Taking advantage of the morning lull in the rain we went to visit the White Temple (Wat Rong Kuhn) a few kilometers south of Chiang Rai. This temple started a few hundred years back as a small structure by the banks of a muddy river, and collapsed a couple of times, only to be rebuilt in slightly higher ground. In its last reincarnation it occupied a couple of acres of land, and in the late 1990's attracted the attention of artist and entrepreneur Calrmchai Kositpipat, who bought twenty acres of land around the temple and then reconstructed it, at his own expense, as a piece of modern art. I am not sure how Buddhist temples are managed, but I believe it was important that it was a pre-existing temple, with an abbot, to assure the new temple would have religious "credentials". Carlmchai must have been like a Thai Walt Disney, full of ideas and energy to develop, and is represented in photos throughout the complex directing operations with his ever-present red walkie-talkie.
The end result is a gleaming art of modernism that shines gloriously in its whiteness, assisted by many mirrors and dangling medallions of shining aluminum. It would be the antithesis of Faby's "Baseball Moms Against White Uniforms" because every ornate sculpture gleams in spite of the diesel fumes and dust that plagues every public monument.
The complex includes a school and atelier for plastic artists, who have designed and executed a sophisticated rendition of hell, with many hands reaching out for the light, and a bridge to enlightenment protected by fierce angels (or demons?) armed with flaming swords. The temple itself has many futuristic renditions of space capsules rising toward the light, but of course has the central figure of Buddha as its focus. The artist even constructed a tower for hosting the relics of Buddha, although it still remains tightly closed because no one has placed any relics under its care. Definitely a worthwhile visit.
Afterward we headed north, with the intention of visiting the Golden Triangle region, where the three countries of Thailand, Burma (Myanmar), and Laos meet. It is a lovely country crossed by many rivers, so for a good while we followed a levee road that reminded me very much of the levees of the Sacramento River, crossed beautiful rice fields, and rolled over hills covered with fruit trees and a new crop of coffee plantations. Unfortunately the pesky rain kept following us, which took something away from the pretty ride.
All the way to the late 20th century this region had been a major producer of opium or black gold (hence the name Golden Triangle), from which morphine and heroine are distilled. At least in Thailand that source of income has been replaced by a growing coffee industry, but the hills still get covered by dense fields of poppies so some drug production is probably still happening. The border town Golden Triangle is located where the Mekong River forms the boundary between Thailand on the west and Myanmar and Laos on the east (funny accident of geography because Myanmar is to the northwest, Laos to the northeast, and Thailand to the south). The Mekong is a mighty river that starts in the Himalayas and then flows along the east side of the Southeast Asian peninsula to end entering the sea in southern Vietnam. Here in the Golden Triangle it is wide, very swift, and the home to the 200 kg Giant Catfish, which can reach lengths of 2 m.
At the Golden Triangle we also visited the Opium Museum, which in a very entertaining manner describes the natural history of the opium poppy, the details on how the opium gum is scraped from the fruit, and the murky history of its processing and trade over the centuries.
Back on the road we went back to Chiang Rai, always under a light rain, where we got in time to drink a beer before going out to wander through the Waking Street and its many fascinating vendors, and to the Food Bazaar, where we had a dinner of Hot Pot. Basically, a brazier with a boiling clay plot of broth is brought to the table, together with a tray of veggies (cabbage, mushrooms, basil, and noodles) and a tray of assorted meats (pork, chicken, shrimp, calamari, fish, beef), and you add whatever you want to the hot broth to cook your own hot stew. It was very delicious and I will have to try to recreate it at home with my Donabe pot.
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