After finishing in Koh Phangan and mostly recovering from our full moon party experience (we say mostly, as Gemma was still feeling the aftereffects of being struck down with this dengue fever like illness), our next stop was a flight to Chiang Mai in the North of Thailand. Gemma had been looking forward to Chiang Mai as it is a popular destination for being able to interact with elephants and offers many ethical ways of doing this. So despite still not feeling perfect, Gemma was excited to be leaving Koh Phangan behind and moving onto more northernly pastures.

Our hostel in Chiang Mai provided lots of options to party, however, at this point, and with Gemma not feeling very well, we just wanted to be able to relax and get some sleep. We were more interested in seeing some of the sites than partying all night. With that in mind, we spent one day looking at various temple sites in the vicinity, two stood out in particular, the first being Wat Chedi.

The second being Wat Phra.

Whilst at this temple, there was a Buddhist monk chanting which we captured an excerpt from.

Over the last couple of months of being in Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, we saw a number of people with Go Pro cameras, which are basically very small cameras which you can affix to your person (via a harness, or helmet attachment, or hold via a stick, etc.) and capture photos and videos whilst adventuring. The cameras are waterproof and in a sturdy case which allows them to take a reasonable impact without being damaged. We had already invested in a camera for our trip and were currently overspending, so on the face of it, the idea of buying a Go Pro, whilst very useful, didn’t seem like the best idea when we were attempting to have an economy drive. But on the flipside, what is the point of travelling around the world, and being in scenarios where water is involved, and not being able to capture it on camera? So, one way or another, we justified it as a capital expense, not so much a cost for the trip, but a longer-term investment and went to the shops and bought a Go Pro Hero 6, with a few accessories. On the plus side, the price in Thailand was cheaper than back in the UK and on top of that, you can claim the VAT back at the airport (which isn’t something we have done before, but basically amounts to the shop filling out a form for you; you take that form, along with the goods to an inspection point, before security at the airport; they stamp the form; and then after security there is a window that will check you have a stamped form, and then issue you a refund for the VAT paid).

So with Go Pro in hand, we were ready to head to the Chiang Mai Elephant Sanctuary. We picked this particular place to see elephants because the treatment of the elephants is extremely good: they don’t ride the elephants, the elephants do not perform tricks and are given a large area to roam around in. When we got there, we were reassured by our choice, as it was clear how much the handlers loved the elephants, but also how much the elephants loved their handlers. We had the experience of standing right next to these huge, gentle creatures, feeding them bananas (they eat 200 each per day).

After that, we trekked around the jungle with them or more accurately followed them as they played in the jungle and then marched to one of their favourite areas: the river, as this is where you bath them, and they love being bathed. They are just like oversized dogs that love playing in the water. As Gemma was still not feeling 100% after her illness, she didn’t get in the water but splashed the elephants (which they loved) from the land.

After spending a lot of time playing in the water, we headed back to our starting point with the elephants. However, halfway through, it all turned a little bit India Jones like, and Steve had to make a daring escape, in hot pursuit by an elephant, luckily he had the Go Pro in hand…

We will leave it as an exercise to the reader to determine whether this may have been a little over dramatised. A sceptic may even suggest the whole thing was staged to get some footage using the new Go Pro camera… Aside from that, we also took some photos on our conventional camera.

Our original plan was to travel to Chiang Rai for a couple of days and then head to Pai, however, we realised that in order to get from Chiang Rai to Pai you basically have to first go to Chiang Mai and then onto Pai, which is pretty much a full day of travel. The thought of this was quite offputting to Gemma whilst still not feeling great, so instead, we opted to stay in Chiang Mai and take a day trip to Chiang Rai. However, on the day, after getting up and getting ready in the morning, Gemma simply didn’t feel up to a 12 hour day of getting to and from Chiang Rai and marching around attractions, so she rested up at the hostel and let Steve venture out by himself.

