Chiang Rai Part 2 - Aka Parents: You Trained Me Well

Chiang Rai part 2

And so continues the epic saga of my trip to Chiang Rai. 

On Sunday July 21, I had a trip booked in rural Chiang Rai. I booked my trip though an independent travel company called Ban Meing Home Stay. The trip was to go through the rural hill tribes in the area. It was easily one of the best trips I’ve ever taken. I was picked up from my hostel around 9:30am by the guide, Mr Tao. We hopped into a sawng-tao with Tao’s wife, Mary, and the other participant, Alang from Guatemala. Tao and Mary are originally from Myanmar/Burma  - Tao has been living in Thailand for 17 years. They are also part of an ethnic hill tribe minority, so they were able to speak the languages of the towns we visisted.

The trip started with a boat ride up the river to the mountains near Chaing Rai. Our first stop was a large hill tribe town called Roi Miot. This is  a Karen village, and the largest of the villages in the area (about 1000 people live there). At this town, we went for a short elephant ride, and also saw some large snakes. I wasn’t interested so much in the elephant ride, but it was part of the trip.

 Our Mahout and his little umbrella

 Rice paddies in Roi Miot village

After the stop in Roi Miot, we took the boat a bit farther up the river to Phasoet National Park. The main attraction for this park is the hot spring, which has been converted into a pool, similar to the hot springs my family and I visited in Southern France. After a soak in the warm water, we had lunch at a nearby restaurant. Lunch was accompanied by some wild fruit we found on the way – I can’t remember what it was called. They were VERY sour (but they are supposed to taste like that apparently).

 Tao and Mary gathering fruit

After lunch was when the real fun began. Ie this is when we started the actual trekking. This following part is directed to my parents/family: you trained me well. When I have the choice, I travel to the mountains/forest/national parks. When I am in these areas, the first thing I do is figure out a way to go hiking or biking into the middle of nowhere. SOME PEOPLE enjoy relaxing on the beach. Ha. I’m not happy unless I’m in the middle of the woods, covered in mud, and panting from climbing a steep hill. I look RIDICULOUSLY happy in all the pictures I took. 

Anyway the first part of the hike was a 5km walk to the nearest town. For the first little while, this was on a small paved road – but there were no cars, only a couple of motorcycles. We were surrounded by thick jungle on either side of the road. It was a very nice walk. Tao made us bamboo walking sticks with his handy machete-like jungle knife. After a couple kilometres, the road turned to dirt. As this is the rainy season (it had rained for about an hour earlier in the day) the road was mostly mud. No big deal. We eventually reached the first village – a Lahu village I believe (I lost track). This town was surrounded by terraced rice paddies. We also saw villagers cleaning bamboo shoots in the stream (to sell in the Chaing Rai city markets). Most of the houses were built of bamboo and use solar panels for electricity. We also saw a lady preparing birds from the jungle to eat. Not chickens or turkeys. Like average birds. In the villages, the inhabitants will eat anything they can get their hands on.

 Cutting bamboo walking sticks

 Washing bamboo shoots

 Stylish, no?

In the village, the road turned more into a trail, and the walk became much steeper. Yay! (i’m not being sarcastic haha). We got gorgeous views of the valley. During our hike, Tao made me a hat out of a large leaf. At one point, it started to rain a little bit so Tao gave us huge bamboo leaf umbrella (yes parents, I did have my raincoat). Every so often, he would pick a few leaves of various plants that the villagers use for remedies. It was very interesting. We walked through several other small villages: Lisu, Akha, Chinese, and others I’m sure I forget. It was breathtakingly beautiful. 

After the villages, we walked to a well known waterfall, Huay-Kaew. The waterfall was very impressive – the best time to go waterfall viewing in Thailand is during the rainy season. We also got to walk on these really rickety looking bridges. Fun times! Near the Chinese village, there are fields of lychee trees, as well as a huge Oo-Long tea plantations. 

We eventually arrived at the village where our guide’s home stay is located. He also helps run a school in the town that many of the villagers attend. The said they are always on the lookout for volunteers – I would LOVE to volunteer there. We shall seeeeeeeee! After sampling some jungle tea at the home stay, we were given a ride back into down by one of the village elders. Tao invited Alang and I to join him and his wife for dinner. So after a quick shower at my hostel, I was off again.

