CHIANG MAI TO CHIANG RAI

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we decided to take tuk tuk to the bus depot for chian rai took the 11.30 2nd class bus, cost 110 bht each. it took about 3 hours . It has been cloudy all day, we arrived in chiang rai in a downpour, took a tuk tuk to the akha river house, (same place i stayed at last year) It rarely rains at this time of year. But as we know it , weather is unusual all over the world. After settling in we walked to the night bazaar had a great diner, lots of shopping again and booked a tour for the white temple, long neck villages , golden triangle , chaing saen and mai sai

It rained over night and was still rainning in the morning, temperature was 18 to 20 celcius. Alot colder then usual. the tour guide picked us up at 9.00 AM his name was Boy,he was friendly but didnt talk much for a guide.

first stop was the white temple,fascinating temple built by artist Ajarn Chalermchai Kositpipatnand 60 of his followers Full murals covers the the inside, the murals depict his thoughts of the word in a mystical way.(hard to describe)

second was the myanmar (burma) border town if mai sai.went to the scorpion temple with a great view of the border it is said that some monks stayed on the hill and it was infested with scorpions,while cleaning out the scorpions they found a piece of buddha so they built a temple.this is the northern most point in thailand,there is a marker point but we didnt go there it was to busy and wet.

next up the golden triangle where thailand burma and laos meet.it was the centre point in the opium trade for the world,even houses a museum dedicated to the history of opium in the area.theres also a giant budha i think that is about 50 feet high or more and huge elephant statues.

chaing saen is the next stop its a temple that is the third oldest in thailand,feels like one is at an archialogical site with the remnants of old walls dotting the grounds.

last stop was a village of tribal people called the longnecks.girls are started at 5 years old and they keep adding more .the process is said to stretch the neck,but it actually pushes down on the collar bone and ribs giving the appearence of the long neck.

walked through the saturday market,tried lots of different foodthis market must have been a mile long.

will catch the bus at 6am to the border crossing for laos.

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Photos

the northern most point of thailand
in the back round is Myanmar border crossing.
the red building is myanmar the blue is thailand

sean top of elephants
at the golden triangle

Comments

[Hélene Cardinal]

Hi from Magog!
Bonjour Josée and Sean locking at your pictures avec notre cousine Manon et toute la gang, nous sommes tous émerveillés par vos supers belles photos...je traduit ce tu écris à Manon! Nous sommes tous contents que vous faites un beau voyage...Nous pensons à vous deux, au plaisir de vous lire demain... Je t'aime ma soeur xoxoxo Take care Sean xox

[JoseeandSean]

MERCI HELENE ET MANON
NOUS AIMONS RECEVOIR DES COMMENTAIRE, DIT BOUJOUR A TOUS LE MONDE, J'ESPERE QUE ROXANNE ET EMELIE LIS NOTRE BLOG.

[Amélie]

Ouff ! Quel Voyage :)
Salut Josée, On regarde les photos avec maman et c'est très cool ! Continue a updater ton blog, et fait attention au Éléphant hahaha ! bisoux xoxox