Saturday, September 23, 2017 – Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai

Oh my! It’s early!  We’re all packed and go down to breakfast by about six.  The dining room is almost empty.  The four French groups must be leaving a little later than we are.  We are joined by the Iranian couple, and we finally have a chance to get to know them.  They have lived in Australia for twenty-two years and left Iran because of religious persecution;  they are Bah Hai.  The husband could not be promoted at work and their children were not allowed to enter the university.

Our tour group is so very diverse!  There are three-generations of Cambodian, daughter, mother and grandmother who is eight-eight!  They live in Canada, now.  One couple is from the Philippines, although she is originally from Singapore.  There are a few Americans and more Canadians, and, of course, our Iranians.

Part way through breakfast I notice something fall into my lap.  It’s a lens from my glasses!  I go upstairs to find my repair kit and do that successfully but I can’t fit that tiny little screw into that itty bitty hole without my glasses!!  I brought a pair of reading glasses, just in case, and I’m very glad I did!

We are all such good travelers!  We are at the bus promptly at seven thirty or before.  Ginger and I brought our bags down and we get to ride down the hill on the golf cart that is taking them the rest of the way to the bus!!  Wheeeee!

As we’re driving we pass a park which contains a statue of King Number Nine and lots of places to make offerings.  It has lots of people and Rio explains that when people as for something and it comes about, they return and make a thank-you offering.

  

Our first stop is the White Temple.  This is a contemporary structure that was built completely from cement and mirrors by a famous artist, using only his own money.  There are many outbuildings and shrines, including the Golden Toilet!   Adjacent is a golden Hindu shrine.  There used to be many Hindus in Thailand;  but Buddhism is now the primary religion. 

The people’s love of King Number Nine is demonstrated by his inclusion in the main chapel, with the statues of the Buddha.  There is a long, long painting that depicts the king’s life, painted by many of the country’s most famous artists. There is a painting of the devil’s face high up on one wall.  If you look closely, and someone has pointed it out, you can see Osama Bin Laden in one eye and George Bush in the other.

Crossing the bridge between Hell and Heaven.

The foreground represents Hell.

Back on the bus and we are heading to Chiang Mai.  It’s about a three-hour ride, so we’ll break it us with a rest top.  Just before we get underway, Rio says he has some items that were left in the hotel and no one knows which bus they belong on.  The first thing he pulls out is a black bra and we all giggle.  Then the mother of the mother-daughter team comes forward to claim it!  And the rest of the thing in there are hers, too!  There’s a short discussion about who was responsible for final checking!!

Rest stop!  It’s a good-sized convenience store with lots of munchy foodies.  Apparently coated cashews are a thing here and samples are available!  This is fun!!  Rio reminds us that was supposed to be a toilet stop, why are we all shopping?!

  

On, now, to Chiang Mai, which means New City.  We stop for lunch at … and it’s another lavish buffet.  We even have a somewhat private room for Bus Nine.  The newest thing to me was the green milk, which is truly a lime green and somewhat sweet and delicious.  The dessert line is quite long but worth the wait for small pieces of various cakes, and ice cream.  I ask the young lady which is her favorite and when I choose that she grins!  Later I go back and tell her it was very tasty.

Rice paddy

Typical business building

Look at the darling valences in our bus!

There are hundreds of little factories in Chiang Mai for Thai handicrafts.  We stop at two of them, the largest jewelry store in the world, and a lacquer ware factory.  At the gem store we are shown a video extoling the virtues of their gems and explaining the mining process.  Then there is a brief tour where we can watch craftsmen at work, polishing the stones and creating the settings.  This is all preparatory for the giant showroom.  Most of the jewelry is 14- or 18-karat gold, although there is some sterling silver and white gold.  The gems are rubies, sapphires, emeralds, diamonds, and pearls.  There is a small area at the front for more affordable souvenirs. 

We ooh and aah and eventually Ginger finds a lovely, dainty little ring that touches her.  I find some little goodies that will make perfect gifts and after financing Ginger’s ring (we’re now engaged!) and paying for my discoveries, we head back to the bus.

