luckily, my tour operator made room for me on a trek in progress and called the guide at the Akha village to work out the details of picking me up at my hotel the next day.  As it turns out, because we were cooking lunch in the forest on the third day, the tour guide had to come back to Chiang Rai anyway to buy the chicken and other food supplies–errands that I ran with him after he picked me up at the hotel.  I guess it all worked out in the end.  If I come back to Chiang Rai in the future I think I would sign up for a two day trek.

Day 8: Around Chiang Rai and Visiting the Golden Triangle

I took a full day tour of the Chiang Rai region today, which was a good introduction to some of the characteristics of the area.  The tour started with a visit to the White Temple, known as Wat Rong Khun. This temple is a large scale art exhibition by local Chiang Rai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat.  The project reveals the artist’s personal, surreal and mystical ideas around Buddhism. Superheroes, pop icons, and cartoons appear on murals and sculptures next to images depicting traditional Buddhist motifs.  It’s sort of his fantasy land. This Wat started being built 20 years ago, and is still a work in progress. From some accounts I read, it looks like this won’t be completed for another 70-90 years! While it doesn’t have the history of other wats I’ve seen, it certainly is unique and very different.  It was fun walking through this fantasy land.

Wat Rong Khun, White Temple, Chiang Rai

To enter the main temple, visitors cross a little bridge over a sea of desperate and despairing hands.  It’s quite macabre.

Hands of the damned reaching up the main entry bridge to the temple

My fellow traveler on my tour (let’s call him M) pointed out the half sunken sculpture of the Predator on the grounds.

Statue of the Predator, White Temple

After the White Temple, our tour went on to visit the Black House.  The Black House, or Baan Dam, was built by Thawan Duchanee, another local Chiang Rai artist. The main house might be the first structure you wander through, but the entire complex is comprised of almost 40 buildings or monuments, which contain Duchanee’s collection of taxidermy, bones, animal skins, and other oddities.  It’s a rather bizarre collection of stuff and group of buildings, but it is located in a very bucolic area that’s quite peaceful. It was a lovely site to wander around.  There is also a museum on site with Duchanee’s other art pieces as well.

Black House, Chiang Rai

Black House, main interior

Next, we went to visit the 5 Tribes Villages.  From what I understand, the place we went to was a protected area that holds a sampling of houses and people from 5 different local villages: Longneck, Akha, Yao, Lahu, Palong.  It was a lovely place, but it was a little strange because the place was obviously not authentic–the real tribes live in the hills in the surrounding country side, and not side-by-side in this one small area.  But still, we wandered through the villages to get a sampling of these different hill tribes.  I am planning to visit a couple of these real villages tomorrow on my one day trek.

View of Longneck Village at the Union of 5 Hill Tribe Villages

Akha Women at the Union of 5 Hill Tribe Villages

From what I understand, the villagers in this mock-village set are real villagers, and their clothing is authentic to their tribe, but the individuals don’t actually live in that location.

Next, we went to visit the Chouifong Tea Plantation, which offered some lovely views of the surrounding countryside and hills.

Chouifong Tea Plantation

Chouifong Tea Plantation

The countryside in Chiang Rai is really gorgeous, despite the fact that it was a hot, hot day.

We continued to make our way north toward the Golden Triangle, and the next stop was at the Monkey Cave just outside of Mae Sai, one of the northern most towns in Thailand.  The Monkey Cave is actually called Wat Tham Pla, which means fish tail because of the fishy-shape of the gorge entrance to the temple.  There are many monkeys that apparently live in or around this cave, which is why it is known as the Monkey cave.  These little rascals mostly hang out at the visitor entrance because visitors typically give them food.

Monkey Cave Entrance

Monkeys at the Monkey Cave

We didn’t have much time for our visit, so we only went up to the Monkey (Fish tail) cave–from what I’ve read, there are a few other caves in the area.  To get to the Monkey cave, we had to climb some very uneven steps to the top of the cliff.

Precarious steps to the Monkey Cave

We finally made it to the entrance of the cave.

