Mountain Beauty & a Contemporary Temple in Chiang Rai

"We just hold on and hope we don't die."  Those were Emmett's words as we headed from the Chiang Rai airport to Bamboo Nest, our accommodations about an hour's drive north of the city.  In-country flights in Thailand are often equal to (or cheaper than) long-distance train tickets, so we took a break from overland travel and instead flew to Chiang Rai from Bangkok.

The owner of Bamboo Nest picked us in her songthaew, which is a truck with bench seats in the truckbed.  This ride was our first experience with a songthaew, but we're quickly becoming accustomed to bouncing along in the back of a truck, Thai style.

The owner had told us that taxis can't get to her property, and we could see why...this was the road through a small village that we passed through on our way to Bamboo Nest.

We were excited to stay at Bamboo Nest because of its scenic location and minimalist amenities.  No wifi, no cell service, no electricity during the day....but lots of calm and beauty to enjoy, such as this fantastic view from where we ate our meals.

This was our bamboo hut, complete with bamboo porch and hammock.

The entire area was enveloped in a thick fog in the morning.  After it burned off, you could see the fields and hills surrounding us, as well as some beautiful plants at the property itself.

On our first full day, we decided to hike in the jungle hills surrounding Bamboo Nest.  We set off with a roughly-drawn paper map on what (we estimated) would be about a 2 hour hike.

After passing through fields, a small village, and jungle terrain, we made it to a beautiful waterfall.

After an hour of hiking through hot, humid jungle, the frigid water felt refreshing.

After the waterfall, we all felt good enough that we amended our plans.  Rather than return directly to Bamboo Nest, our new plan was to hike 7 more kilometers (4.3 miles) to a hot springs resort, where we could eat lunch and soak.  According to that roughly drawn map, the path looked rather easy to follow and like it would circle us towards the hot springs and then back to Bamboo Nest.  

We kept hiking..........and hiking.........and hiking.......going ever away from the direction of the hot springs and Bamboo Nest and never finding the turnoff on our map.  The views were pretty spectacular, though.  

After about 1 1/2 hours of hiking further and further into the jungle without finding the turnoff we needed, we decided it was time to call it and turn around.  Then the path that appeared to lead back to the small village led, in fact, to someplace completely different.  So eventually we decided to make our way back to the waterfall since we knew the route home from there.  With our original 2 hour hike now a 6 hour one, we finally returned to Bamboo Nest tired and hungry.  And, after talking with a couple of other guests, we think some "artistic liberties" might have been taken with that map because we were not the only ones to get semi-lost in the jungle that day.

The next day, we decided to take a walk to the hot springs we'd been shooting for.  They turned out to be kind of gross (basically an inadequately cleaned swimming pool with a "warm but not hot" water...bacteria bath, anyone?), so the walk was more of the highlight of the day.

We all really like staying at places like Bamboo Nest (and Yangshuo Outside Inn in China, and Phong Nha Farmstay in Vietnam) for a couple of reasons.  First, the scenery is usually really beautiful, and being outside a city gives us all a chance to breathe and relax more.  Second, these types of places always have a communal area where guests tend to congregate, particularly in the evenings.  This gives us a chance to talk with other travelers, share stories, tips, and suggestions, and enjoy each other's company.  We have met some really interesting people and made new friends this way!

After 3 nights at Bamboo Nest, though, it was time for us to move on to a homestay closer to the city of Chiang Rai.  We wanted to see the city, and we also needed wifi to continue making our travel plans.  We only have our logistics planned out about a week ahead, at this point, so it's a constant process of researching transport, accommodations, and making arrangements.  

The city of Chiang Rai does not have a ton of tourist sites, but we did take in the Night Market, where we watched this lady weaving beautiful scarves.

We also watched the clock tower change colors in a "performance" that featured salsa music....felt a bit out of place, but whatever.

The next day we rented bikes from our homestay (these were the nicest and best maintained bikes we've used so far...not surprising, though, since one of the owners is Dutch) and did a 23 KM (14 mile) bike ride.  In contrast to the not-so-accurate jungle hiking map, the bike route map included precise measurements and directions, so it was easy to follow and stay on the intended route.  Colin read the directions as the rest of us pedaled.

The halfway point on the route was Chiang Rai's Wat Rong Khun (or White Temple), a completely different temple from the others we've seen so far.  Inside the main temple, the artwork on the walls includes such pop culture references as Minions, Superman, Neo from The Matrix movie, Michael Jackson, the World Trade Centers on 9/11, and Kung Fu Pandas.

This is the bridge into the main temple, with hands reaching up from hell on either side.

