Time is Going far Too Fast
This is our last day in Chiang Rai. We are planning to take things a little easy today. The sun is out and I see a pool in my future. I can’t say enough about how lovely this hotel is. We have enjoyed our time on our porch and happy hour in our room. Life is good.
Yesterday we visited a Cultural center called the Hill Tribe museum that really covered the history of the Opium trade and how the various tribes have dealt with the rise and fall of the industry. They had two very interesting videos, one really talking about the tribal differences, and the other about the protection of the fishing industry in the Mekong River. They were in English. We spent a lot of time with the guy who started this place and he told us about how he got started working with these hill tribes to protect their culture. They also had the best shopping we had seen so far and all the money went to the people he is working with. We bought some very lovely things and I won’t go into details since a lot of shopping was for Christmas gifts. This place was truly amazing and I would recommend it to everyone. Save your shopping dollars to spend here.
We went back to our hotel to relax a bit. The taxied to town is only about $2 so it is easy to just go back and forth. It is also pretty hot so it is nice to take breaks in the air conditioning.
In the afternoon we headed to a marvelous park called Rai Mae Fah Luang art and cultural park. The park was planted with the usual drop dead gorgeous bamboo, ferns, flowers, and of course ponds with cute bridges and water plantings. I am going to struggle with going home to November. I am really glad we will be putting up the Christmas tree soon to give me a big shot of color. Travel always makes me want to go home and lovely up my house just a little bit extra. I always feel like I want to bring some of what I learn into my every day life. Thailand influences how I eat and how I garden. I have to wait a little while for the garden part but I can dig right into the eating part and cook more like I am eating here. Food here is heavy on the fruit and vegetable side and very light on meet. This is exactly how I like to eat.
Any way, back to the temple. This temple was built in honor of the queen mother. She sure was loved by everyone. Thirty two families gave Teak from their own homes to be used in the temple. A very old Buda stands in the middle on a spectacular column. The ceiling is about 50 feet high and the entire place is made of Teak. The walls are covered with elaborately carved panels that have some colored glass and mirrors inset in them. There are places for hundreds of candles. I can only imagine how lovely this place must be when all the candles are lit. They do use it for special events. Of course, we are taking our shoes off to go into any of the temples or special places.
After a couple of drinks we decided to stay in the hotel for dinner. We ate in the Chinese restaurant. It was only so so but the company was amazing.