Monkey Cave entrance

Inside the cave were a few Buddha statues and some smaller shrines.  After, we went to a view point at the top of the cliff looking toward the Golden Triangle, though we were still far enough away that it was hard to see.

View from the top of the cliff at the Monkey Cave

Next up, we made our way to Mae Sai, the border city across the river from Myanmar.  It was a rather uneventful stop, as we did not cross over into Burma and there wasn’t a whole lot to see.  Mae Sai seemed like a lively town, filled with bustling markets.

Myanmar-Thailand Border Crossing

Next it was finally time to get to the Golden Triangle.  After a brief visit to the Opium Museum, we made it to the look out point.

Map of the Golden Triangle

Golden Triangle

For those who don’t know, the Golden Triangle was one of the most extensive opium-producing areas of Asia.  Most of the world’s heroin came from the Golden Triangle during the 20th century. The area designates the confluence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers, where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos meet.  In these photos, Laos is on the right, and Myanmar is on the left, and of course I’m standing in Thailand.

Golden Triangle View with Laos on the right and Myanmar on the left

I finally saw Laos!  In two days I will be over on that side of the Mekong.  I can’t wait.

Day 7: Going to Chiang Rai

I arrived in Chiang Rai.  The bus trip was actually pretty relaxed and pleasant, though getting the ticket made for a slight annoyance as I had not bought a ticket ahead of time.  Though I arrived at the Chiang Mai bus station at 9:30am, all the morning buses were packed so the next bus I could get a ticket for left at 12:15pm.  So I waited around for almost 3 hours at the bus station.  Note to self: even during the shoulder/off season, it’s best to get a bus ticket from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai the day before to guarantee the departure time you want.

The bus operator that goes to Chiang Rai is the Green Bus Thailand, which runs regularly (about twice an hour throughout the day) and is quite nice.  The bus has assigned seating and air conditioning, and there is an attendant who passes out water and snacks.  The total trip was around 3 hours, so I got to my hotel by 3:30pm.  I am staying at the Nak Nakara Hotel here, which is very basic but adequate. The staff is friendly and helpful, and there’s a nice pool.  I chose it because it’s fairly central to the main markets and major sites in Chiang Rai.

I dropped off my stuff and decided to hit the streets of Chiang Rai in the afternoon to get my bearings.  I walked to the day market to eat some fruit and enjoy some snacks, and walked down to the clock tower in the center of town.

Clock tower, Chiang Rai

Then I decided to make my way to the Wat Phra Kaew, which is known for being the original home of the Emerald Buddha that is now located in the Bangkok Grand Palace.  Supposedly the Emerald Buddha was discovered in 1434 when a bolt of lighting hit an old Chedi. Wat Phra Kaew has the distinction of being a royal temple and is also one of the main centers for Buddhist education in Thailand.

Wat Phra Kaew

I spent some time in the Wat Phra Kaew compound, as it was very green and peaceful, and quite pretty.

Inside the compound of the Wat Phra Kaew

Wat Phra Kaew Chedi

As I was photographing the Chedi behind the main Wat, a procession of young Buddhist monks passed by.  It was a beautiful and unexpected ritual to behold.  They walked all around the temple in single file.

Young Monks at Wat Phra Kaew

I continued walking around and made my way to the Wat Phra Singh, which dates back to the late 14th century and has rather impressive wooden doors that were carved by local artisans.  The sacred Phra Singh Buddha in Chiang Mai was formerly enshrined here. There were several young monks hanging out in front and inside the Wat.

Wat Phra Singh

Detail of the Wat Phra Singh carved doors

It was dusk and the sun was setting and almost gone, but I was able to snap a few nice photos around town.

Around Chiang Rai, Sunset

Around Chiang Rai, Sunset

View from a bridge, Chiang Rai, dusk

After roaming about for a couple of hours, it was close to 7pm and I decided to check out the night market.

