Holiday Time In Chiang Mai,Mae Hong Son And Chiang Rai 2012.

[billyboy]

Well, ariving in Chiang Rai was certainly a wonderfull experience what with the flight in the small plane. First thing i did notice was the heat, it was unbearable, must have been creeping into the near 40c. Checked into a realy nice friendly place, had a little breakfast and a coffee then i went to check things out, i never got further than the local massage parler...realy...it was so hot so i thought time for a foot massage, good choice. I actualy stayed there watching tv and having a sleep for three hours! The heat was just to much, i can tollerate high temperatures but this just seemed of the scale so to speak. Basicaly my first day here was a chill out day

As it got towards evening time i went to see the clock that was mentioned in the guide book, i was actualy staying at the bottom of the road that leads up to it which suited me fine as i found that further up the road you went the more crowded the bars where. I had my first meal here since breakfast and it was the best Khaow Soi Chicken i have ever eaten, wonderfull. But when i eventualy got to go see the magnificent spectacle of the laser light colour changing clock with combined classical music it was a sight to be remembered.

Ajarn Chailermchai Kositpipat is the person who's hard work is to be marvelled at provided us with this beautifull clock tower. Called The Golden Clock Tower it has shows every evening between 19-00pm and 21-00pm. Ajarns goal in constructing The Golden Clock Tower was to create artwork for Chiang Rai. The old Kodak Clock Tower stood here before the new one he built and he felt that it did not present any significent architecture for people who where passing by. Ajarn then aproached the then mayer of Chiang Rai Khun Whanchai and asked him if the old clock tower can be removed for a newer grander one. This was granted and the old Kodak one is now situated close to the local day market.

It took Ajarn three years to complete his grand golden clock tower at his own personel expense, and it sits proudly now for all to see, and i am privaleged to be one of those who has witnesed this remarkable feat. And it does not end there! He went on to construct The White Temple....called Wat Rong Khun...a feat of architecture and imagination to behold, i will come to that later. But i would like to share some photographs from the evening i had at Ajarns clock tower, it realy is amazing.

Billy.

[Khun Don]

Bill-Any info on where you stayed in Chiang Rai and CR in general would be great as-if I ever get to Northern Thailand again I intend to give CM a miss and go to Chiang Rai instead. Is it very busy now? Last time it was quiet-but there again so was CM at the same time! (1996!)

[billyboy]

Hi Khun Don,

I stayed at a place called the Baanbua, it was a nice place, good food, tucked away down a small road into a cul-de-sac. It had a small pleasant garden and the staff where very friendly and helpfull, there is free use of a computer for customers and a free wi fi conection. They supply you with a padlock for your door here which they also have a key for. The doors also have the standard press the button and it locks on them.

http://www.baanbua-guesthouse.com/

There are many places to stay along this road by the Baanbua but i think nightime it might be a bit noisy, the more you get to the top of the road near the clock the busier it got. Realy i only got to see the clock, and the White Temple plus another day out in a country like park, that was nice, i will add a bit about there later in the post. Close to this guest house, only a short walk is a night market with a huge food hall in the middle of it, every night it gets full to capacity with the farang and locals alike, the food is amazing with a huge selection for a very cheap price. Also there are two stages with live entertainment. I would say considering it was april time it was fairly quiet, but it was so dam hot there., I can't ride a scooter so my travelling about is restricted to taxis etc. I took this time in Chiang Rai as a more relaxing few days after the Songkran, but it was nice and i enjoyed it here.

Billy.

[billyboy]

I took a taxi to Wat Rong Khun known also as the White Temple. This place was buit about fourteen years ago so it is a relatively new Temple. Ajarn Chailermchai Kositpitpat who built the colour changing clock in the town centre was the person who built....or rather who is building it now. Fourteen years to get to this stage is remarkable but the overall project of Ajarn Chailermchai is going to take him a projected ninety years or more to complete. He has already tutored two teams of people including architects, Painters, designers and a committee to continue with his ' dream' his project after his death. The information book i have says he will not accept donations from millionairs or government officers or polititions, he finds the funds himself.Ajarn can be seen at the Temple everyday during morning and evening time, he oversees everything there and at present has a dedicated team of sixty workers.