From here we go to the lacquer ware factory where we learn about the process of making lacquer ware.  Lacquer is really the sap of the lac tree and it is gathered in a manner similar to maple sap for maple syrup.  It is black and is applied to teak wood.  Each layer is allowed to dry for a week before being sanded under water.  There are seven layers by the time a piece is finished. Different decorations can include eggshell, etching, and 24-karat gold leaf.  The showroom has lots of trays and boxes and figurines.  We escape empty handed!!

When we emerge from the factory, the parking lot is filled with tuc-tucs!  They can only hold two or three people and we all disperse to choose our vehicles.  The tuc-tuc ride is a hoot!  They are similar to a motorbike; but with a passenger compartment (see photos) and can weave in and out of small openings in the traffic.  Sometimes when they stop at a traffic light the driver turns off the engine.  I think he must know which lights are longer and make that worth while.  It also appears that they may be racing each other to keep life interesting!  We do pretty well in the tuc-tuc derby!

When we arrive at our Holiday Inn, Rio is there with our bus and our baggage has all been unloaded for us and arranged in a group in the lobby.  We find some seats and enjoy our welcome beverage of green milk and plan our late afternoon and evening.  Some people want to go the night market;  Chiang Mai’s is supposed to be much larger than Chiang Rai’s.  Others want to go to dinner and perhaps find a place for a drink and some music.  Rio goes from group to group, discussing options and facilitating plans. 

I have no idea how this happened;  but it did it every time I took this shot!  I think it must symbolize the great good fortune I had when I found the optical store!

My first priority is trying to get my glasses fixed It turns out that the screw in my repair kit won’t fit the hole in my frames and after two ladies with young eyes and tiny fingers give up, I get directions to an optical store that is just down the street!  We hurry up and take our bags upstairs and go off in search of the blue logo for the store, hoping that it won’t have closed already – and that I understood the directions!

Ginger is such a good friend!  She comes with me on the adenture and lo and behold, the store is exactly where we thought and, most importantly, it is still open!!  The young woman (the optician??) sees my problem immediately, offers us a seat, and within a few minutes returns with my eyes intact!!  When I ask how much I owe her, she suggests that I buy a bottle of spray cleaner and she proceeds to clean and polish my specs ‘til they gleam!  She also tries to get me to schedule an eye exam;  but that won’t work since I don’t live here!!

We take the five-minute walk back to the hotel and collapse in our room.  Right now going out again isn’t very appealing;  but we’ll see as the evening progresses. We both need to work on our blogs a while and just decompress.

By seven or so, getting dinner is more appealing and we discuss our options.  The most appealing is to take a tuc-tuc to the market and find something there to eat.  Rio had assured us that there were lots of good choices there.  It’s easy to find a tuc-tuc right outside the hotel and within ten minutes or less we arrive. 

This is, indeed, a much larger market and we wander a bit before settling on a dining spot.  It is close to the music and has lots of menu options.  We split an order of pad thai with chicken and another of  sir-fried prawn with broccoli and cashews.  But first we split a bottle of Chang beer, “a classic lager”, which is actually a full glass for each of us.  Everything is so flavorful!  And we’re doing great until, almost simulataneously, be both chew what looked like a green bean.  It’s the world’s hottest pepper!  Another bottle of beer, please!!  After five or ten minutes the pain goes away!!  The beer, the scrumptious food, and the soothing music from our youth, all combine to make life good.  

We do a little shopping, run into some of our new best friends from Bus Number Nine, and take another tuc-tuc home.  Ginger asks the driver how much and when he says 120 baht, we both say, “No” because we know better, and he comes back with the right answer, 100 baht.  The return trip is much quicker, or so it seems, and we’re safely tucked in our beds before we collapse!  Well, at least I am!  I can’t stay up one more night, and am asleep before Ginger even thinks about bed.

Another wonderful day!!  And tomorrow we have to be downstairs and ready to go by 7:30.