Chiang Rai, Night Market

I walked around for a bit and reached an open area with lots of different food stands.  I decided it was time for a hearty Thai meal.  I met a couple of Finnish travelers at one stand, and we all ordered food and decided to eat together.  I’ll call them O and T. It was nice to have some company to share stories about traveling in Thailand.  O is on an extended 6 month trip around South East Asia, and T met up with O for a couple of weeks to travel around northern Thailand together.  T had spent a lot of time in Thailand and around South East Asia on previous trips and gave me some tips about navigating the Thai islands.  As night fell, we each finished our spicy dishes, chatting away about what lay ahead on our respective itineraries.  It was easy conversation, and a nice end to my first day in Chiang Rai.

Day 5: Flight of the Gibbon

Today I woke up and made my way to my hotel lobby to wait for my 9am pick up to go on the Flight of the Gibbon. I’ll give you the overview from the site:

• 5km of ziplines deep in the Thai rainforest
• The longest 800 meter (1/2 mile) zipline in Asia
• 33 different platform stations
• 3 hanging sky bridges and 2 rappel descents
• Education about wildlife and vegetation along the course
• Two sky ranger guides for every group of up to 9
• Detailed safety briefing & personal equipment fitting
• Trekking up the 7 wondrous tiers of Mae Kampong Falls
• A chance to see gibbons in the wild!
• Thai meal with bottled water included
• R/T shuttle from Chiang Mai included in Air-con luxury 9 person van
• Only 55 minutes each way

We didn’t receive much education about wildlife and vegetation along the course, but otherwise this was spot on.  It was a lot of fun and I recommend it, though it is a bit pricey (I paid 3,600 baht, or $111 USD). I was picked up at 9am by an air conditioned van.  There were 9 people total on the tour, with 2 sky rangers, Cash and Keng (Cash was the personality of the duo and quite the comedian!).  After the zip lining, we had a very nice lunch on site, and then took a short hike (about 10-15 minutes each way, though very steep) to see a waterfall.

Zip lines through the trees

View from the tree tops

Female Gibbon Hanging Out

Male Gibbons Playing

Sky Bridge

On the Sky Bridge

Sky ranger zip lining

The final rappel descent down a banyan tree

The Waterfall

Day 4: Getting to Chiang Mai, my first bus experience

I woke up early on Day 4 to make sure I had enough time to catch the bus from Sukhothai to Chaing Mai.  My hotel recommended I take the bus from the old town at the Wintour Travel office, just a 2 minute tuk tuk ride away.  About 5 or 6 buses leave from there to Chiang Mai throughout the day, so I got a ticket for the 8:50am bus (it was 8am when I arrived at the station, so I hung out for awhile chatting with other travelers).

The ride is long.  It’s no joke when they say it’s 5 hours–it really is, and some.  Also, the only buses that come through the old town are 2nd class buses, which means the air conditioning isn’t great.  The seats were relatively comfortable and did recline.  Since it’s not high season right now, the bus wasn’t super packed at first, but for the last 2 hours or so there were 2 people sitting on the floor in the back without seats.  It’s not super comfortable, but it’s what I expected for an $8 ticket.  If this is Thailand, I am not looking forward to the bus situation in Laos…

I arrived in Chiang Mai around 2pm and took a red taxi to my hotel, the Duangtawan Hotel, which is okay (not great) and costs about $47 per night.  It’s a fairly big hotel right by the Chiang Mai night market, and about a 10 minute walk from the ancient city center.  I chose to stay here thinking that I would want to do a lot of shopping in the market at night and didn’t want to hike all the way back to the old city.

After I settled into the hotel, I decided to walk around the city a bit, catch a few sites and get my bearings.  The city is very walkable.  As I mentioned before, it takes about 10 minutes to walk to the city center, and another 10 minutes to get to the Wat Chedi Luang, one of the main sites.  To be completely honest, I seemed to have bypassed the older, more important, Chedi altogether and instead only saw the temple in front.  I didn’t even think to go to the back, behind the Wat, to where the actual Chedi is.  I suppose I’ll do that tomorrow.

The Wat in front of Chedi Luang

Afterwards, I went over to the Wat Pra Singh, which was built in 1345 and is the largest Wat in the city.