The main attractions that tourists flock to in Chiang Rai are the White Temple, Black House and Blue Temple. Something that makes these attractions stand out is they are relatively modern constructions, for example, the White Temple’s construction started in 1996 (and still continues today). In a country which is littered with amazing temples dating back over a thousand years, the fact that one city brings in large numbers of tourists to look at buildings less than 25 years old is quite an achievement. One of the reasons tourists flock to see the White Temple (designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat) is the fact it looks so unique compared to the other temples in Thailand (and indeed much of the world).

The story goes that just before you walk over the bridge, there are hands reaching up from below, these symbolize desire. You should avoid desire, temptation and greed and move towards the bridge. The bridge is the Gateway of Heaven, which has two creatures (Death and Rahu) guarding it. After you cross the bridge you get to the main building called Ubosot, on the outside, it is pure white and decorated intricately, however on the inside (where you aren’t allowed to take photos) it has modern, cartoon-like drawings of Western idols such as Michael Jackson and Freddy Krueger. There is a general message that the world is full of bad people, but this message is a little confused as there are also pictures of Harry Potter and Hello Kitty. Finally, separate to the white temple there is a golden building, which represents the human body, with us humans being too caught up in the pursuit of gold and riches. In all honesty, none of the above was what crosses one’s mind as you walk across the bridge, it is just such an unusual temple that you are constantly awestruck and looking around at all the intricate details everywhere.

After visiting the White Temple, the tour took us to The Black House, which is a series of black buildings, designed by Thawan Duchanee (who used to be the teacher to Chalermchai Kositpipat, who designed the White Temple). A lot of the buildings are home to taxidermy and animal bones as well as other relics. The site continues to be expanded, with black paint being used encouragingly to ensure the black theme remains. It was an interesting, unusual, place to walk around. I don’t think I would have come to Chiang Rai just to see this; it almost feels like Chiang Rai thrives from the fact it has three attractions, each a little unusual, giving you enough of a reason to come and explore.

Whilst still pondering quite what we had seen, we left The Black House and headed towards our final destination in Chiang Rai: The Blue Temple, the architect this time is Phuttha Kabkaew who is a protégé of Chalermchai Kositpipat (who designed the White Temple). As you can see, these three main attractions are all intertwined in terms of the architects and their modern design. The Blue Temple is still very much under construction and parts of it haven’t been fully painted blue yet!

Although not quite as extravagant as the White Temple, the Blue Temple certainly offers a different look to most conventional temples, the blue colour being one of the leading points. The Blue Temple did allow photos and videos inside.

Steve had a similar sense at the end of the tour of Chiang Rai as he does when he leaves some modern art galleries, part of his brain was buzzing and excited from seeing so many unusual sites, whilst other parts of his brain were trying to piece together what exactly he had seen during the day. Is it all an excellent tourist trap? Is it a work of genius that will be hailed in centuries to come as a cornerstone of Thai art culture and history? Ultimately, does it matter? Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. We can recommend anyone in North Thailand to spend a day in Chiang Rai, you will certainly see something unique.

After Chiang Rai, we headed to Pai, our final destination in Northern Thailand. Although Gemma had been slowly getting better, the fact she was still not back to full health meant we decided the best thing to do would be to get a hotel, with a pool, where we can just relax and recuperate for a few days. Pai is located in a mountainous area, so it takes a bumpy minivan ride to get there, but the reward for the difficult journey is a very relaxed, easy going environment. There are a lot of outdoor activities available to do (kayaking, caving, swimming in the water, tubing) however we had recently taken part in all of these activities in Vang Vieng in Laos, so we didn’t feel we were missing out by taking a more leisurely approach in Pai. Our days consisted of relaxing around a (mostly) empty pool, and wandering around the little town area in search of meals in the evening.

After a few days, Steve had a sneaky suspicion Gemma was well, but she kept on insisting that she didn’t quite have enough strength to swim around the pool by herself, and required a chauffeur.

But Steve was able see through her plans to get free rides around the swimming pool. We decided it was time to move on and started finalising plans for the next leg of our adventure in, which would take us to Krabi in the South of Thailand.

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