Wat Rong Khun's architecture and decorations were really unique.

The bathrooms were the most elaborately decorated, ornate public bathrooms I've ever seen.

We purchased this hanging ornament (I'm sure there's a proper name for it, but I don't know it), which brings good things to its owner(s).  We'll take all the good luck and divine benevolence we can get this year, for sure.

Though we were glad to have a short stay closer to Chiang Rai, the real draw of the area for us was staying outside the city, where we could appreciate the beauty and calm of the mountains of Northern Thailand.  We really enjoyed it and would definitely go back!

One Night (Actually, 5 Days) in Bangkok.....

Our trip from Battambang, Cambodia, to Bangkok, Thailand was our worst border crossing yet.  It started out fine with a short transfer from Battambang to Saophoan (still in Cambodia), where a large bus coming from Siem Reap stopped to pick us up.

  

From there, we headed towards the Poipet (Cambodia) - Aranyaprathet (Thailand) checkpoint.  I’d read a lot of unpleasant stories about this border crossing, mostly involving chaos and scams.  Checking out of Cambodia was quick and easy, giving us a false sense of “what were those stories about, anyways?”….

After checking out of Cambodia, we walked across the border, which included a short bridge where we took a picture with us in both Cambodia and Thailand.

“Quick and easy” turned into “slow and painful” once we arrived at the Thai side of the border checkpoint.  When the guard opened a gate to allow the growing mass of people to walk up stairs to the actual immigration line, all hell broke lose.  Westerners were getting mad that the queue system wasn't being followed and many non-Westerners were pushing to the front while pretending they didn't notice that hundreds of people were there before them.  Not to mention it was incredibly hot and humid, and we were all wearing our backpacks, so we were dripping with sweat.  Ugh.

It took us almost 3 hours of waiting in a (kind of) line to finally get cleared by Thai immigration, but eventually we made it through.  That's one border crossing I hope to never see again.

We located our bus, and after everyone cleared immigration we got back on the way to Bangkok.  At this point, it was already later than the bus schedule said we would arrive in Bangkok, and we still had a lot of driving left.

Almost immediately the differences between Cambodia and Thailand began to emerge.  For one, the Thais drive on the left side of the road (like the Brits), but the fact that they even stick to one side is a huge difference from Cambodia.  Divided highways and lane markings were things that we noticed right away.  We also noticed how much cleaner the roadsides are, and as we approached Bangkok the massive highway structures were identical to those in Europe or the United States.

We arrived in Bangkok about 8:30 PM, about 6 hours later than the bus schedule.  We'd never expected to arrive "on time", but this was even later than we'd anticipated and everyone was tired, hungry, and ready to be done with traveling.  We made our way to our hotel and crashed pretty quickly.

It is a very interesting time to be in Thailand.  On October 13, 2016, King Bhumibol Adulyadej passed away after a 70-year reign.  He was the world's longest reigning monarch and beloved by his people.  Throughout the entire country, Thais are wearing black to mourn his passing, buildings are adorned with portraits and shrines in his honor, black and white bunting is hung along walls, store displays are all black, and advertisements and Thai websites are in black and white.  Especially as citizens of a country with deep political divisions, the complete, unified mourning of the Thai people over the death of their King is very moving.

Our first full day in Bangkok was filled with shopping at Central World, the 6th largest mall in the world.  After almost 5 months on the road, we all needed some new clothes.  Since Bangkok offers some of the best shopping in the region, we made a point to take advantage.  And we got to eat Krispy Kreme doughnuts!  Of all the examples of globalization, this one boggles my mind the most because I ate Krispy Kreme doughnuts growing up in NW Florida.  I never would have imagined that I'd be able to eat them in Bangkok, Thailand.  No matter the location, they are YUMMY!

After a full day of shopping, we were able to see a fantastic "super moon" rise over the Bangkok skyline from our hotel window.  It was impossible to capture both the moon and the skyline in a good photo, but here's the best one that we got.

The next day we headed out to see the sights of Bangkok, which became one of those occasional days when nothing really goes as planned.  It started out nicely with a boat ride on the Chao Phraya River towards Rattanakosin Island, which is the part of Bangkok where many of the tourist sites are located.

We made our way towards the Grand Palace, the official residence of the King.  Just as we arrived, we were told that the palace was closing because the Crown Prince would be arriving soon for a ceremony.  Planning fail.

