Sam visited me in Thailand again! Weeeee!! Why I was that happy? Because me and Sam booked the tour from travel exhibition a few months before he came. The reason we chose to go to Chiang Rai is because 1.It was raining season around the time that Sam came to Thailand thus the south of Thailand was a big no no. 2.Sam would like to see more culture side and last reason the tour was cheap! 1,990 baht/person; 3 days 2 nights. This price included 1 day of private tour, a room and 2-day of breakfast. We took a night bus from Bangkok and then arrived at Chiang Rai in the next early morning. We were exhausted. Luckily, the tour started tomorrow so we had time to rest.
Next morning the tour began at 8 o'clock. Our itinerary for day 1 was Wat Rong Khun (White Temple) -> Singha Park -> Baan Dam -> Chui Fong Tea Plant -> Mae Sai -> Golden Triangle.
Look at the beauty of White Temple! Did you know that it just pass 10 years old? That's right! White temple built around 1998 and only really became popular in the mid-2000s when it started to take shape. Chalermchai Kositpipat was design this entire temple. The white colour signifies the purity of the Buddha while the glass symbolizes the Buddha’s wisdom and the Dhamma, the Buddhist teachings. I love the craft details. it's very neat and well done. Around the temple, you will see some hidden famous Hollywood characters; Batman, Hellboy, Gollum etc.
Move on to Singha Park. When I saw a giant "lion", I knew that I reached the place. There are so many activities you can do there like biking, sight seeing by tram or sitting on the greeny grass. We chose to do biking because we had limit time. Singha Park has over 3,000 acres with full of fruit orchards and tea plantations. The air up there was so clean and fresh, unlike Bangkok. I wish I could just pack the air in the bottle or something.
One hour was enough time for us to bike around the farm and I think it is actually the best way to explore. You get to see the scenery and workout! It was totally safe Kill two birds with one stone, basically. Not far from there, there is another attraction called Baan Dam or Black House. In Thai, ‘baan’ means home or house and ‘dam’ means black. The house created by Thai national artist "Thawan Duchanee" who loves to decorate his entire 15 houses by animal remains hence prepare yourself to see the entire elephant skeleton or snake skin table runner! So why he did that? It could be because those will make the place more spiritual and less sadistic.
We were lucky to see 2 shows there. The first one was Klong Sabud Chai, an old traditional Thai drum performs when the king or warrior got victory. The styles are very exciting and encouraging as parts of the body; such as elbows, knees and head, are implemented during the performance. My favourite one has to be the second show. I'm not sure what it called but it used many people and a few equipment. Their wore northern Thai outfit. For ladies, a top looks pretty much like a crop top and skirt called Sinh for bottom part. What about gentlemen? In the show, they were topless so.
One of Sam most favourite spot is Chui Fong Tea Plant. Literally, we travelled from Bangkok because of that and it worth every single moment. Chui Fong produces high quality tea for half a century. It grows several several distinctive types of tea such as Assum, Green, Oolong and Black Tea in the highlands at an altitude of around 1,200 meters above sea level and in a plantation area of over 1,000 rai. Apart from the tea plant view, the cafe on the mountain top was spot on. So many cakes and many choice of tea bags available. If you ain't sure what tea you'd like to purchase, Chui Fong provides a tiny tasting section which is amazing. We tried every tea. Sam end up bought Ruanzhi Oolong Tea which is very luscious.
July is still the raining season and it literally rain every day. It might be a problem for some tourists however for us, it was the challenge. We went to all places in the tour without gave up by the weather. After we were done with the tea plant, we headed to Mae Sai and then heavy rain started to fall down. This place will be perfect for shopaholic and food lover. So many cheap goods from Myanmar came across border to sell in Thailand. I bought a kilo of chestnut that cost 100 baht. You will pay around 250 baht or more at Chinatown, Bangkok. It was a pity I only got it one.
Ready for that last stop? Like I said earlier, it was Golden Triangle. This is the famous location where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet separated by the Mekong river. The area is full of beautiful natural scenery and ancient temples. The huge golden Buddha from above is Phra That Doi Pu Khao, located on the hill just before the Golden Triangle and believed to have been built by a king of Wiang Hirannakhon Ngoen Yang in mid-8th century.
We arrived to the accommodation at 5pm with wet clothes and shoes but we couldn't wish more for the fun we had have. This was just our first day in Chiang Rai and it started with these awesomenesses.
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