White Temple of Chiang Rai - Photo of the Week

I haven't done a Photo of the Week in about a month or so.  My apologies if you're one who enjoys those blogs!  As my blog has now surpassed the 1,000 view mark, I thought I would celebrate by getting back on the Photo of the Week bandwagon.

This week's photo is of the white temple in Chiang Rai.  Chiang Rai is about 3 hours north of Chiang Mai on the way to the Myanmar border town of Mae Sai.  I've heard CR is like a smaller version of CM, but I haven't spent any time there other than the half hour we spent to see this white temple on our visa run to Mae Sai.



Photo of the Week - the White Temple of Chiang Rai

The white temple is a popular tourist stop when "bordering-it" to Mae Sai.  The temple is fairly new, built by a Christian (I think) and is full of both Christian and Buddhist influences.  From a distance, it reminds me of a winter wonderland in the middle of the tropics!  Up close, however, you can definitely see the Christian influence with weird zombie-type heads and a pit of hands reaching out of the ground from hell.  Very strange.



This tree is full of these zombie head things.  Not really sure why!

Christian influence - hands reaching up from hell.
Apparently at night there is a red light that glows from below.

The temple itself is really beautiful and quite peaceful with a pond full of fish swimming in the crystal clear moat.  There is a sign posting that says no foreigners are aloud in without a Thai tour guide as there have been many disrespectful visitors to the temple.  They also *kindly* (insert sarcasm here) remind you that foot traffic through the temple is ONE way - no turning back - and not to touch anything ("Lady in the red shirt - DON'T TOUCH!!")



Beautiful!  See the fish?

Buddhist influence

All in all, the temple is beautiful and worth a look-see if you're in Chiang Rai or passing through, but not really worth the trip on its own.

Thanks for reading and Happy Trails!