Chiang Rai

Against all odds, the Lao-Thai border was still open when we arrived late with the slow boat in the border town of Houai Xai and once through - we got checked into Thailand by a guy dressed in full cycling gear ready to close shop - there was even a minibus waiting to take us straight to Chiang Rai for a decent price. So after 14 hours on the river/road plus one hour to find a place to stay we finally dropped into our first Thai bed.

The city of Chiang Rai isn't a real beauty. But there was some sort of flower festival going on which was very nice. One of the major attractions however is definitely worth seeing: the white temple. It is just so WHITE! Built in 1998 it has all elements of a classic Buddhist temple. Yet it is filled with peculiarities like skulls on top of gates, statues of mystical and not so mystical creatures - like one statue of a predator as in alien vs. Predator - and inside apparently statues of superheroes. Unfortunately, the inside was closed to us due to the monthly staff meeting. Damn!

We inquired a bit about treks up north but most of them included visiting local villages, something we are not too comfortable with. And customized tours get expensive real quick.Read more