Chiang Rai Road Trip

After our Gibbon Experince, Vince and I headed back to Chiang Rai, rented a car at the airport and headed out to the countryside and mountains. 

Our first stop was Chiang Saen which is a walled city much like Chiang Mai. It's the oldest city in Chiang Rai province and is teeming with temples. It was also Sonkran so walking = soaked with water so we headed out to the bungalows that were suggested to us by friends last year. 

Wheeels = freedom to stop whenever/wherever you like.

Walled city. After speaking to the hotel owner (a brit who has lived in Thailand for 30 years) he says that they are mostly reconstructed...something we hadn't thought about. 

Our hotel pool (Viang Yonok) .....small but very deep. In the distance is Chiang Saen Lake.

I run quite a bit here since it is an easy option and this is the first run that I did not encounter a single dog, scooter or car until the last 5 minutes.  

Our bungalow.

Across the road is a bird a sanctuary which had this fabulous boardwalk (bamboo walk?).

Peacock.

We continued on our way and drove the top loop in the map shown below.

Having tea by the mighty Mekong River.

This place is known for it's amazing gardens and vegetables. We learned a lot about the opium trade on this trip and how the king and his mother worked hard and creating sustainable farming for the Thais instead of opium. Chiang Rai, being further north is suitable for many crops: pineapple, oranges, strawberries etc. 

Our road trip took us along the tops of mountain ranges with crazy curves and beautiful vistas.

The Golden Triangle: Over-touristed and underwhelming

We wandered 1 km down the road and found another sign...no tourists and had another feel altogether.

Our next adventure took us to Tham Luang Park. Tham is Thai for cave and it has become something of interest to us. 

We first visited the small cave which had buddha etc

Medium cave: people leaving money for good health etc.

The largest cave was incredible. It was 800 m of cave and pitch black darkness. We were the only two in the park and we got the spooks and made it about 150-200 m before it got narrow....and scary.

The map.

The entrance.

The entrance form inside.

The steps down into darkness.

Pitch dark save for the flash.

We stayed at a random place which was totally a budget/location choice. It came with it's own wildlife.

Although you get used to the geckos.

At first I though this was some kind of art. At closer look it's ant trails.

From the outside.

Random playground of which none would pass any safety test anywhere. Sometimes (often) we feel like we have been sent back in time.

The Gibbon Experience in Laos: Treehouses and Ziplinging

During March break we went to Laos with a few friends for a 3-day Gibbon Experience which is a hiking/ziplining/treehouse living experience. We heard but did not see gibbons which is fairly typical. The project is really to expose people aware of the jungle canopy and hopefully create some conservationists. Some of the ziplines were 1/2 km long and 30-40 m high. The tree houses which we slept in are the same sort of height. 

Crossing the border to Laos includes.....

A local bus to the border

It stops on the highway where you take a tuk-tuk to the Friendship Bridge

The tuk-tuk takes you to immigration

A bus takes you across the bridge to Laos (it only drives the bridge)

An a tuk-tuk takes you to your hotel/hostel. It is amazing how smoothly it all goes.

Our hotel

Breakfast-discovered pancakes, honey and banana.

The coolest coffee spot ever...closed though and hopefully only because it was low season.

It was a 2 hour drive over from  Huay Xai in Laos to the starting point: highways, dirt roads and through a river.  We made it to the little town where most of the guides live and they are mostly from the Hmong hilltribes. 

Our treehouse for night #1.

Inside

 Dinner time. Food is ziplined in. L to R are Jenn, Kaitlyn, Kirk and Bridget.

Ziplining

View from the entrance to the treehouse.

Burning. Look closely to see the cows.

Visiting another treehouse.

Cooling off the feet.

Two floors with a trap door in between. We became very conscious of where we stepped.

Squatty with a view...and a bees nest.

Made it back to Huay Xai. A night of relaxation then Vince and I heading back to Chiang Rai and the others to Luang Prabang, Laos.

White Temple and Black House

South of Chiang Rai is the White Temple (Wat Rong Khun) built by a Thai artist replacing the original Wat Rong Khun and is a work in progress. he says it will be finished in another 50 years. It was damaged in the earthquake in May 2014 and some say it was going to be demolished but since it was structurally fine, it is instead being repaired. You can see the damaged spire.

Creepy!!! The details are amazing.

 Temples require that knees are covered so they often provide "skirts". Of courses this one is white.

Beautiful work.

This is one of two strange statues marking the washrooms. We are getting used to saying "toilet" here.

We had a scooter for the day so headed out to Singha Park which is a working farm, much like Canada's and had the most incredible view for a cup of tea.

Tea-time.

The Black House (Baan Si Dum)

This was a strange collection of building, animal skulls, alligator skins, giant snakes, snake skin and collections of many items that I am sure you are no longer allowed to collect.

This huge table was beautifully made from one piece of wood.

My favourite.

Sssssssnake!

Giant doors.

Sonkran (Traditional New Year's and Water Festival)

We were in Canada celebrating Kelli and Jeff's wedding last year during Sonkran and although we had heard it can get pretty crazy we didn't quite realize HOW crazy. It's the traditional New Year and the idea is that you pour water on people to wash away their sins. It's basically a nation-wide water fight when no-one is safe. We headed up north to Chaing Rai and then east to Laos for the week thinking that it would be calmer than Bangkok (Khao San Road) and Chaing Mai.

Here are a few pics of the water fight.

Laos: Outside our guesthouse. These guys started off as a quiet team of three.

Eventually, the grew in numbers and gained confidence, stopping scooter drivers and soaking the. They were great in that they respected businesses so we were safe sip our beers across the street.

Further down the street was more entertainment.

Back in Chiang Saeng, we ended up leaving town instead of checking out some of their historic temples and wall. There is no way we would have lasted 5 min.

Pickup trucks full of kids and garbage cans full of water got you when not expected. Glad we rented a car.

Ranong for a Day

Well, since we were in town by 9am and flying out at 7 pm we rented a scooter to get around and see the area.

Waterfalls aren't much in the dry season.

Waterfall number two. Vince trying to open the dam.

Chinese graveyard we think.

Visiting a gorge (a quarry really) and feeding the fish. Not sure why but it seemed like the thing to do.

Oh yeah got a flat tire in the middle of nowhere but 3 km from a tire repair shop which are quite frequent. We wlaked/rode the bike there. Riding costs you the tire but at 35 deg C it's often the best option and tires are cheap here. This is Vince asking directions...charades.

 Travelling light.