Monday, to Chiang Rai...

I'd heard that the trip to Chiang Rai was lovely, and I tried to book an overnight trip, but because I was on my own, it was just going to be too expensive. So finally I booked a one-day tour to Chiang Rai, going to the Golden Triangle, Laos and the Burma border.

A van came and picked me up and I joined a group of 7 others, with a guide named Oud. He was very sweet, but not very talkative, and soon after getting in the van, I was feeling a bit like a hostage. The first stop at a hot springs was an hour and a half away.

Then we went to the most bizarre wat I've seen on this trip - and I've seen a lotta wats!

This one is still being built and it's designed by a famous Thai artist, who's making a bunch of statements with this temple... although I'm not sure I got some of his points.

One of the most eerie things about it is the moat that surrounds it, which you cross over to get into the wat.

The moat is filled with hands reaching up from below, representing death. We are in life and are meant to help them get to heaven or the next life - or whatever (that was the part I wasn't sure of). Some of the hands were holding bowls to collect donations.


The paintings inside were equally bizarre, showing the attack on the twin towers and ... Spiderman (honest!). I wasn't allowed to take pictures inside so you'll just have to take my word for it.

And one of the other features, which I didn't get a chance to investigate was the "golden toilet." Unfortunately, we had to get back on the bus for another hourlong ride to the Mekong River.



The ride along the river was nice, and then we ended up in Laos which was kind of sad. Just another market, with tired dusty stuff and kids who were being encouraged by their parents to ask for money.



Then back in the bus, a quick stop for lunch, back in the bus until we got to the border with Burma, where one of our party wanted to cross the border, leaving Thailand, getting his visa stamped in Burma, and re-entering Thailand which would allow him to stay in Thailand for three more months.

The rest of us got to check out ... the market.

We made a stop for lunch and a couple of other stops, and then the guide told us that we were heading back to Chiang Mai - which would take about four and a half hours! The full day tour tok about 13 hours and about 8 of them were spent sitting in the van watching the scenery whiz by.

I was one unhappy camper - it seemed like a waste of a day. As I peered out the window watching the sun go down, I thought, "I could've spent this day putting in a whole lot of windows in those houses."

The next day had to be better...