We stayed at a hotel that was a bout a ten minute tuk tuk drive to the center of the city. I picked this hotel because of their beautiful gardens. And again I was not disappointed. The hotel was nice and simple with gorgeous gardens.
Thai Cooking Class with Suwanee
This was a blast. We were her only students for the day so we had Suwanee all to ourselves. She was a delightful woman with an interesting story. She is from Chiang Rai and has travelled the world and lived in several places (including New York, Netherlands, and Brazil). She decided to come back to Chiang Rai to open up a Thai cooking school. She picked us up in her jeep and took us to our first stop.... the local outdoor market. There are many fresh markets in Thailand (Korat has a couple) where local Thais shop for food and clothes. I admit that I have been too timid to shop at the local markets for food so it was great to go with a Thai and shop for ingredients together. We picked out our menu (red chicken curry, chicken coconut soup, pork with sweet basil, and steamed bananas) and then made our shopping list.
The local market in Chiang Rai is a great way to see people from the hill tribes. There are six hill tribes that live in the Chiang Rai Provence (Akha, Yao, Meo, Lisu, Lahu, and Karen). Hill Tribes live in the mountains of Northern Thailand near the borders of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos. They are descendants of migratory peoples from Myanmar, Tibet, and China. They follow forms of ancestral worship and are animists (they believe in a world of spirits that inhabit everything). Several of the Tribes used to farm opium which the Thai government has tried curtail through reform programs (new they farm other produce or make scarfs & purses to try to sell to tourists).
Suwanee was able to point out to us individuals from different tribes. The women wear purses that are indicative of their tribes (also, sometimes she could tell from facial features). She explained that some of the tribes come into town once a week to go to the market (some of them travel about three hours in the back of a pick-up truck to come).
Suwanee had us follow her around the market and taste test different fruits and foods. The vendors joke around with her and know her well.
To our delight the cooking class was in her house in a rural setting. She had the kitchen set up with cooking stations. We had so much fun cooking and the food turned out amazing. Now, the real test... can I repeat it on my own (with Colin's help of course). I need to buy a wok first, but my goal is that when I get back from Hong Kong I am going to go to the local market in Korat and cook up a storm.
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| Section of market gov. appointed for Akha Tribe only |
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| Next time he tells you he can't cook - don't believe him |
Wat Rong Khun
A contemporary Buddhist temple designed by a famous Chiang Rai artist named Chalermchai Kositpipat, construction is still ongoing. It is completely white with depictions of Buddha, enlightenment, hell, and temptations. Suwanee told us that the artist not only volunteered his services but donates a lot of money to pay people from the local tribe to work there (clean it & continue building it). His studio is actually on the grounds, we were very impressed with his paintings. It was obvious that Suwanee admired Chalermchai Kositpipat very much. Many of the local girls leave school and go to Bangkok to enter into prostitution to support their family. One of his goals was to provide work to the locals to prevent this from happening.
I have never seen a temple like this. It was both amazing and a little strange. When you walked into the temple you were looking at huge Buddha (typical of temples here) and murals of enlightenment. The back wall had a mural with a demon and modern day temptations and evil. There was some strange things in the mural when you looked closely - Michael Jackson, Kung Fu Panda, George Bush riding a rocket, twin towers on fire, to name a few.
We took a three hour peaceful boat ride on the Mae Kok River. The scenery was beautiful and I was amazed at how uninhabited the landscape was. It was a lovely boat ride and a chance to get some nice fresh air (when traveling on the canals/river in Bangkok you often do not want to breath too deeply...or look too closely at the water).
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| Lunch before the boat ride |
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| Our boat |
Colin and I love little unexpected surprises when we travel. Things we did not plan on nor had ever heard of and it turns out really cool. This is how the clock tower was. When we were at the Wat Rong Kuhn (White Temple) Suwanee told us that the clock tower in the center of Chaing Rai was designed by the same artist that designed the temple. Then she casually mentioned that there is a light show at 7:00, 8:00, and 9:00 p.m. Later that night we took a tuk tuk into town for dinner and decided to check out this light show first. We expected to be underwhelmed. Instead it was awesome! The clock tower itself was an amazing piece of art. Then at 8:00 p.m. music played over loud speakers and the tower started to turn different colors... all very nice. We were watching one of the corners of the tower and a Thai man standing next to us noticed so he motioned for us to move and stand in front of the tower... and we saw why - this gold metal lotus flower descended from inside the center of the clock tower and opened up, then some globe came out of the flower... needless to say we were impressed and came back the next night. Unfortunately the pictures of the lotus were to blurry to post... just have to take my word for it.
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| Girl from Karen Hill Tribe weaving |
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| Tribal village - gate & figurine protect against evil spirits |
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| Northern most point of Thailand |
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| Entry point of Myanmar |
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| Crossing b/w Myanmar & Thailand |
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| Golden Triangle - Laos, Myanmar, & Thailand |
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| Young Monks going for a boat ride |
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| Wat Chedi Luang - 13th century |