Wat Pra Singh

Wat Pra Singh

Then I decided to take a tuk tuk to visit the Wat Si Suphan, which is a bit different from other Wats I have visited.  This Wat is located in the silver district of Chiang Mai, where there are several shops and markets dedicated to silver work, which is gorgeous. The Wat was built in 1502, although little remains of the original building.  The temple is being completely renovated and covered in silver, hand carved by local artisans.  It looks stunning.  Unfortunately I didn’t enter because there was a sign outside saying that women are not allowed to enter (it was all very vague) and being a solo traveler I didn’t want to piss off any local monks. Walking back to the old city, I stopped in a shop and bought a gorgeous carved silver bowl to add to my travel/memory wall at home.

Wat Si Suphan

Wat Si Suphan, front

Wat Si Suphan, Hand Carved Detail

Wat Si Suphan

Silverwork Detail, Wat Si Suphan

I walked from Wat Si Suphan to the old city and circuitously made my way back to my hotel.  It was sunset by then.

Sunset over Chiang Mai

As I mentioned before, my hotel is right by the night market, so I couldn’t resist walking around for an hour or so, eating street food for dinner, and buying silk scarves!

Chiang Mai Night Market

Traveler’s Tip: The Duangtawan hotel is okay but not great for a number of reasons. If you can stay at the Raming Lodge or Le Meridien I would recommend doing so, since those look a lot nicer and they are right in the same area of the night market (Raming Lodge didn’t have a room for me so the Duangtawan was my next choice).  The WiFi doesn’t work in the rooms here, which is my biggest complaint and the most frustrating annoyance.  The hotel is clean and decent, but also pretty old.  The shower is not great (drainage doesn’t work properly).  I can’t complain too much since the hotel is so cheap, but by Thai standards I would expect a bit more.  Luckily there is good WiFi by the pool so I’ve been chilling out here to access the internet.

Note on Tours: There are hundreds of different tours and activities to choose from here!  It’s really incredible.  From ziplining and ATVs, to elephant riding, tiger kingdoms, and cooking classes…you name it, they have it.  There are tourist offices offering these tours absolutely EVERYWHERE in Chiang Mai and they are all open until quite late (around 7pm or 8pm).  I arrived yesterday at my hotel and before heading out to see the city I had already booked my Flight of the Gibbon adventure for the next day.  I think that if you’re coming here on an off season or shoulder season, you don’t need to make any reservations for activities in advance since there are so many options.

Edit on Chedi Luang: I did go back to Chedi Luang two days later to see the actual Chedi, and sure enough, there it was behind the new temple.  Constructed in the 14th century, the half demolished Chedi still stands in a serene area with a few other temples around it.  It has delightful elephant caryatids, as well as enormous snake-like dragon statues at the base on each side.  The Emerald Buddha used to reside in Chedi Luang, but was moved to the Grand Palace in Bangkok.

Chedi Luang

Chedi Luang, hiding behind a wat and other buildings

Day 3: Sukhothai

This morning I woke up at 4am to catch a 7am flight to Sukhothai. I was exhausted and nervous about navigating a new city. The moment I stepped off the plane, my fears were completely allayed. There is nothing scary about this town.  The airport is adorable with its freshly tended flowers and manicured lawns.  It even has a zoo.  YES that’s right.  There are giraffes and zebras roaming around in a big pen right outside baggage claim.

Sukhothai Airport

Zoo animals at Sukhothai Airport

I’ll admit, after being in Bangkok for 2 days and not loving it, I was so worried that the rest of Thailand would be the same.  I spent most of the flight from Bangkok to Sukhothai stressing about what I’d do if my hotel were terrible or any number of negative scenarios.  I landed in this delightful airport and a weight was lifted off my shoulders, and I knew everything would be just fine, and so far it has been.  The airport staff arranges all airport transfers to hotels (at a price, of course).  I paid 300 baht (about $10 USD) to go to my hotel, the Legendha Sukhothai. The hotel is a delight.

