"No, no, no! Miss, why did you take off your dress?!" :O (Day 67 of the world trip)

10.11.2019

Once I was able to "convince" him, but now I, Ann Katrin, am reporting again^^

The night in our accommodation was good but felt really short. We went to bed at around half past twelve, but we still had to get up early this morning because breakfast is offered here from 7:00 to 9:00 am :D :D

It is a small table on the terrace where we (at 8:50 am^^) found ½ pack of toast, two bowls with different jams, a can of butter-like spread, and four bananas. So, the selection is...limited :p But since breakfast is included and maybe it was because we were running late, it was absolutely fine for us :) I then had banana-chocolate cream toast without the chocolate cream ;-)

While we were having breakfast, a French woman (60+) came and tried unsuccessfully to use the toaster. Jonas had already tried before but unfortunately, it did not work :( Strangely enough, according to her own statement, the French woman had used the toaster yesterday but okay^^

After the mini breakfast (which actually made me even hungrier than I was before :p), we packed our small backpacks and went to the bus station. The goal for today was to visit the "White Temple". It is about 20km outside of Chiang Rai, so walking there was unfortunately not an option :/ Of course, you can join one of the countless tours here or take a tuk-tuk, but we read on the Internet that it is also very easy to take the local bus. "Local bus" not only sounded cheap but also logistically interesting, so off we went :)

When we arrived at the bus station, we looked around for the destinations. According to the Internet, we should take a bus "Southbound", in other words, any bus that goes south. While we were looking around, a bus suddenly arrived that we easily could have sent to India based on its appearance^^ "White Temple" was printed on the front, side, and back, so it was pretty clear that this would be our bus of choice^^

We got on (together with a handful of other tourists) and had to wait for about half an hour until all the seats and the aisle were full before we set off ;-) After maybe 20 minutes, the bus stopped at a big intersection. When we saw other tourists getting off, we understood that this was the stop for the White Temple :D

It's funny because you see a lot of trucks and SUVs on the streets here. Together with the double yellow lines in the middle of the road, the image is totally reminiscent of the USA! :D When we got off, we had to cross this huge intersection, but thankfully there were temple staff there who acted as guides to help you cross the road (also like in the USA?^^). Apparently, there was also a bike race today, and the riders had to turn right there. Due to driving on the left side of the road, turning right always means driving into oncoming traffic, so our path was cleared anyway. Not bad! :D

At first glance at the temple, it was clear where it got its name from :p Jonas even had to put on his sunglasses because the color was so dazzling :D Because there is not much to do in Chiang Rai and because the White Temple is THE main attraction, it was naturally crowded. But we already knew that beforehand and well, we are tourists too ;-)

What sets the temple apart - apart from its color - is that the architect did not use the classic architectural style but also incorporated some "creepy characters". In addition, heads of film characters hang from the trees, e.g. Spiderman, the Hulk, or an Avatar figure. So, everything is very modern, and most people go there to see these special sculptures and details, not out of interest in the religion ;-)

Nevertheless, the typical dress code applies (no shorts or sleeveless shirts, for example). Right in front of me, there was an Asian woman with a knee-length pleated skirt. She was scrutinized and then it was decided that she could not enter like that, but had to tie a cloth around her waist^^ It is actually impressive that they stick to their rules so strictly, because the crowd of people pushing towards the entrance was huge! It is remarkably consistent that they do not turn a blind eye to keep the flow of people going :D

To enter the temple, you have to walk across a small bridge, and there are a few temple staff members who constantly shout, "don't stop! Keep walking, please", because everyone stops for selfies and causes a traffic jam. Jonas and I pushed our way across the bridge separately but then looked up when suddenly two of the guards started panicking and shouting, "Miss, why did you take off your dress?" or "No, no, no!!!!!" :D :D

We looked around and saw a European woman below taking off her long, wide trousers. She was wearing denim shorts underneath, but those are not allowed in the temple grounds. We don't know what possessed her to ignore the dress code in the middle of the temple, but she definitely attracted a lot of attention. "You need to get back dressed!" :D :D It almost sounded like she was walking around in her underwear^^ Jonas and I found it quite amusing how panicked the guards were. And well, it was really not clever of the European woman :p

In total, we spent maybe an hour or an hour and a half in the temple area. The buildings are visually very impressive!! But in general, temples do not attract us as much anymore. You don't visit every church when you travel somewhere ;-)

