Chiang Rai

On the second last day of our trip to Thailand, mom and I decided to go to the Golden Triangle.

The Golden Triangle is the spot where Burma (Myanmar), Laos, and Thailand all meet in a triangle. It is called golden because of a tiny strip of no man's land that was used to sell opium back in the day. Because of the different currencies, gold was used as the form of payment. Hence, the Golden Triangle.

The trip out to the Golden Triangle took four hours. We travelled from Chiang Mai to Chiang Rai through the mountains. Like any good mountains road, it was all hair pin turns which we took going 100, then 50, then back to 100, then slam on the breaks and back to 50. I was a little (extremely) queasy. Getting though the mountains took about 90 minutes and I was never so glad to get out of the car. As luck would have it, we stopped at the BEAUTIFUL White Temple.

No trip to SE Asia is complete without the requisite trips to the temples. I can tell you, I have templed it up many a time. Hither, thither, yon... I am a temple connoisseur.This was by far the most outstanding and beautiful temple I have ever been to in the world. It was stunning.

From there we went to the Black House. Gross. Dead animal skins (snakes), bones (cows, sheep, snakes), grossness (snakes), and one live animal - a snake. Apparently, the guy was an artist who built this Black House as an alternative to the beautiful White Temple built by his student. There are only a few photos. I am sure you are not surprised.

The White Temple

 

Four tries and any one of them is good enough. Mom is working on her picture taking skills. We were finally asked to move.

The hands reaching up are to remind us that suffering is part of the human experience

Devils and ghouls surrounded the temple

Ready to chop my head off.

Everything was painted white. Then, tiny rectangular mirrors were placed along the edges to add dimension. It was quite the effect.

Facing away from the temple on the other side of the bridge was a more serene looking creature.

Everything was huge and ornate. Buddha is in the middle of this.

The man who is funding/creating this would like 9 temples on the site. He has 60 'disciples' building new temples. While this is a completed temple, it still needs the mirrors to be applied. What a difference without them!

Not sure what these represent. They were scary faces in trees. The one at the front has a reptile-like creature going in its right eyeball and coming out of the left ear is a demon.

From the side

A new temple under construction

Future temples in behind

The mirrors are more visible here. If you look carefully, you can see a face.

Needing mirrors yet.

More construction. Estimated completion date... 2070.

Flying golden turtle

No smoking.

Or drinking.

A demon coming out of the ground.

Elephant statues on the side of the highway

The Black House. There was a long table that ran the length of this building. The table was 100' - 120' long. Snake skins (maybe pythons? I don't know nor will I ever) were used as the table runners with their giant gross heads still attached. No pictures of that.

Lots of architecture on the grounds at the Black House. There must have been 15 - 20 out buildings.

A room of horns. The chairs were made out of three sets of them.

Cow skulls along the outside of a building

A God. This was on my way out and the only part I enjoyed. It looked remarkably Chinese so I took a picture.

We finally got to the Mekong River. We are in Thailand looking over to Laos.

You know how mom loves Johnny...

Purses galore in Laos. Thousands of them from China. All real leather and about $15 CAD.

Giant Buddha statue honouring the Queen on the Thai bank of the Mekong. There is a woman with a parasol on the dock to give a height comparison.

Burma on the left and a wee bit of Laos on the right. The Golden Triangle is the tiny little island on the horizon.

Perfectly aligned with the Golden Triangle in the middle. I am on Thai soil looking at Burma and Laos. Well worth the four hour drive.

The King. There were pictures of him at every cross road and junction. They were for sale everywhere. Lots of pictures when he was young, with his wife, just his wife, etc. etc.. They LOVE him. He is now 84.