Legendha Sukhothai

Pool area, Legendha Sukhothai

I chose this hotel because it looks nice, has all the amenities I need, and most importantly, it’s about 1km away from the Sukhothai historical park. The hotel has free bikes you can use, so it made site-seeing very easy.  After settling into my room, I decided to take off for a day of adventure around the park on one of the hotel bikes.  It’s straight shot from the hotel due west to the park, so you can’t go wrong.  Today was a local holiday of sorts — something to do with the crowned princess of Thailand — so the park was abuzz with folks setting up all kinds of decorations for a special celebration.  Because it was a special day, the park was free to the public.  I went by the ticket office and picked up an audio guide for 150 baht and decided to go at it alone on my bike, rather than hiring a tuk tuk, to see the 20 suggested highlights of the park.  I completed all in about 3 hours on bike, including a few farther-flung sites outside the main central zone. I’ll highlight a few of my favorites here.

Founded in the 13th century, Sukhothai was the first independent Thai Kingdom, which enjoyed a golden age under King Ramkhamhaeng. The kingdom emerged as the Khmer empire was crumbling in the 13th century. The temples built in this former capital took artistic inspiration from the Khmer empire, and looks almost like a mini Angkor.

Wat Maha That, Sukhothai

The Wat Maha That is one of the most important groups of temples in Sukhothai, and among the most impressive, featuring the stupa and spire behind a large seated Buddha, flanked by enormous standing Buddhas.

Standing Buddha, Wat Maha That

The Wat Si Sawai started out as a Hindu temple, but later became a Buddhist temple. It has particularly beautiful and detailed carvings on its three prangs.

Wat Si Sawai, Sukothai

Around and about Sukhothai

The Wat Sa Si was another favorite of mine because it’s located in the center of the park and is surrounded by greenery and scenic lakes.

Wat Sa Si, Sukhothai

Some of the last highlighted stops on the guide are located outside the center zone, including the Wat Sorasak.  I particularly liked this stupa because it’s very well preserved, but also, I love the elephant caryatids that go all the way around the structure.  The detail and precision of the animal carvings is wonderful.

Wat Sorasak, Sukhothai

Close Up Of The Elephant Caryatids, Wat Sorasak, Sukhothai

The Wat Phra Pai Luang was very scenic, mostly because there were a lot of cows around which made the whole place feel very pastoral. I also just really like the photo of the crumbling seated Buddha amidst the ruins.

Wat Phra Pai Luang, Sukhothai

And finally, my favorite temple at Sukhothai, which came at the very end: Wat Si Chum.  This temple was the furthest away, and it has the largest image depicting Buddha in the entire park, at 15 meters tall, peaking out from the mondop (pavilion).  This depiction of Buddha is called Phra Achana, which translates to “He who is not frightened.”  When you first approach the temple, all you can see is a sliver of the Buddha through the doorway.

Wat Si Chum, Sukhothai

Once you approach and enter the temple, only then are you finally washed over with a sense of awe at its full size. The Buddha is massive and soars way above you, but the way it’s enclosed within its mondop makes the space feel very private.  It was a cool thing to experience.

Wat Si Chum, Buddha up close

Once I finished the audio guide, I took another loop around the park to see everything again and then headed back to the hotel, where I’ve been relaxing for the rest of the day.

Man, it’s so good to be out of Bangkok.

Bangkok: A City of Madness

I made it! After 21 hours in planes or waiting in airports, I have arrived in Bangkok. And boy is it a hot, hot mess. First, it’s boiling here. I had prepared myself for some peak temperatures but I had forgotten how hard you feel it outside under the hot sun.  The nasty New York winter this past year did not prepare me for these scorching temperatures.  Second, the city is completely overwhelming and maddening…and this coming from a New Yorker. I’m not even sure how to describe it.  The city is a staggering web of boulevards and highways, an intricate matrix of overlapping layers interspersed with tiny alleyways filled with too many people, cars, trucks, tuk tuks, buses and everything all at once.  And there’s this city smell that I can’t figure out, sort of pollution mixed with food. Clearly, Bangkok isn’t my favorite city.

Anyways, I wanted to chronicle quickly my first day and some of the fun things I was able to do despite getting in at 5am after a 21 hour voyage.

