LittleSandyBeach

Tasha’s birthday came with lots of rain, a power cut in half the town which included the restaurant and wine bar that we had planned to go to. Luckily, all things happen for a reason and we discovered a very nice restaurant where we could still have some amazing food. It also came with the best garden we have ever seen.

Our last day in Pai we tried the viral Vietnamese sandwich shop. These two fried chicken sandwiches only cost £4. They were massive!

Our journey from Pai to Chiang Rai took 6.5 hours and was another speedy experience whilst the driver watched YouTube videos at the wheel. Skillful!

Much to our surprise, the bus driver pulled up at another service station for his lunch break where we could explore the famous Wat Rong Khun. This white temple was built by a master artist called Chalermchai Kositpipat and opened in 1997. It will eventually have nine separate buildings and is predicted to be finished in 2070, by which time we will be 73 so maybe see you then!

Our new hotel called Baan Baramee House is lovely and comes with a list of cats that you can find around the place. At £5.90 a night, it far surpasses our expectations! Aircon, fan, hair dryer, free shampoo, shower gel and two choices of pillows! What more do you need!

Today, we went to Rong Suea Ten Temple which is known for its striking modern artistic design. It was completed in 2016 on the grounds of an old abandoned temple.

We also visited the Chiang Rai Contemporary Art Museum that was free. Which is music to the ears of a budget traveller! It had lots of interesting modern art inside and lots of sculptures in the surrounding ground.

This afternoon we visited the Wat Huay Pla Kang temple complex which includes a 90 metre statue of Guanyin. With it being 2 metres off the tallest statue in Thailand it was very impressive. We paid 80 baht (91p each) to take the elevator up 26 floors which takes you into the ‘head’ of the statue. Legs were wobbling!

Tonight we ate at the Chiang Rai Night Bazaar and experimented with a Thai BBQ. Interesting experience and very hot but for a total of 200 baht (£4.55) we were stuffed and luckily didn’t burn anything.

One week left in Thailand, it has already been 7 weeks today here. One more week of exploring before we get on the Mekong River to Laos!