I wasn't planning on writing another blog entry so quickly but we have had such a wonderful time in Chiang Rai that it couldn't wait. After walking around yesterday, we ventured outside the city today, hiring a guide to take us to some nearby villages that we had wanted to check out. We were first delivered to the Mae Kok River where we took a one hour longtail boat ride up the river to Raummit where the locals run an elephant camp. Once there, our guide gave us an orientation on how the camp was run and then we rode on one of them out of the camp, down the river and around the small village. With a platform saddle on the elephant's back and a driver sitting bareback on his neck controlling him, it was a reasonably smooth ride other than the riverbank ascent and decent. We hand-fed our 5,000 kilogram elephant bananas at the end of the trip, only a small portion of his 200 kg daily diet. They are extremely large yet docile creatures......we gave him no reason to be angry with us just in case.
From there our guide drove us to the White Temple 20 km's south of town. A successful local artist wanted to give something back to his community so he funded the cost of the temple which has replaced the former dilapadated one. Being an artist, and in total control of the restoration since he was paying for it, he chose 'white' to depict paradise and with the use of mirror fragments it is a stunning sight. Some of the locals were skeptical at first but they have now all embraced his efforts which will continue for another 5-10 years adding on additional buildings. There remains no entrance fee, many jobs have been created for the locals and with the growing popularity of the site their property values, although meagre, are rising. It is a lovely story and a happy place to visit.
Our final stop was driving north of the city to Karen Village where several different hill tribes live in a small countryside area and speak different dialects. The most interesting tribe were the Long Neck Karen where the women, including young girls, wear brass rings around their necks and legs, adding additional neck rings over time. While it appears that the older ladies have very long necks it is really the weight of the brass rings gradually lowering their shoulder blades over time to give that impression. Another tribe was renowned for their giant earrings which rather than hang from the ear lobe are actually imbedded in them, giving the ear a nice look when inserted but a rather nasty appearance when they are removed (as one old lady demonstrated for us).
When we returned to Chiang Rai around dinnertime several locals recommended that we visit the Saturday Night Market where they close down a main street. It was lively with all kinds of items for sale but that was only a portion of the entertainment. Several stages were set up with live enertainment including a large set-up in an adjacent park where hundreds of adults were dancing continuously to folk songs while another thousand locals ate and drank and enjoyed the scene. At another park the younger crowd were hanging out and having fun skateboarding, doing backflips on the grass and dancing to only music they could hear. It was quite a sight and a great finish to our last evening in Chaing Rai.
Tomorrow, following Easter Sunday mass at the main (and perhaps only) Catholic Church in town, which should be interesting, we are catching a bus for the 3 hour ride south to Chiang Mai where we will spend several days.
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