I’m staying at the Baiyoke Sky Hotel, which is fine but nothing to write home about.  The hotel is located inside the tallest tower in Bangkok (supposedly), which means the view from my room is pretty cool.  Also, breakfast is on the 78th floor where I got to have this view this morning:

View of Bangkok from Baiyoke Hotel

Jetlag is a real bummer on this trip. It usually gets me pretty hard, but I really don’t want to spend time being exhausted. After I ate a quick breakfast, I decided to nap for a few hours, get up at 11am, and then get ready and go see some stuff.  After tossing and turning for an hour (yes, I had some anxiety over being in Bangkok) I threw the nap idea out the window and decided to just get it over with: I needed to go outside and figure this city out and allay my fears.  I’m so glad I did.

Like I said before (and I’ll continue to say again and again) Bangkok is a hot, hot mess. I don’t find it particularly pretty, although I think it may have its moments.  Generally it seems impossible to get around, it’s dirty and gritty, and anytime you think you see something sort of scenic you realize it’s actually littered with pollution (soot and noise), people trying to hawk their goods, confused tourists, and locals trying to go about their normal (yet, slightly insane) lives.  I could go on, but I won’t.  Here’s what I was able to accomplish today:

I hired a taxi and went strait to Wat Pho.  This temple is a huge complex, which took me by surprise.  I had no idea what I was getting into going there.  Officially called Wat Phra Chetuphon Vimolmangklararm Rajwaramahaviharn is a first grade royal monastery and temple dating from the first reign of the royal house of Chakri. King Rama I had Wat Photharam, an old temple in Bangkok during the Auytthaya Period around 1656, consecrated as a royal monastery while the Grand Palace was under construction.  A major renovation was undertaken in teh reign of King Rama II, which took 16 years to complete, and the Southern and Western temple areas were extended. The name was later changed by King Rama IV to WatPhra Chetuphon Vimolmangklararm.  Wat Pho (pronounced “Poh”) is presently a site of historical and cultural significance and a repository of countless works of art.  There are dozens of buildings and temples within Wat Pho, including several important buddhas.  The first I saw was the Phra Buddha Chinnasri, the seated Buddha protected by a seven-headed naga.  It was originally brought from Lopburi.  Following its restoration it was enshrined as the principle Buddha in the East temple hall, complimented by the figure of the seven-headed naga and a Mujarin tree.

Phra Buddha Chinnasri, Front Portico, The West Assembly Hall

Another Buddha I saw was the Phra Buddha Lokanat. This very tall buddha, formerly known as “Phra Lokanat Sassad Ajarn,” was an important Buddha image enshrined within Wat Phra Sri Sanphet in the Grand Palace of Ayutthaya (which I will visit tomorrow). King Rama I had it brought down to Wat Pho.

Phra Buddha Lokanat, Rear Portico, The East Assembly Hall

Another Buddha I saw was the Phra Buddha Chinnaraj, depicting the Buddha in the act of giving the first ermon. King Rama I had this Buddha in the photo brought down from Sukhothai, a town with ruins that I will visit in 2 days.  The first sermon was a key moment in the Buddha’s life story.  In this sermon he preached the middle path to reach “Nirvana” that avoids the extremes of pleasure and austerity.  The 5 seated Buddhas in front of the statue signify the five ascetics, each of whom ultimately attained enlightenment.

Phra Buddha ChinnaraJ, Front Portico, The South Assembly Hall

Then there was the Phra Buddha Theva Patimakorn, which was located in a beautiful hall with praying monks.  The Buddha in the image is depicted in teh posture called Phra Pang Samadhi, which is the posture of concentration.

Phra Buddha Theva Patimakorn

And finally I saw the Phra Buddha Saiyas, the Reclining Buddha, enshrined in the Temple of the Recling Buddha, located in the northwestern corner of the temple.  It is one of the most well-known and popular cultural icons in Thailand, made from brick and stucco, and lacquered and gilded.  It is 46 meters in length and 15 meters in height from the base to the top. As you can see, it is almost impossible to photograph because it is so large.

