Day 24: Chiang Rai, Hot, 33°🌞

The View From My Window!

Up early this morning. We have a bus ride scheduled to Chiang Rai! We are on the VIP Bus!! We had no choice because the regular buses were full. So for $16 each, which is $4 more than the standard bus, we get our own window single seat just like we had in Malaysia, with three seats per row (single, aisle, two seats).

Last night we dressed in our finest travel gear and tried to get into a French restaurant that AM had found online, but it was fully booked for Valentines. The young woman turned us away just about as nicely as we’ve ever been turned away from a restaurant. Very kindly.

AM is tiring of the Thai cuisine, and for someone who was never a fan I think she had done very well. I’m still enjoying the new flavours, but I’d like a change from time to time. We returned to our go to dinner restaurant and found a few things that were very good.

*Mushrooms either garlic and potato wedges.*

*AM had cashed Jeff stir fry with rice.*

T

*Our drinks. You can guess who had which drink.*🥳

While waiting for our bus we had a little look around as I’d seen an interesting gate.

Inside another temple backlit by the early morning light.

Then it was back to the station to catch our bus.

*This monk travels with very little. A simple plastic bag with some food. They do all seem to have a cell phone though!*

On our happy VIP bus! Came with water, chocolate chip cookies and is restroom equipped! I did say it was another early morning, right? We figure at least a week to catch up from this adventure when we return home😴

*A first. The driver sits on the other side of a door away from the passengers. Maybe this goes back to the drug transport days in the Golden Triangle*? *Thailand, Burma and Laos boarders all come together just north of here. In the late 1970-90’s that area was a dangerous place to be.*

There were enough sick travellers on board that we decide to put on face masks for the 3.5 hour trip. Didn’t want what they had.

I decided to try to take some photos to kill some time and also for the blog. Please keep in mind that there is a dark window covering to block the sun and the windows weren’t very clean.

*The rice was recently planted in the low areas.*

Of course that all ended as we left the flat land and began to climb into the hills and then the mountains.

The rural folks were as usual not as well off as those in the urban areas. There was also a considerable amount of rubbish lining the highway. Expected, but an unfortunate situation.

*Houses are often built on wood or cement legs in order to keep them above ground because of the monsoons and perhaps slithering creatures.*

And then we descended to the lower areas again. More populated and a somewhat better standard of living.

Sitting on the left side we were always looking north.

*Of course every village has one of these!*

Here is a taste of the temple complex we will be visiting in a couple of days. It’s supposed to be amazing!

*Apparently it takes 3-4 hours to see it.*

Almost in Chiang Rai, and then suddenly we arrive. We are close enough to walk to our very nice hotel. How did we manage such a good place and so close to everything?

*View from our third floor window. A decent place to stay! Chiang Rai looks like it has possibilities!*

There are lots of reasons we stopped in Chiang Rai and this will unfold over the next couple of days.

Having not really eaten very much since our early breakfast, we stopped at a small little pastry place at about 3 o’clock for a snack, because dinner will be a bit late tonight. That’s a hot cocoa in front of me and it was pretty good!

Now for a walk, and if there is time I’ll add a bit more before I post.

The Blue Temple

I wasn’t going to put this in today, but I think we will be too busy tomorrow to add this. I will explain more about this experience in two days. Enjoy!

After getting sorted out we decided to walk out to one of the two major temples that we specifically came here to see. We asked about the road conditions at the front desk and the reply was that, “no one walks here. Thai people don’t walk!” He was horrified. We walked anyway.🙄