northern expeditions

Chiang Rai

At the beginning of August Thailand celebrates Mother’s Day by way of H. M. the Queen’s Birthday. So in true Kalasin crew tradition, Wednesday night found Reuven, Neil, Gloria, Josh, Charlotte and I on an overnight bus bound for Chiang Rai. Near the end of our 12 hour drive, we came into the lust mountaneous area and found ourselves struck by all the green. Maybe it was the mist and the rain, but out the windows of our rickety bus all that could be seen was greenery, in every shade, in every direction.

After checking into our quaint little guesthouse, locating our seventh member Jenny, and successfully locating a coffee shop for fuel, we headed out in search of the ethereal White Temple and the notoriously ambiguous Black Temple. We pilled into a steamy hot songtaw and made our way across the city to the grounds of the White Temple. Geniuses that we are, we arrived exactly at noon, the brightest time of day. With no protective eyewear of any kind, the temple proved slightly difficult to look at. Though with the help of a few passing clouds we were able to catch a glimpse of this blinding beauty in all its bizzare glory. The temple is best known for two features: the sea of hands desperately extended from beneath the bridge; and an elaborate mural that includes such characters as Neo from the Matrix, the Terminator, and even former president Bush!

Construction on the temple began in 1997, under the supervision of some famous artist. As you can imagine from the previously mentioned features, this is no ordinary temple. The artist, who we had the strange pleasure of meeting on our way out, had different ideas for this structure. While the basic architecture is similar to that of a traditional temple the surface is painted stark white and ornately decorated with small mirrored pieces that further reflect the bright sunlight. The hands at the entrance to the temple symbolize greed, lust, and all other forms of desire. To that end some of the hands hold up overturned skulls as bowls for making charitable donations.

Once inside the main room, a mural-in-progress bathes the wall in eccentric colors and intricate designs. Standing facing the entrance one can view the immensity of the mural in its entirety. By taking a few steps back you can see the central image is of a demons mouth. However, every inch of this face is covered in designs of mass destruction, literally. The face of the creature are lined with machine guns, the lips curl into oil pumps that destroy other figures, the twin towers are pictured with as they were on September 11th, and in the eyes of the beast are the faces of Bush and Bin Laden. Apparently it is a statement about heroes. About how there are no modern day heroes to save us from the evils that exist in our world today. Pretty dark and depressing for a temple bathed in a blinding white exterior.

From here we moved to an even more bizarre attraction, the Black Temple. Intentionally situation down a narrow soi in a private neighborhood, the temple is intended to be found by only those who already know where it is. Hard to find it was, “temple” it was not. In fact this strange place was the house and workshop of yet another odd ball Thai artist. Words fail to describe this peculiar place. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

Needless to say we were both awestruck and creeped out by this one.

Besides “watting,” the main attraction of the trip was Doi Pu Chi Fa—a nearby mountain famous for its stunning sunrise views. Setting out around 3am, the crew piled into a hired van and headed off to the towering peak (after an essential 7-11 stop, of course). Being unable to sleep in moving vehicles, I found myself clenching the sides of my chair as our driver careened up the windy mountainous road narrowing dodging sleeping goats and perilous cliffs. When we finally arrived at the mountain top, around 5 am, we kinda thought it was a joke. There were no cars in the parking lot, no people in sight, in fact there was nothing in sight as it was pitch black. Like you can’t even see your feet! Undeterred by this sudden blindness, our guide plunged into the darkness and lead us up the path. As our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we saw the faint, misty outlines of shrubbery, trees, and even toyed with the idea of creepy, twilight predators, thank you Reuven.

Upon reaching the top, we were still unsure if this was a joke or not. There was no one there. We heard this was the thing to do in Chiang Rai. But as we sat in the chilly clearing our guide managed to explain to us that due to the terribly thick clouds, constant rain, and generally unpleasant weather, this was really more of a December activity. We decide to disregard this silly practicality and enjoy that fact that we were the only people for miles around and we were about to get a private showing of a beautiful sunrise.

An hour later… as the sky grew brighter and no sun appeared, the altitude and lack of sleep may have gone to our heads. We started some serious photo shoots, alienated our guide, and made up the legend of the cloud people (there is an associated video on facebook, for those who are interested). Just when we were about to throw in the towel and head back down, the clouds began to look like they were moving, and FAST! We thought this was yet another side effect of delirium, but further inspection proved they were in fact separating. Within moments the sky cleared and we had gorgeous views as far as the eye could see. Totally worth it!

Chiang Mai

After all these adventures, we headed into CM for what would be my fifth and final journey, and at this point it kinda feels like home. Staying in the Little Bird House and being greeted by a bunch of familiar faces felt pretty comfortable. I went to all our favorite shops, bookstores, food carts, cafes, and bars. I spent waaay too much money, especially on gifts for all you wonderful people. And I returned to Kalasin feeling completely satisfied.

Happy (Thai) Mother’s Day!

xoxo