This is going to a place i will haver to revisit because it is going to be changing all the time, rather expanding. There is no admition charge to the Temple but photography is not allowed once inside.I arived fairly early one morning and it was blisteringly hot again, the whiteness of the Temple was blinding but what a sight! The Temple being white needs some attention regularly for cleaning this is done three times a year usualy after the rainy season. winter and the New Year. It is all ghouls demens and torment, on the approach walkway up to the Temple you will see it has two what look like guardians to it. Either side just before you enter the walkway are two pits, one containing what looks like a tangled mass of skulls, claws and arms. The other showing hundreds of arms and hands all reaching for the sky, if you notice on this particular photo there is a fingernail on one of the hands that is painted bright red, i do not know the significance of this?

A Quote from Ajarns book reads like this:

When completed Wat Rong Khun will be a symbol of one mans dedication to his country, his religion and his present King. He will have sacrificed the better part of his life building a monument that he hopes one day in it's future will also become a heritage of the world.

The reason it is a White Temple is that Ajarn believes that gold is a colour that people lust for for evil deeds. I have seen some pictures on the web showing the White Temple lit up at night, this sadly is not every evening only for special occasions, it looks most spectacular, Now i have some contacts in Chiang Rai i hope i can coincide my next trip there with the lighting up at night of the Temple.

Billy

[Khun Don]

A nice video on the temple-soundtrack not so good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIGpvPkIeqY

[billyboy]

Thanks Khun Don,

Nice link, i followed another link after that video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=yra6Oc2p4-k

Realy nice, it's an amazing place. It seems a bit surreal at times when you walk around it. Note on the video towards the end there is even the public toilet here called the golden toilet.Another feat of his expertise.

Billy

[billyboy]

It is a most unusal Temple, things are appearing from everywhere here like the monster looking thing coming out from the grass, also skulls and modelled scary heads hanging from the trees.At one place you can see a bottle of the demon drink ( whisky) perched upon a blood red skull that had staring scary eyes, also above the whisky bottle you can see a further two little gremlin like skulls. It is worth paying attention to detail within the artwork here like in one of the pictures you will see a little Buddha statue tucked away within the gold leafed decor.

Billy.

[billyboy]

Most evening times while i was in Chiang Rai where at the local nightime market and food hall. This was a great place for excellant good fresh cooked food, and it was extremely cheap. The food hall itself was an outside one and it was huge with all seats filled to capacity every evening by locals and farang, entertainment was also provided with some lovely traditional Thai dancing. Just outside from the food stall is another stage also providing entertainment and dancing. You realy do not have to go further from this place of an evening if you are in Chiang Rai, it realy does seem to have everything, also a shoppers paradise.

Billy.

[billyboy]

A couple of photographs showing the lady getting ready for dancing and some others already on the stage. The food here at the market was impressive and very cheap, i always had this large salted barbequed fish when i was there, it is served with the skin off on one side with a chillie or mild spicy sauce dip. I also had a plate of crab fried rice and some large prawns in a batter served with a couple of different sauce dips plus a salad and a beer, price wise about three hundred baht, including the entertainment which was great with the dancers. Also there was always a bug trolley nearby if you wanted to have munch on the insects!

Billy.

[badfish]

It is a most unusal Temple, things are appearing from everywhere here like the monster looking thing coming out from the grass, also skulls and modelled scary heads hanging from the trees.At one place you can see a bottle of the demon drink ( whisky) perched upon a blood red skull that had staring scary eyes, also above the whisky bottle you can see a further two little gremlin like skulls. It is worth paying attention to detail within the artwork here like in one of the pictures you will see a little Buddha statue tucked away within the gold leafed decor.

Billy.

Why did they use the creature from the movie Predator? Seems a bit odd.