Dinner was fantastic. They made a combination of Burmese and hill tribe food. Dishes included shredded pork with banana-flower and garlic, a kind of curry/stif fry with fish and tea leaves, local vegetable soup and tea from bamboo cups. It was delicious. And it was so nice of Tao and his wife to invite us. BEST TOUR GUIDE EVER! He talked a bit more about his company – he worked as a guife for another company for any years and just started his own business a few months ago. So, if you are going to Chaing Rai, and want to do some trekking, I highly(!!!!!) recommend them.

July 22

Monday was my last day in Chiang Rai – I had a bus booked back to Bangkok that night. So I decided to rent a bicycle and explore a little more. First, I rode through ChIang Rai city and saw the rest of the sights I wanted to see (a park, the river, and a few other temples). Then I followed a road southwest out of the city to a nearby lake. After the lake, I decided to explore the back roads going south. I didn’t have any destination in mind – I was just exploring. The back roads were lovely – very quiet and natural. I also found a few isolated temples and gatherings of houses.

Around 1:30pm, I headed back into town for lunch. After lunch, I was feeling adequately baked by the very strong sun, so I decided to take shelter. I passed some time by getting a massage. Ahhh... After the massage, I went back to return the bicycle. On the way, I ran into the parade the town was having for Asanha Pucha. Many people in traditional costumes, and many elaborate sculpted candles. I stayed to watch for a little while, then went back to the hostel. I repacked my things, then caught a shuttle to the bus station. There I had dinner – the restaurant had a menu only in Thai. When I walked up, the owner looked at me nervously and mumbled something about chicken. However, I ordered something off the menu – she looked visibly relieved haha. After, I was sitting waiting for y food when a couple back packers came up. They were Dutch, I believe, and didn’t speak any Thai. I could see their conversation with the lady was going nowhere, so I went over and ordered their food for them. Go me! Haha! I enjoy being semi-literate :D.

So that’s it for Chiang Rai. It was the best trip I’ve taken in a loooooong time. I can’t wait until I can go back again!

Chiang Rai - Part 1

Chiang Rai and Buddhist Holidays

This post contains the first half of my trip to Chiang Rai. I haven’t been traveling much this semester so far – feeling a bit worn out after traveling so much last semester over the break. I went to Ko Samet for a long weekend in May, but spent it under a heaping pile of misery. Needless to say, I didn’t have much fun, nor was I much fun to be around, I’m sure. But we had a 4-day weekend... I felt I needed to go SOMEWHERE. So I did. And it was great.

This past weekend contained two very important days for Thai Buddhists – Asanha Puja and the start of Khao Pansa. Asanha Puja celebrates Buddha’s first sermon to 5 followers, who would become his disciple s – thereby establishing the monkhood. It occurs on the full moon of the 8^th lunar month. Asanha Puja is celebrated by the making and giving of candles to the temples. At school, the students and staff made 2 candles by pouring hot beeswax into large molds. I also stopped by to pour some wax in one, which is supposed to bring good luck. I could probably use it. I also contributed some money/wax at our local temple.

The day after marks the start of Khao Pansa, also referred to as “Buddhist Lent”. This time of year coincides with the heaviest part of the rainy season. It was started when Buddha forbade the monks for traveling outside their temples, in fear that they might step on plants and kill them (this is also the time of year many farmers’ crops start growing, especially rice, after the scorching hot season). The monks often spend this time in intense reflection, study,  and meditation. For the layman, this is a time when many try to live a purer life – some might give up smoking, drinking, or eating meat for this 3-month period. It’s also the traditional time for young men to enter the monkhood. Young men are supposed to spend around 10 days as a monk – like a rite of passage. This earns merit for them and their entire families. In May, I went to a friends’ ordination – it was very interesting to witness. 

