Chiang Rai for Songkran - Day One

I got back from my trip to the States on a Monday, and we had a family trip planned to start on Saturday.  At first glance, this seems insane, but there was an underlying logic.  Vivian's spring break was that following week, and Jeff had Monday through Wednesday off for Songkran, so it seemed like a waste to just stay at home.  Songkran is the Thai new year and the celebration lasts three days.  Part of the Songkran celebration involves pouring water over Buddha statues at temples as a cleansing ritual to earn merit.  Since it's celebrated during the hottest month of the year, the water part really caught on, and Songkran now means a water free for all.  You cannot walk down the street in downtown Bangkok without getting splashed, hosed, or sprayed at with a water gun.  Out in the burbs, Vivian and some of her friends armed themselves with water guns, and a very brave mom drove them around in her golf cart so that they could spray water at people and get sprayed at in return.

I knew I would be loopy from my trip, so I didn't want to go anywhere too far away for our vacation.  I also knew it would be hot, so we decided to go as far north as we could go while still being in Thailand.  Chiang Rai is up in the northwest of Thailand right near a spot called the Golden Triangle where Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar meet.  It takes a little over an hour to fly there, and the morning temperatures there were a good 20 degrees colder than the ones in Bangkok, so it was worth the airport hassle.  Young had never been to Chiang Rai before, and we thought it would make the vacation a lot more fun for me and Jeff if we had her to help with the girls, so we asked her to come with us.  She ended up enjoying herself and being a fantastic help, so we're planning our future vacations to include her as much as possible.

We got to Chiang Rai around 1:00pm, and we had arranged for a driver and guide to pick us up.  They took us directly to our first stop, the White Temple, officially known as Wat Rong Khun.  It's a new temple, still under construction, being built by a local artist as a merit making activity.  It was damaged a bit during a recent earthquake, but they're working to repair it and make additions.

The temple is simultaneously beautiful and weird.  First you have to walk through hell and all the suffering souls reaching up for help.

You walk by angels guarding the entrance and up the path of balance and harmony.

You're not allowed to take pictures inside the shrine, which is really too bad, because there's a fantastic mural all over the interior walls.  Buddha and enlightenment are in front of you when you enter.  On the wall behind you are lots of pop culture images.  Batman and Superman are there, so are Michael Jackson and the Millennium Falcon.  On the side walls are images of people flying on leaves.  They are all facing towards the Buddha and away from the pop culture.  It's not subtle, but the overall effect is pretty cool.

After visiting the shrine, we walked out one of the side gates

and over to a wishing well.

That, of course, was right up Vivi's alley.  Our final stop was at the "golden toilet."  The bathrooms are housed in a building that is almost as impressive as the temple, but in gold instead of white.

Elena had fallen asleep right before we got to the White Temple, so Young stayed in the van with her and the driver while Jeff, Vivi, and I got the tour.  Then we went back to get her, and I went with her and the guide for round two.

It's the kind of place you could stay at all day and keep noticing little things.  Some of them were weird,

but most of them were beautiful.

After two rounds of the White Temple, we were ready to go to our hotel.  We stayed at Le Meridien which is a chain I had never heard of before we moved to Thailand.  The first things we noticed in the open air lobby were the painted elephants.  Vivi thought they were awesome, 

and she proceeded to sit on every single one.  The hotel staff seemed okay with this, so we just let her go for it.  As we explored the hotel more, we found the painted elephants all over the place, with no two alike.  I think Vivi sat on every single one.

We had two large, connecting rooms.  There was one with a king bed for me and Jeff, and one with two double beds for Vivian and Young.  We put Elena in the room with me and Jeff, since I wanted to make sure that Vivi and Young didn't have their sleep interrupted.  The best part about the room was the balcony.  It was large and had a built in padded bench with big triangle cushions on either end for lounging.  You could look out over the pool and the grounds.

I spent most of our hotel time sitting on the balcony, enjoying the breeze, and doing my schoolwork.  Vivian and Jeff set up camp on the pool loungers closest to the room, and Young took Elena to the kids' club (which was really just a small room with some toys).  You can see top of the wooden gate to the club in the bottom right corner of the picture.  From the balcony, I could keep an eye on my family and wave and admire as required.  It was a perfect arrangement.

That night it was raining, so we scrapped our plans for taking the hotel shuttle into town for the open air night market.  Instead, Young and Vivian ordered room service, while Jeff and I made a run for the hotel's Italian restaurant on the other side of the pool.  It was worth getting a little wet though, since the food was good and the service was excellent.  We had the whole place to ourselves, and it made for a lovely date night.  We decided that our vacation was off to a great start, and we celebrated by ordering decadent desserts and watching the sun set on our first day in Chiang Rai.