What a long and interesting day…a very long day…15 hours!
In the morning there was a little confusion on which Pansook (there are two), at which we were staying. We connected via mobile phone with our guide and were in the van by
7:30am.
The tour supplied an air-conditioned van, a
dedicated driver and dedicated guide (Nin).
The group included people from Indonesian (2), France (2), China (3),
Germany (2), Japan (1) and our US contribution (2). Min conducted the tour in English and Chinese.
Summary of the Tour
- Hotel pick up (from 7:00 to 7:45 am, depending on your location. Our pickup was 7:30.)
- Hot springs and emporium
- Bathroom stops coming and going at a 7-11
- Lunch stop for an Ayara Thai cuisine buffet near the Golden Triangle (unknown restaurant; we didn’t arrive here until 2:30 pm)
- White Temple
- Visit to long-neck Karen women and emporium
- River boat ride on the Mekong River to Don Sao Island in Laos and emporium
- Drive and brief stop at Mae Sai the northern city on the Thai - Myanmar border
- Photo op in front of Golden Triangle signage (Thailand, Laos and Myanmar)
- Hotel drop off (10:30 pm)
White Temple
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| White Temple |
The highlight of the trip was the White Temple in Chiang
Rai. We thought it was going to be an old
temple that had been constructed in white, much like the Taj Mahal in
India. Wrong! The White
Temple is a newly constructed temple.
Admission to the temple compound is free for Thais and 50
baht ($1.47) for foreigners.
Wat Rong Khun, better known as The White Temple, was
designed and financed by the famous Thai visual artist Chalermchai Kositpipat.
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| Raised Hands from Hell (Temptation) |
The temple opened to the public in 1997. In 2014 the temple was damaged by an
earthquake.
It took two years to restore
the temple. We, therefore, toured a relatively newly opened temple.
Since this is a “modern” temple there is recognizable
imagery to our 21st century sensibilities. We suspect temples of the 1300’s also had recognizable
imagery to their contemporary visitors.
After passing a moat of gray, upraised, grasping hands
symbolizing desire and hell, you pass over a bridge representing the cycle
of re-birth (you must not stop on this bridge).
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| Gates of Heaven |
At the top of the bridge, you pass through the Gate of Heaven and finally
enter the Ubosot, or the main building.
The building, and many others in the
compound, have many ornate finials and are white and covered with millions of
pieces of small mirrors that reflect the sun and sparkle beyond belief.
The Ubosot, or main building, contains
the required large golden Buddha and the wax figure of a dead and revered
monk.
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| Modern Images inside the White Temple |
The art on the walls contains both traditional, contemplative
Thai temple art as well as imagery of Superman, The Matrix, Michael Jackson, Elvis,
Spiderman, the destruction of New York City World Trade Center Towers, and more.
The grounds of the temple were beautiful and
extremely well maintained with green lawns and many baskets of flowers.
This modern temple is simply jaw-dropping.
Lunch
We arrived at the lunch stop at 2:30 pm. We were grateful that we brought some snacks and water along. There were, however, opportunities to purchase food and water at the Hot Springs and bathroom stops.
The buffet lunch was very good. We had a grand conversation with two young
German men. We discussed our new president, Donald Trump. Evidently, he is scaring and confusing Europeans as much as Americans.
Karen Long Neck Village
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| Long Neck woman and Helen |
The stop at the Karen village is another opportunity to buy some things. However, the real interest here is meeting up close the "long neck" women of the village.
Girls start to wear brass rings around their necks when they are around 5 years old. Over the years, the coil is replaced by a longer one and more turns are added.
The weight of the brass (4-5 kilo) pushes the collar bone down and compresses the rib cage. The neck itself is not lengthened.
The theories on the origin of wearing brass rings around the neck include: making women less attractive to slavers from other tribes, providing a greater sense of slender beauty, making women resemble a dragon (an important figure in folklore), to making the women safe from tiger bites to the neck.
At this point, the brass rings have provided a 21st century financial incentive to include this village on tours offered to northern Thailand. Helen purchased a hand-loomed blue shawl for 150 baht ($4.40).
Optional Boat Ride to Laos
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| Getting on the boat |
The boat ride on the Mekong River to Don Sao Island in Laos
was something of a bust.
Our boat guide,
Mr. Banana, was the main attraction.
On
the ride to the island, Mr. Banana gave us a million facts about the river and
the three countries we could see. Did you know there are 9,400 7-11's in Thailand?
On the ride back he quizzed us on the facts
and then offered worthless Chinese currency as a prize for a correct
answer.
To add interest and create audience participation, singers were asked to volunteer. Helen raised her hand.
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| Bottoms Up! |
She invited everyone to sing “You are my Sunshine” and she “won” her prize and
brought cheers from the 30+ people on the boat.
The main attraction at the emporium on the island was
whiskey that was bottled with various creatures such as scorpions, snakes,
tiger penis (really) and other weird things.
A taste offered by the tour guides
allowed us to determine the actual whiskey was just plain grain alcohol. Egad! We
passed.
Golden Triangle
The last sight-seeing stop was for a photo op of the Golden
Triangle (view of three countries – Thailand, Myanmar and Laos).
The four-hour drive home included a 15-minute bathroom break
at a 7-11. No stop for dinner. Note: Unless you want sandwiches, cookies or
chips at 7-11, bring your own food/snacks.
We were back home by 10:30pm.
Travel Tips
- Make sure your tour company has your mobile number. We called the tour office the day before the trip to make sure the driver came to the correct Pansook (there are two). Well, that didn't work, but confirmed that the driver had our mobile number.
- Bring Thai coins on the trip. Bathrooms at emporium stops charge 5 baht for their use. There was no charge at the bathroom at the 7-11 stop.
- Bring at least one bottle of water per person and granola bars or other snacks.
- Our Thai driver drove like a local Thai. That is, speeding, crossing double yellow lines to pass vehicles and wandering across the center line on curves. Not sure he ever checked his rearview mirror. We never felt like we were in serious danger, but we wore our seat belts.