We did, however, see some of the thousands of people lined up in sweltering heat in order to pay their respects to the late King.  This is just one of the multiple tents that are set up so that people can sit while they wait to gain entrance into the Palace.  Everything is very orderly and there are free food and water stations and medical services set up for all the mourners.  Just the logistics of this operation are impressive, let alone the dedication of the Thai people to their late King.  A volunteer in the area told me that people are waiting up to 8 hours, sometimes overnight, in order to mourn the King in person.

Reorganizing a bit, we decided to head towards the Museum of Siam, which sounded like an interesting place to learn about Thai history and culture.  After linking up and walking with 2 American guys who had a working GPS (we still didn't have a SIM card for our phone), we eventually made it to the museum......only to find out it is closed for renovation.  Normally we're pretty good about checking information online before we go somewhere, but we missed this one.  So, at this point, we were 0 for 2.

We reorganized (again) and finally had sightseeing success with a visit to Wat Pho, which was definitely worth a visit.  

Wat Pho is also known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha because of this gigantic statue, which measures 46 meters (150 feet) long.  It's housed in its own building and you can walk all the way around it.

The next day, we went back to the Grand Palace complex and were able to tour it without any problems.  The complex includes Wat Phra Kaew, which is considered the most sacred Buddhist temple in Thailand.

One of the Thai kings built a model of Angkor Wat so that his subjects could know what it looked like.  It was neat to think that we'd just seen the real thing.

Colin and I liked these sculptures which were holding up part of a stupa.

Our pictures don't fully reflect the incredible beauty of Wat Phra Kaew.  The glistening gold and thousands of small pieces of glass on the buildings, which reflected the bright sunshine, were spectacular.

Also in the Grand Palace complex is the official residence of the King of Thailand.  Off to the right is where the body of King Bhumibol Adulyadej is lying in state.

From the Palace, we headed to the National Museum of Thailand for a bit.  Quite a few of the exhibits were under renovation, but we were able to see the royal chariot garage.  These chariots have been used in funeral processions for royals in the past.  Also included in this exhibit were funeral urns used for the Buddhist cremation ceremonies of royals.  Given current events, this made the exhibit particularly interesting, because one of these chariots may be used again in the near future.  

After the museum, we ate lunch and then stumbled upon a board game café, where you can have a coffee and play one of the café-provided board games.  We have all been missing our (Settlers of) Catan board game, so when we saw this place and saw that they had Catan, we had to stop in for a round!

From there we walked through Khao San Road, which is a huge backpacker hub.  While there, the boys experienced their first massages ever.  When we asked the masseuse if he could do a short (15 minute) head, neck, and shoulder massage for each boy, we assumed they'd be sitting outside.  However, the boys got to lie down while this kind Thai man massaged and contorted their little bodies far beyond what any of us had expected.  I never thought I'd enjoy watching someone else get a massage, but watching the smiles on the boys' faces was so much fun.  Even the other workers, who were massaging other people nearby, peaked around the curtains to watch, too.

We made a quick run through Bangkok's China Town.  It was OK.....not a whole lot to see, really, and after traveling through China it felt a little underwhelming.

The next day we headed to one of Bangkok's lesser-known tourist attractions:  a snake farm at the Bangkok Red Cross Headquarters.  This facility was opened in 1923 in order to manufacture anti-venom for snake bites.  The mission of the institute has since expanded to include education and research about snakes, as well as the continued production of anti-venom, so there were both poisonous and non poisonous snakes.

Behind this double layer of chain, you can make out the form of a King Cobra snake, who seemed to be as interested in us as we were in him.

One of the highlights of a visit to this snake farm is a demonstration of how they collect venom from the snakes.  Basically, 3 really brave dudes stand in a room with multiple poisonous snakes, and the bravest of the bunch uses a special tool to immobilize the snake, then convince the snake to bite onto a special funnel (the snake is pretty angry at this point, so that part looked pretty easy).  When the snake bites, the venom squirts into the funnel and is collected in a small beaker.

The second floor of the building had excellent exhibits on the snake life cycle, snake anatomy, snakes in mythology and religious stories, and the effects of venom on the human body (as well as what to do if you are bitten).  We were really impressed with this small but mighty museum and so glad we found it!

From the museum, we headed back to Central World because the boys really wanted to go ice skating.  We've gone ice skating every winter for years, so it was nice to get in a session this year--even if it was inside a mall and outside it was 34 C (93 F).

Our time in Bangkok passed quickly, partially because the city is so easy and comfortable for Western tourists.  There were a couple of times (especially in the mall) when I forgot I was in Thailand and instead felt like I was in a big American mall...the Auntie Anne's pretzel stand probably helped with that.  While Bangkok was a nice and convenient stop, we were anxious to get out of the large, international city to experience the "real" Thailand in other parts of the country.