We had a ton to do, since today was our only full day in Chiang Rai. Our hosts had breakfast on by 8am and scheduled our driver to collect us around 9.
Our First Stop: Wat Rong Khun, aka The White Temple. The temple is very famous because of how beautifully unique it is. Kositpipat, a local Chiang Rai artist, designed, funded and opened the temple in 1997. Although the structures are intricate, ornate and incredibly large, Kositpipat's vision is far from complete. Fifty three years too far to be exact. In the end, he hopes to have erected a total of nine buildings on the temple grounds.
In order to enter the main building, the ubosot, visitors have to cross the lake on a long white bridge. While crossing, outstretched hands reach up to visitors, symbolizing the unrestrained desire humans possess. Humans must forego these desires to reach the "gate of heaven" where they are met by Rahu, who decides their fate. The exterior of the ubosot is pristinely white, while the interior is anything but. The walls are painted with flames swirling around idols from pop culture and images of modern warfare. These two extremes show the divide between the intended image in which humans were made and the actual image that defines humans. After exiting the ubosot, visitors become intrigued by a golden building in the background. This golden building is nothing but a restroom, but visitors flock to it and take photos with it all the same. The artist says that this was exactly his point- humans focus so much on material possessions that the ridiculousness and excessiveness of a golden bathroom doesn't even phase them. Our hosts informed us that even though the bathroom is meant to be ridiculous, the artist still takes much pride in it. So much so that he banned Chinese tourists from using this particular restroom facility because he said they were not treating it respectfully. #who'stheridiculousonenowkositpipat?
The grounds include many other marvels, including a wishing well, key trees with tags that can be personalized, hanging heads and lifesize transformer figurines, as well as a musem that supplies information on the temple and its artist, Kositpipat.
We found the grounds to be gorgeous and the ornateness and detail of the temples absolutely stunning. This is definitely a place worthy of a visit, although it doesn't take more than forty minutes to walk in its entirety.
Onto Stop Two: Baan Dam, aka The Black House. The Black House gardens are not comprised of one but rather a series of black houses, all serving different purposes. Some of the houses are museums, some are artwork displays in themselves and one even serves as a bedroom for the artist, Thawan Duchanee. The contrast between the Black House and The White Temple is very apparent. It's said that Thawan Duchanee studied under Kositpipat and had an entirely different vision regarding suffering, hell and the human condition, which is where his idea for the Black House came from. It's also said that Duchanee's buildings aren't religious in any way, nor are they supposed to contradict Kositpipat's but rather are just works of art in and of themselves. Either way, the grounds and architecture are awe inspiring and the vast collections of animal remains are impressive. Did we mention there are also extravagantly decorated bathrooms here? #coincidence?ithinknot
While wandering around Baan Dam, we came upon an artist/musician who invited visitors to sketch him while he played his guitar. He was incredibly impressed by Candace's depiction of him, and even offered us one of his sketches in return for hers.
And Then There Was The Karen Village: Ask anyone for a list of things to see in Northern Thailand and you'll almost always hear the "long neck villages". The "Long Neck Villages" are inhabitated by the Karen people, groups of people who had to flee their homes along the borders of Myanmar because of political unrest. While the Karen are not in danger of being killed in Thailand, they have very few rights because they are not thai citizens. This has forced the Karen people to act as pawns in the thai tourist industry; if they want to keep their way of life, they must allow visitors to watch them do so. We entered the village and as we walked from tribe to tribe, different rituals were performed for our 'enjoyment'. As we entered the thatch house in one village, men and women were summoned from their daily duties and lined up to dance. While this dance may have been traditional, and at one point performed with friends for fun and entertainment, it was now being enacted multiple times a day at the drop of a hat to enhance the experience of the tour groups. The women of the village are so famous and well known because they wear large, heavy brass rings around their necks and shins while they work. The women in these villages don't speak the same dialect of thai I had learned, so I relied on our guide when I had questions. I asked him in thai if he thought they were happy and if they liked living in these conditions. He told me that they weren't happy, but what could they do? My family and I felt strange after leaving the village, knowing they felt this way. I was glad that we had gone, but it isn't something I would do again. In my opinion, the traditions and cultures of the Karen people are being exploited.
Stop Four: Lunch. We lunched at an outdoor garden cafe which was absolutely beautiful. There was only one problem: when Candace and I headed to the bathrooms, we were required to take off our shoes and replace them with communal bathroom shoes. Candace was appalled. Certainly she would not remove her shoes and put on shoes other people had worn to enter an outdoor bathroom. I laughed. This is a totally normal custom in Thailand. Candace decided she didn't need to use the bathroom anymore. Later, she and my mom snuck down to use the toilets together; I am almost certain neither one of them used the communal shoes. #wheninthailand,right?
Stop Five: Our hosts wanted us to experience as much as possible, so they encouraged our driver to drop us at the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Our job was to walk through customs, get our passport stamped, and then walk straight back through. According to our hosts, there wasn't much to explore on the other side, but it was just fun to enter another country and gain another stamp in the passport. At the time, I still held my teaching certificate in Thailand. In order to keep my teaching certificate, I would have had to get a re-entry permit, something I had not acquired for our trip. I did not want to cancel my license, just for the joy of crossing the street, so we opted not to head over the border. Instead, we did some souvenir shopping while we waited for our guide.
Stop Six: The Opium Museum. Opium has been grown and sold in Thailand and Myanmar (Burma) for over 5,000 years. Drug addiction and its effects have been plaguing the people in these countries for centurires. As part of an initiative to combat the drug trade with education, the King's Mother sanctioned the opening of this museum. The museum is laid out as a timeline, starting with the earliest uses of opium, and culminating with the worldwide impact it still has today. The walk through the museum required a lot of reading, and since we arrived just an hour before close, I felt rushed to get through. However, I still learned a lot and was glad that we went. In fact, just recently, my knowledge from the Opium Museum was put to good use during bar trivia. Thank you Princess Srinagarindra!
Stop Seven: The Golden Triangle. The Golden Triangle is one of the world's largest producers of opium. It's called The Golden Triangle because it is where the mountain ranges from Thailand, Myanmar and Laos all intersect. This area is surrounded by the Ruak and Mekong Rivers. As with any tourist attraction, the area is really hyped. In reality, there is a raised platform with a sign that overlooks the rivers and the mountains. You can clearly see the land from the three countries in the distance. Obviously, we played into the attraction and took a plethora of pictures.
Stop Eight: The Chiang Rai Night Market. This market was very comparable to other markets we had experienced throughout Thailand. We grabbed some souvenirs and then headed back to our hosts. We were completely wiped after our long day and content to head straight to bed. We had to be up and out the next morning so that we could catch our flight back to Bangkok, Thailand.
No comments:
Post a Comment