Chiang Rai

Today we left Chiang Mai and rode up through the hills a little over a hundred miles to the city of Chiang Rai in the far north of Thailand. The ride was beautiful through the hills and forests and into the agricultural heartland of Northern Thailand. We saw farmers out planting the rice in the rice paddies and stopped at a rice mill where we learned how the rice is processed from the harvested plant to what is shipped to our stores and tables. As we rode along through the forested area we saw hundreds of trees wrapped with saffron ribbons, the same color as the robes the monks wear. Deforestation was a terrible problem for Thailand as it sought to modernize in the last half of the 20th century and now the government is working to replant the forests as much as possible. To deter people from coming in and illegally cutting down trees the monks agreed to go out and bless the trees and wrap them with the sash from their robes. The Thais say these trees are now “ordained” monk trees. The effect is that no one will touch them because to cut one of those trees would be the same as killing a monk, something unthinkable in this deeply Buddhist culture. It was fun to look at the woods and see all these “ordained” trees sporting their saffron robes, safe from poachers and investors who might want to ravage what is left of the natural beauty of these forests.

On our way into Chiang Mai, we stopped at a very unusual and modern Buddhist temple, built by a wealthy artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat, who built an incredible and very unusual structure quite unlike the traditional temples everywhere else in the country. His artwork is fantastic, a blend of traditional Buddhist art and very modern art. There is a gallery of his work at the temple complex and then the inside of the temple is a huge mural done by him which depicts all the levels of heaven and hell and earth. He includes scenes and persons from the modern world, including Michael Jackson, sports figures, cartoon characters like Spiderman, and an amazing artistic rendition of the 9/11 Twin Towers burning. Truly, his work is spectacular and I only wish photos were permitted so I could have captured it. The temple includes the usual huge Buddha statue and painting of the Buddha but surrounded by all these scenes from history, ancient and modern. Really a spectacular place. There were a lot of people there today because today is a religious holiday in Thailand, the beginning of the Buddhist Lent period. People have off from work and there are processions to the temples with offerings of flowers and candles to the Buddha. This particular temple is not much frequented by tourists, but is a popular place of pilgrimage for local peoples, according to our guide. We did not have much time to visit there and it is certainly a place I would love to return to and spend more time.

When we arrived in Chiang Rai we had lunch in a little tiny restaurant with delicious northern Thai dishes. Chicken curry with lemongrass and mint, sweet and sour fish, spareribs in a green curry sauce, fried rice, spring rolls, a chicken salad with fruits and very tasty dressing, finished off with coconut milk ice cream and local pineapples, which are the size of apples. Absolutely delicious food and we all left stuffed. Thai food is truly delicious and plentiful!!

We checked into our new digs for the next three days. We are in a lovely sprawling spa resort which is outside of the town a bit and very scenic. It’s very hot and humid today so walking around outside for any length of time is rather exhausting. Sam and I opted to crash in the air conditioned comfort of our room and enjoy the free (yay!!) internet and get some nap time in.

Then we went into town for a rickshaw ride around the city. First we went into another temple to observe the rituals that were going on honoring the holy day the Buddhists are celebrating today. We heard part of a monk’s “sermon” although none of it was comprehensible to us. Then towards the end of our long rickshaw ride, we stopped on a main thoroughfare just before 7 right in front of an ornate and enormous clocktower (see picture –words escape me!) which at 7, 8 and 9 every evening goes through this amazing process of changing colors multiple times, and music plays on really good speakers all over the square, while the tower continues to change colors and the mechanisms inside move around and change and new weights on the end of the ball morph and change into other things. It’s hard to describe because it is truly unique and quite a site to behold. This tower was made by the same artist who built the temple we saw earlier in the day and he equipped it with the intricate and ornate mechanisms that go through the changing ritual. Makes the chiming of Big Ben in London seem rather pedestrian! And the sound quality of the speakers is really fantastic. The music booms out around the area and is very evocative. What is funny is watching the Chiang Rai residents (for whom this is routine) continue driving around the clocktower and walking the streets as if nothing unusual or interesting is going on!!

After our rickshaw ride we ate in another small but excellent restaurant for what has become our usual 4 course meal with appetizers and platters of fruit for dessert. I’ve come to enjoy a fruit called rambutan – its red with spiky/hairy things sticking out of it and looks completely unappealing, but when you open it up there is this sweet, juicy white fruit inside that is really good. Can’t judge a fruit by its appearance here! Truly, we are eating like kings on this trip and the food is absolutely delicious. After dinner we had some time to wander the night market until it started raining so hard we all opted to leave early and come back to the hotel. It is the rainy season here, and in the late evening the downpours tend to be the worst. And we’re all pretty tired. These days start very early and run very late!

Tomorrow – Thai cooking and learning about the Hill Tribes. Until then…!