Kate, registered in my phone as Kate Hue, recommended booking a train to Bangkok from Chiang Rai, for comfort reasons and also because they get booked quickly. I was not too much about trains, especially because the bus stations were so much closer to me. And, well, trains get booked quickly, right? So, buses should be fine.
Ha-ha. NO.
I only managed to book one remaining bus, and at the most disgusting time possible – 1:00 pm, which means I would be arriving to Bangkok around 2:00 am.
Holy-moly guacamole, what a terrible inconvenience!
On a bright note, Thai buses are a level higher than in Vietnam. Some buses in Vietnam are fine, although on a rare occasion it seems like they used to transport livestock, and then the owner decided human trafficking would be slightly more profitable.
Thai buses have a nice air conditioning, they are clean, staff are nice, and they give you cookies.
Not like it is going to compensate for the 2:00 am arrival, but better than it could be.
That being said, I only had one day in Chiang Rai, but since my college semester just ended and the new one has not started yet, I am free to travel as I wish.
For some reason I decided that renting a bicycle to go around the city looking at temples would be a great idea.
Ha-ha. Also NO.
Initially I was looking for a bike, Honda Alpha preferably. However, all the local shops could only offer scooters, and cool girls do not ride scooters. My sunburnt brain analyzed all data and algorithms, and came up with the decision that cycling is still cooler than riding a scooter.
Oh, I was tired. Although it was not for the tiredness even – it was for the hotness. It was super hot, no wind, and 5 minutes in the sun made you sweat so much one could think you were just in the pool.
I regret so much not bringing my Insta 360 to the White Temple. It was the most amazing and biggest of them all, but also very dark (metaphorically speaking). The entrance was aligned with skulls and grey hands drowning in water (?). White, the color of innocence, seemed very sinister at the temple. The overall beautiful weather around and the sun shining on the blue sky only emphasized how sinister the temple was; the skulls and suffering-related episodes around made me deeply uncomfortable. I am yet to research the story behind it, but it legit looked like the place of death.
To add on, they also created an even more sinister cave with haunting music, which depicted horror stories from the underwater world. Terrifying stone-engraved creatures, skulls, daggers, fish, etc.
Don’t worry my humpty-dumpties – I did not record a 360 video for this Temple, but I did for Blue and Red Temples (here & here) (they were much less posh, however.
As it turned after I left the White Temple – I lost the key to lock my bicycle. Maybe its good that I did not rent a scooter – rising it without a key would be much more difficult than the bicycle, haha. I had to return to the shop where I paid 50 baht for the copy and took another lock in the meantime.
The Red Temple and Blue Temple where less adventurous. The Red Temple had a demon statue on the hill of skulls (surprise), while the Blue Temple was less sinister, but much more grotesque with statues of elephants with fish tails, Poseidon-like statues with wings, etc, etc.
I think I took 3 showers that day, my feet were walked off to my ankles, and I tried the most delicious beef tom yum from the local restaurant.
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