The flight to Chiang Mai was remarkably stress free, and we even had time for
some authentic Thai cuisine at the airport (Burger King).
.
The pollution in Chiang Mai was off the charts and depending on which you
website you looked at, the most polluted city in the world at that point. You
should be able to see Chiang Mai in the picture below but it's impossible due
to the pollution (admittedly, this isn't the most noteworthy thing in this
horror of a picture).
In the evening, just time to visit the night-market in a fruitless search to find some "tiger troosers" (plenty of elephant ones available) and the obligatory ladyboy show.
Next morning, I had to find a hospital to clean my stitches. I took a taxi there, and for some unknown reason, had to have my weight, blood pressure, and pulse checked before they would even consider cleaning the wound. Still, it was done with a minimum of fuss (and expense), and we were soon on the road for our next leg, stopping first at a convenience store with quite the unique name/branding ...
.. as well as the absolutely bat-shit craziest Buddhist temple I've ever seen. Built back in the 1990s, Wat Rong Khun, or the White Temple, is filled with lots of bizarre statues and imagery, and I've absolutely no idea what any of it means. I've since learned that like the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, it's still a work in progress, and not set to be completed until long after its creator's death.
Then it was off to the border town of Chiang Khong. We were specifically told
by the tour organisers "There is nothing to see here". That proved to be
nonsense, as our hotel's ceiling had a lounge of lizards (who knew that was
the collective term) trying to catch flies ...
The hotel in Chiang Mai was lovely (i.e. it had air conditioning). Sadly the
swimming pool was out of action for the next few days while my head healed. We
visited a couple of very pleasant temples up in the hills (one of which I've
forgotten the name of).
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| A nice temple |
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| Doi Suthep temple, Just the 309 step climb in 38c heat. |
They also had some lassies in traditional Thai costumes dancing around. I've
no idea what it all meant, but it was enjoyable to watch nonetheless.
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| Might as well condense all the silliness into one ridiculous photo. |
In the evening, just time to visit the night-market in a fruitless search to find some "tiger troosers" (plenty of elephant ones available) and the obligatory ladyboy show.
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| Rihanna's career has gone downhill somewhat |
Next morning, I had to find a hospital to clean my stitches. I took a taxi there, and for some unknown reason, had to have my weight, blood pressure, and pulse checked before they would even consider cleaning the wound. Still, it was done with a minimum of fuss (and expense), and we were soon on the road for our next leg, stopping first at a convenience store with quite the unique name/branding ...
|
| Nope. Me neither. |
.. as well as the absolutely bat-shit craziest Buddhist temple I've ever seen. Built back in the 1990s, Wat Rong Khun, or the White Temple, is filled with lots of bizarre statues and imagery, and I've absolutely no idea what any of it means. I've since learned that like the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, it's still a work in progress, and not set to be completed until long after its creator's death.
|
|
The White Temple |
|
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| One of the weirdest things in this pantheon of weirdness (the thing on the left) |
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| Helppppppppppp |
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They even have funky traffic cones outside it |
And then the cops "raided" the karaoke restaurant/bar we went to in the
evening. I've still no idea why but they were actually pretty
friendly.
|
| Our singing wasn't that bad surely? |
Next up, the most thrilling type of border crossing, a land border
crossing to Laos!
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