Phra Buddha Saiyas, The Reclining Buddha

The feet alone are 5 meters long and 3 meters high, and are inlaid with mother-of-pearl patterns on the soles of the feet. This Reclining Buddha is among the finest large Buddha images and is worsipped by Thai and foreign Buddhists, who believe that the worshipping of the image bring them peace and happiness.

Phra Buddha Sayas, view from the feet

Overall the Wat Pho was very impressive!  I didn’t realize how many buildings and structures there were in the complex.

View inside Wat Pho

After visiting the Wat, I made my way north to the Grand Palace, which was established in 1782 and consists of the royal residence, throne halls, government offices, as well as the renowned Temple of the Emerald Buddha.  The palace was built after King Rama I ascended to the throne in 1782. There are a number of beautiful buildings in this compound.  Among the most famous is The Royal Monastery of the Emerald Buddha, one of the most venerated sites in Thailand. The Emerald Buddha is enshrined on a golden traditional Thai-style throne made of gilded-carved wood, known as a Busabok, in the ordination hall of the royal monastery. The image is clad in one of the three seasonal costumes that are changed three times a year in a ceremony presided over by the King. The Emerald Buddha is in fact carved from a block of green jade and was first discovered in 1434 in a stupa in Chiang Rai.  You cannot take photos of the Emerald Buddha, but you can see it sort of from afar.  What’s funny is that it’s actually quite small, and not that impressive when looking at it from the back of the temple in which it’s housed.

There are a number of beautiful buildings within the palace complex, including this beautiful reliquary in the shape of a golden chedi and the Phra Mondop, which houses Buddhist manuscripts:

Phra Siratana Chedi and Phra Mondop

Another beautiful spire in the complex is that of Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn, the Royal Pantheon.  The golden columns are simply mesmerizing.

Prasat Phra Dhepbidorn, The Royal Pantheon

The spires are beautiful from outside the complex as well:

Wat Phra Kaew, Grand Palace Compound Exterior

These enormous Yaksha, or giants from Hindu mythology, are statues that watch over the entrances to the compound.

Yaksha Watching Over The Wat Phra Kaew compound entrance

It’s worth taking a walk around the perimeter within the compound to take in the murals of the Ramakian, or wall paintings that begin at the eastern side of Wat Phra Kaew compound.

The Murals of the Ramakian

After visiting the Wat Phra Kaew & Grand Palace, I took a tuk tuk. This was my driver.

Tuk Tuk Driver to the Jim Thompson House

He took me to the Jim Thompson House and Museum back near to my hotel (my hotel is about a 20 minute walk through markets and polluted streets from the Jim Thompson House). Jim Thompson was an American silk entrepreneur, known for introducing Thai silk to the international market in the mid-20th century. His lovely home resides in a tropically landscaped compound just off a main thoroughfare of the city.  It is a lovely haven and well worth the visit for some peace and quiet.  The gardens are small but very lovely.  The restaurant is excellent!  I was tired and hungry, so this made for the perfect mid-afternoon lunch stop.

The Garden at Jim Thompson House

After my visit to the Jim Thompson House I returned to my hotel, where I am now battling with jetlag and will try (once again) to get some sleep!

Note: I realize some of my photos are blurry.  I’m trying to fix my camera settings so that this won’t happen tomorrow!

Traveler Tip: My first taxi driver overcharged me about 100 baht to go to Wat Pho.  He asked for 300 baht for the taxi ride and I immediately agreed as I was too tired to care and just wanted to get out of the sun.  On my way back from the Royal Palace to Jim Thompson’s house, I negotiated a tuk tuk down to 200 bht from 300 bht, and overall that seemed more reasonable to me for the distance, but then again what do I know: I just arrived this morning! Moral of the story: always negotiate HARD with taxi and tuk tuk drivers.  I would say that within Bangkok metro, it seems that 150-200 baht is what you should pay for taxis or tuk tuks, so don’t let them overcharge you.  The drivers seem to collude with each other on price, so find the one most willing to negotiate and work him down.