Chiang Rai

Day 9 continued, after the Monk ceremony was over, we left the temple in Chiang Mai and started our uneventful trek to Chiang Rai (pronounced Lai, by the locals), albeit an absolutely gorgeous countryside ride to Chiamg Rai, which is a 2 1/2 hour drive North West of Chiang Mai.  The scenery was choke full of rice fields, beautiful mountains in the hazy distance and lush green palm trees, it was absolutely breathtaking.   We stopped at the hot springs outside of Chiang Rai and purchased some beautiful sapphires and Silver.  Just outside of Chiang Rai, we visited a place called The White Palace/Temple.  It’s not really a palace, it is an artist’s rendition of a palace/temple.  The artist, Chalermchai Khositpipat created this place in order to express his creativity.  He has some dark, ominous figures throughout the park along with some absolutely stunning architecture, definitely a must see when your in Chiang Rai.  Once we left there, we headed to a very exclusive hotel called The Dusit Hotel.  It is an absolutely gorgeous hotel overlooking the river.  The accommodations were  exceptional.   After we checked in and got settled, we went to have dinner at Yunnan Restaurant.  A very pretty place, with outdoor or indoor seating.  The wine and food were very good, we practically had the place to ourselves but it was nice and relaxing.  We were all very tired, but we had to visit the night bizarre (market) for an hour just to see what we could see.  Tomorrow, we’re visiting a very special tribe and taking a boat ride down the Mekong River  and we’ll be going into communist China!!

 

 

Chiang Rai Food, it was delicious!!