2024 SE Asia and Japan - Transfer to Chiang Rai

CHIANG RAI - Day 1

We arrived after dark last night, inadvertently photo bombing family wedding pictures near the reception desk. And woke to find ourselves in a lovely resort.


My typical breakfast on this trip

We drove over 200 miles from Sukhothai to Chiang Rai, the northernmost city in Thailand. It is in the mountainous Northern Triangle region, where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar (formerly Burma) meet. 

FIRST STOP

Fruit stand

Durian on the left, longan on the right. 

Durian, aka stinky fruit, has been described as smelling like such noxious things as a gym sock, rotten onions and stale vomit (as compared to fresh vomit?). It’s banned from public places in Singapore and Malaysia, and incurred a hotel fine of 5,000 bhat ($150) for the tour before ours as someone snuck some into their room. 

“Smells like hell; tastes like heaven”

I couldn’t smell much of anything, perhaps because we were outdoors. The texture is like ripe papaya, and not overly sweet. By Thai standards, durian is expensive at $2-3 per kilo. I was happy to try but don’t understand all the hype. 

Longan are related to lychees. They are easily peeled or popped open by squeezing two together in your fist The sweet fruit is like a Concord grape with one big pit. 

SECOND STOP

Indigo Batik 

We visited the workshop and shop of this batik artist and fabric designer. 

Using melted wax, family members stamp designs into cotton fabric. 


The fabric is gently swirled in indigo dye. The initial dipping comes out aqua but quickly dries to a light blue. Subsequent dippings darken the color. 


The fabrics are air dried in sunlight. 

We each got to try our hands at stamping a design, which they dyed and dried while we browsed the shop. Mark was drafted as a size model for women picking gifts for folks at home. 

Our handiwork

We stopped outside Chiang Rai at Wat Rong Khun, better known as the White Temple. We’ll be coming back here to further explore this Buddhist temple in a couple of days. This was just a chance for people to photograph it without the huge crowds that arrive each morning. 

It is visually stunning, over-the-top ornate. The sparkling wall effect is achieved with whitewash and mirror chips. To me, it’s oddly evocative of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, with so many details that it’s hard to settle the eye. Like Sagrada Familia, the White Temple was designed by a master national artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat and is a place of worship. It first opened in 1997. 

(More about the temple after our next visit.)

2024 SE Asia and Japan - Sukhothai

We’re working our way over three days to the northern tip of Thailand. Today, the middle day, we drove over 200 miles from Ayutthaya to Sukhothai. Several stops broke up the journey. 

FIRST STOP

A short distance from our hotel was a market and a massive statue of revered Buddhist monk Luong Phor Tuad (1582-1682). 

The market was just setting up, with food vendors preparing fish, making dumplings, simmering broths, selling snacks. 

Beautifully presented filleted fish




This dumpling wizard used her spatula to quickly cut and decoratively wrap bite sized little morsels. 

Reportedly the largest statue of a monk in the world. 

A much smaller (life-size) statue basks in the early morning sun, slowly shedding its gold leaf. 

SECOND STOP

We visited a very long roadside market that was focused exclusively on snacks, especially fried banana chips and shredded tarot with various seasoning, but also tamarind candies and other goodies. 

This is perhaps 10% of the shops

The shredded strings are tarot: sweet, salty, paprika etc

Free samples and 36 hangry tourists generated a good Saturday morning income bump for the lucky stands we swarmed. 

THIRD STOP

Our lunch stop was a modern, upscale shopping mall. The anchor store, Robinson’s, flowed into and around eating establishments, a multiplex theater and a grocery store. 

These “lady boys” were promoting an electric car sales event, complete with costume changes and choreographed routines. 

Alternative transportation is provided for those who shop ‘til they drop. 

FOURTH STOP

Sukhothai Historic Park commemorates the birthplace and first capital (1238-1438) of the Thai nation. The park opened in 1988 and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site three years later. 

The site is vast. Originally contained within gated walls and a moat, it covers 27 square miles and includes a royal palace and 26 temple complexes. 

The largest temple is Wat Mahathat (same name as the site we visited yesterday with the Buddha head in a tree). 

There were standing Buddhas and sitting Buddhas and walking Buddhas, all sizes. We’ve previously also seen snake Buddhas and reclining Buddhas. Kay was beyond patient reminding people which type of Buddha and what color was their own personalized style of Buddha; it depends upon the day of the week one is born. (Mine is complicated, as there are two Buddhas and colors for Wednesday, depending upon what time you were born.) Then there’s the whole lunar calendar zodiac thing, which lets you know with whom you’ll be most compatible for a partner. 

There is one walking Buddha in Sukhothai and three in Bangkok. The walking Buddha gracefully steps towards Nirvana. Four in one country is enough to get you in the Guinness Book of World Records. Seriously. Check it out. 

We ended today with a stop at an outdoor market. For about $15 we there collected several dishes from the vendors and brought them to our hotel to share for dinner. 

We didn’t buy these but for context, each bowl of little crabs was $1.00. 

We tried fried sweet potato balls, veggie dumplings, red and black sticky rice, skewers, Thai omelet, two desserts and some other small dishes. 

2024 SE Asia and Japan - Ayutthaya

Route map for the Thai portion of our trip. 

Interesting Facts learned during our one hour drive:

- Thai people are very modest and use euphemisms for bathroom breaks. For men, they wish to shoot the rabbit, while women request an opportunity to pick up the flower. 

- Do not say “ow” during a Thai massage as that is a request for a happy ending and is not one of the options provided by masseuses arranged by our tour provider. 

The kingdom of Thailand has had four capitals. Today we drove to the second of them, Ayutthaya, which served as the capital from 1350-1767. We made cultural stops before arriving at hotel around 5. 

Rice fields 

Two water buffalo, one fully in its element

FIRST STOP

The royal summer palace at Bang Pa-In dates to the 17th century but didn’t approach its present form until the 1850s. Today it’s seldom used by the royal family and the grounds are open to the public unless someone is in residence. 

As with temples and royal sites across Thailand, a strict dress code is enforced. No short pants or skirts, no exposed shoulders or cleavage, no tight clothing, and no fair trying to slip through using a scarf or wrap to cover up exposed areas. 

Detail from a gate

One of the kings liked to climb this tower to watch his royal elephants. 

Today they remain only as whimsical topiary

Chinese style building



Saw this cannonball tree at our lunch stop. The balls are the size and weight of a cantaloupe. 

 

And bloom into these lovely flowers

SECOND STOP

Wat Mahathat is a royal temple built to enshrine a relic of the Buddha. Construction on the monastery and ceremonial complex started in 1384. 

The main pagoda (prang) collapsed and was reconstructed in 1633. In 1767 the Burmese army burned the monastery and the site fell into decay along with the rest of the razed city. 

Excavations started in the 1950s. 

Legend has it that the Burmese decapitated the Buddhas around the site, but scholars also suggest some looting was done by Thai people. (I can’t help but think of all those gold Buddhas similarly positioned at Wat Po in Bangkok.)


During site excavations, one of the heads was discovered serenely gazing from the roots of a banyan tree. 

Strict rules dictate that if you photograph a person with the Buddha’s head, the subject must sit down so they are not shown as above the Buddha. A guard relentlessly enforced this policy. 



STOP THREE

The Khmer style Wat Chaiwatthanaram temple complex was founded in 1620 as a tribute to the king’s late mother. It’s been undergoing restoration since the nearby river flooded in 2011. 

As we saw in Wat Arun, traditional Thai costumes were available for rent. These two are watching a friend show off his sweet swordsman skills. 

Both the second and third stops are part of Ayutthaya  Historical Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.