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.
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.)
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