In doing a little research before traveling to Chiang Mai, it is inevitable that you’ll come across photos of the most ornate white temple called, Wat Rong Khun, located in the neighboring town of Chiang Rai. In all of the photos, a long white bridge crosses over a little pond leading to a beautifully built temple that looks as if it was dropped straight down from Heaven just to sit in a perfect blue sky backdrop. Those pictures were enough to convince my friend and I to book a tour, wake up early, and take the three hour drive further up north to see this site for ourselves.
Before we even arrived in Chiang Rai, the day was off to an interesting start. About half way through our drive, we pulled into a local rest stop that we were told was famous for its hot springs, interesting. When we got out of the tour van we were immediately greeted by an older Thai women trying to sell us little baskets of quail eggs. When we politely said no, she offered us a small basket which contained just two larger eggs, potentially from a chicken. Again, no, but thank you very much. It turns out that one of the draws to this rest stop is that you can purchase these eggs and actually cook them in the hot spring to have a hard boiled egg as a snack. Again, interesting.
We took in some of the flavor of this local rest stop and then were quickly back on our way to see the White Temple. Now, I’d assumed that like most of the temples I had visited in my two years living in Asia, this one must have been built long ago and would have been restored over the years. I was wrong, it was actually built within the past two decades, starting in 1997 and is still considered to be a work in progress. It was also built by an artist, which may partly explain why it is entirely different from any other temple I’ve visited.
So when you pass through the entrance into the temple you’re greeted by the beautiful white mirrored building, but as you make your way towards the bridge to go into the temple you see that rather than water, the bridge actually stands over a sea of white hands reaching up from under the ground. Our tour guide told us that this represents Hell, Wikipedia told me that the hands represent, ‘unrestrained desire”. Either way, crossing over the bridge is supposed to be your way towards finding true happiness.
When we entered the temple, it was beautiful. The walls were decorated with warm images of flowers, temples, and a large smiling Buddha, however in turning around we were in for a shock. On the back wall of the temple is a huge mural of a demonic spirit which is anything other than peaceful and definitely unexpected in a Buddhist temple. Upon taking a closer look the mural grew more and more surprising. Unfortunately photos of the interior of the temple were not allowed, but a quick google search will show some of the images
Inside the larger painting of the demon were smaller paintings illustrating explosions, natural disasters, dependence on technology, clocks, guns, and Kung Fu Panda. It was a mix of devastation and every superhero one could think of. I asked the tour guide what this was all symbolism for. He said it represented how human beings are in a pattern of destroying everything we have, but in real life, we don’t have superheroes to come and save the world for us. Then on the opposite side of the temple you see a very peaceful Buddha, which is to symbolize that his teachings are the way into a more beautiful world.
I’ll be honest, it was a heavier temple tour than I’d been ready for. That said, it was such an incredible experience and fell into the category of eye opening moments as to how the U.S. really affects the rest of the world, seeing as many of the events represented in the painting were of U.S. history, including an image of a former sitting president. So much of our influence is painted on the walls of that temple.
As we walked out of the place of worship we found a large gold building that too looked like a temple. Our tour guide told us that it was in fact the bathroom. Another use of symbolism. The artist wanted to use the restrooms to symbolize people, making the statement that sometimes the most beautiful person can have the personality of a toilet.
It was quite a day in Chiang Rai, and probably made the top five for unexpected experiences while traveling.
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#bbmtravelsthailand
When our days in 
Waking up early, we were excited for what the day would hold. Our tour guide from 
As we were walking back to the pavilion to start packing up for the day, one of the baby elephants decided she wanted to follow us and see what the humans were up to. She managed to sneak her way into the pavilion putting on quite a show for us onlookers. Eventually her caretakers were able to coax her out with a little bribery of fresh fruit.
On our last day in Thailand we wanted to check out a market. After doing some research we found one that was supposed to be relatively obscure so we could get more of an authentic feel for the city. We packed our day bags and made our way to the bus depot to try to catch a shuttle to the Amphawa floating market.
I have to say my favorite part of the day was this cruise. Not because of the sunset or the fireflies, but because the boat took us down a part of the water that backed up to people’s homes. It was beyond fascinating to see what local people were doing in this tiny little Thai town on a Saturday night. We saw families having dinner outside, a man working on his river boat, people watching tv, women cleaning, men sitting on their docks with a beer. It was so interesting, and I’ll admit a bit creepy, to have a glimpse in on what these people who live here were doing, and to see the similarities and also stark differences to life in the U.S.
We ended our night with one last run to the “food aisle” of the market to grab some snacks for the hotel and then made our way to catch the last bus and head back Bangkok. I love a market, and with our flight leaving early the next morning, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience to close out our incredible trip.
We closed out the evening with one last cocktail on a beachside bar, a crape from a charming little street lady, and a scooter taxi back to the hotel.
Day four in Thailand was mostly a travel day with the morning spent in Ao Nang and a long ferry ride over to Ko Phi Phi. We made it to the island for sunset, a bit of beach time, a late dinner and some island exploring. Getting off of the ferry, Ko Phi Phi was already very different than the main land of Krabi had been. It felt more touristy, yet still like we were in a different world. There are no cars on the island, and it’s made up of twisty and turny brick roads filled with people, shops, and carts. It took nearly our entire stay there just to feel like we knew our way around. While it didn’t feel quite as authentic as our stay in Ao Nang had, it was a cute island none the less and certainly had its own highlights. Small yellow flag garlands welcomed us above all of the main streets, the beaches were out of this world, and the tree house bars were really exciting.
Our flight left on Christmas day, which luckily made being away from home for the holidays a little easier. We woke up on the 26th ready to explore Bangkok and see everything.
was packing my bags to the brim and not allowing enough room for extra souvenirs, though I have every intention of going back to that market at some point in the near future.
We enjoyed a smorgasbord lunch at some of food stalls, before wandering our way out of the market. Then it was back to our hotel where we grabbed our bags before heading to the airport and continuing the trip in 
bbm travels 