Chiang Rai: I went to Myanmar...for an hour!

Trip Start Mar 16, 2012
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Trip End Sep 14, 2012


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Where I stayed
Baan Rub Aroon Chiang Rai
Read my review - 5/5 stars

Flag of Thailand  ,
Friday, June 8, 2012

The trip from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai was a mere 3 hours. Our guesthouse was really sweet and the owner quickly persuaded us to stay 2 nights instead of the 1 we were planning. After an unsuccessful attempt to find some lunch, we got a jeepney to the White Temple. It is so pretty and so unlike any other temple I have seen before. Created by an artist fairly recently, it had your normal Buddha inside, but if you looked closely on the back wall there was Superman and the Twin Towers. In the evening there is a 10 min display with the clock tower lighting up.The clock tower was designed by the same guy that created the White Temple. We had dinner in the night market and as we were eating there was a little cabaret act. There was a Beyonce impersonator, with the worst lip sync ever.

The next day we did a little tour to the most northerly parts of Thailand. We first stopped at the Black House, created by another Chaing Rai artist
White temple
White temple
. It was gothic, inside was full of animal skins and skulls. Our next stop was the Myanmar boarder, we got a temp visa and crossed into Burma. Now I really wanted to extend my trip and visit Burma, but time and flights meant it wasn't to be. So this was the next best thing. We only went over for an hour or so and went to the market selling fake designer goods. After filling up our rucksack we headed back to Thailand. At least I now have a Burma stamp in my passport. On our way to the Golden Triangle, where Laos, Burma and Thailand meet, we went to the Opium Museum which gave a history of the opium trade within the Golden Triangle and how in more recent years, it has got out of control. The Golden Triangle is a strange place, the view is of land and the Mekong River, but the significance is that the land belongs to 3 different nations and as a result the people on the land live different lives, some are poorer than others etc. After a little look at a few ancient temples we made our way back to Chiang Rai.

This is my final stop in Thailand after my second visit. This time I feel I have got a lot more from the visit and have seen how beautiful the country is. But I still do not like the food.
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