 On Friday, July 19, the students brought the candles to four nearby temples. I didn’t have class at the time so I ran down and joined the parade. I went with the group who dropped their candle off at Wat Priya Pap. The candle was put on a platform decorated with flowers, and was carried by a few Mattayom (middle school aged) boys. I was sure they were going to drop it. We joined other neighbourhood schools at the local government building, and split into 4 different parades (for different temples). Each parade was escorted by a marching band. Some schools went all out, with students and/or teachers dressed in the traditional formal dress. It was very neat! And beautiful. At the temple, the parade walked around the main chapel three times (standard for most celebrations). Then, we went inside to give the monks the candle. Inside, we all sat and the monks passed around two spools of string for everyone to hold. This is common when the monks give a blessing. Anyway, first a student led a prayer. Then the monks gave a blessing. I think. It was all in Thai. I had to leave right away at the end of the blessing so I could go catch my bus to Chiang Rai. Because of the holiday, we had a 4-day weekend and I decided to go to Chiang Rai – somewhere I’ve wanted to go since I arrived in Thailand basically.

Anyway, I left my apartment around 4:30pm – my bus left at 7:50pm, so I figured that gave me plenty of time. WRONG. Traffic in Bangkok is usually terrible, and I figured it would be especially bad since it was a long weekend. It was a lot worse than I anticipated. On a good day, it takes about 40 minutes to get to Mo Chit 2 bus station from my apartment on the express bus. With traffic, the longest it had taken me to get to Mo Chit was about an hour and a half. TWO AND A HALF HOURS LATER, I was still about what would normally take about 15 minutes to the bus station. And the traffic was still awful. My bus was leaving in 50 minutes and was seriously expecting not to make in on time. So, I decided to get off the bus and hop on a motorbike-taxi. When traffic is bumper-to-bumper  (like it was), motorbikes are the fastest way to get around, as they weave around cars, drive on sidewalks, and take red lights as more of a suggestion. Desperate times call for desperate measures. So I got off the bus, and hopped on one. It was slightly terrifying, but I got to the bus station with about 30 minutes to spare. Huzzah. And I DEFINITELY would have missed by bus if I hadn’t taken the motorcycle.

July 20

Chiang Rai province is the northern-most province in Thailand. It boasts a neat little city, and amazing nature. The bus took 11 hours: I spent the first few hours listening to “The Vinyl Cafe” podcast, then slept the rest of the way. I arrived around 7:00am, caught the shuttle into town, then walked to my hostel. I booked my room in advance at a hostel called Fun-D (ฝันดี – “good dreams”). The hostel itself is only 3 months old, and it was great! Excellent rooms and facilities, and the staff was very friendly and helpful. I checked in, and one of the staff recommended I take a free tram tour of the city. For FREE. My plan was to wander around that day, so I figured this would be a good way to get oriented. I then went up to my dorm, and met the other people staying – who were also going on the tram tour. There was Mandy from China, Kelvin from Canada (also living in Bangkok, haha), and Jack and James from England. 

At 9:30am, we boarded our tram – most of the other people were Thai, and our guide spoke Thai. Haha, no big deal. Our stops included Wat Phra Singh, Wat Phra Kaew (with the Emerald Buddha)(made from Canadian Jade), Wat Doi Ngam Mueang, Wat Phra That Doi Jom Thong (and city navel pillar), and Wat Ming Mueang. They were all very beautiful.

After the tour, we wandered around town for a bit – running various errands (the group I met was leaving for Laos the next day). After that, we had lunch the caught a sawng-tao to Wat Rong Khun, otherwise known as the White Temple. This is one of the landmarks of Chiang Rai. It is a Buddhist temple, built in 1997 by artist/architect Chalermchai Kositpipat. The temple was stunning – white and glittery. There were some very odd aspects to it as well – including skull-pilons, creepy statues, and what not. Inside the chapel, there one wall was painted with many movie/cartoon characters (including Batman, Doraemon, and others), as well as the World Trade towers on fire. It is supposed to represent “delusion and rebirth”. It was a little strange. One of the guys I was with really didn’t like the temple, saying it was just a tourist trap. I wonder what Thai Buddhists think of it – there were people praying inside. Hmmm... But i still thought it was really neat!

After the temple, we relaxed in our hostel for while by watching “The Impossible” in the common room. “The Impossible” is a movie about the tsunami that hit the Andaman coast in 2004. For dinner, we went to the Saturday Walking Street in the town centre. It was the best walking street I have seen yet – many stalls with all sorts of food and merchandise. We got some food and went to sit in the main square, where there was dancing – sort of like Thai square dancing. It was quite the spectacle. The joined in for a while – much fun was had! After, we wandered the street. Got caught in a downpour for a while – ‘tis the rainy season after all. 

Anyway this post has gone on long enough – part 2 will follow shortly.