Oh, by the way, a fun fact - the architect did not want the temple to appear too fancy and thought that gold is something "impure". That is why, of all things, the toilet buildings are all golden :D

For the journey back to Chiang Rai, we went to the main road where according to Maps.me, there is a "bus stop" marked. It is more or less opposite the place where we were dropped off, and there was a small wooden pavilion, so we were sure we were in the right place. A few minutes later, another (Australian? / American?) middle-aged couple arrived and asked if we were also waiting for the bus. Yep. Together, we waited there for a bit, and just as the third couple arrived, a shared taxi stopped next to us. We were actually supposed to wait for the bus, but the price was the same as for the bus (maybe because there were so many of us?^^), so we happily got in :)

Back in Chiang Rai, we had a hot lunch at one of the street food stalls and once again, we undersold ourselves :p Two dishes together cost 70 Baht. Wow! That's about 2€ and the portions were big enough and, above all, tasty and even nicely presented. We can definitely enjoy it here ;)

After a short stop at the hostel (we were wearing long pants because of the temple visit, but with 30°C, shorts are more comfortable outside :p), we planned to visit the King's Monument (just a statue of the king) and then go to the river. For a little energy boost, we bought ice cream at 7-Eleven beforehand. Jonas quickly decided on one, but I searched in vain for an Olaf or a panda <3 But both were sold out, and when Jonas remarked that his ice cream was melting soon, jokingly putting me under pressure, I simply took a butterfly ice cream :D

Unfortunately, this turned out to be a mistake, just like my choice of sweet toast at the market yesterday -.- The ice cream was super sweet, tasted a bit like a Bum-Bum ice cream, and was simply not tasty :( I offered Jonas the ice cream after he had finished his. He took it, but it didn't convince him either. Since the ice cream here is so cheap (30 cents) and since I was a little sad that I couldn't enjoy it, we went to the next 7-Eleven, and I got to buy a new one :D They had the Olaf ice cream there, which I already had on the bike tour, and it was very, very delicious <3 Jonas argued that he should also have a second ice cream, and I "allowed" him as well :D

Energized with enough ice cream, our tour started. As a challenge, Jonas let ME navigate, and I used the paper map that we received from our hostel, where someone had handwritten the streets and sights. Initially, Jonas was a bit skeptical and did not completely trust my map reading skills, but when we arrived at the King's Monument, we were both satisfied :D

The monument was rather unspectacular, so we continued towards the river. Here, it has a slightly modified name, but it merges into the well-known Mekong River :) Equipped with the paper map, I led us somewhat uncertain but successfully to the immediate vicinity of the river. It wasn't until the area looked a bit strange that Jonas finally took out his phone and checked Maps.me to see if we were really where we thought we were^^

Tada! We then took a small road/path towards the river, past a huge, fancy-looking building with a water playground and its own temple on the premises :O We couldn't tell if it was a hotel or an apartment building for the wealthy, but it was definitely eye-catching in the otherwise rather undeveloped area^^ Well, the residents would definitely have their peace there ;-)

At some point, we came to a small island that we could walk up to and actually got a glimpse of the Mekong River. Not bad! There were only footpaths and lots of weeds that no one seemed to be cutting, so it was still quite untouched. Cool! ;-) Along the way, there were huge signs showing a kind of development plan, so maybe it won't stay "wild" there for much longer...

A bit further along the path is the "beach", but since I needed to use the bathroom and Jonas only had flip-flops on, which caused his feet to hurt, we turned around and went back to the hostel. In total, we were out for about 3 hours, and I'm amazed that Jonas managed to endure wearing flip-flops for so long :D :D Exploring the city like this was really fun, especially because we were practically undisturbed^^

Most tourists only stop here in Chiang Rai on their way to Laos or they do all the tours (besides the White Temple, there are a few other buildings, and you can also visit national parks with guided tours). I believe only a few people actually explore the city itself. And okay, it's not particularly big or really anything special, but that's exactly what made its charm a bit unique. I'm definitely glad we did it this way :)

We're going out for dinner again soon and then maybe go to bed a little earlier than the last few days so that we can check out breakfast at 7:00 am :p

Tomorrow will probably be a lazy day where we plan the next leg of the journey, which is currently scheduled for the day after tomorrow, but nothing is set in stone yet ;-)