The first stop we made is actually a functional rest stop these days, though this is not your average rest stop. Cabbages and Condoms is like a small campus for sex education between Chiangmai and Chiangrai, Thailand. The short of it is that there were too many children being born in Thailand simply because the idea of using protection was a foreign one, and so were many other concepts around sex education. This little campus was set up and education is now spread throughout the realm, and the income from the rest stop subsidizes the education initiative (and possibly helps feed the peacocks on the premises). There are all kinds of funny souvenirs and signs inside, so we had some fun with that.. and we also grabbed a few snacks.
Speaking of snacks, now seems like a fine time to mention the interesting variety of snacks available in almost every store/stand Thailand and Laos. They must LOVE pringles, lays, oreos, and chips ahoy, plus as a few other things as well. If you like pretzels or granola bars and such, good luck finding them.. you'll find it much easier to locate seaweed flavored pringles, lobster flavored lays, or blueberry/orange ice cream flavored oreos. Another thing I noticed on this front is that much of these snacks are a year or two beyond the expiration date printed on the package.. but we all seem alright thus far, so maybe those dates are overrated anyhow. Some final notes about stores/stands and their inventory - if you lose your contact lens rewetting drops on tour day 4 of 14, you will absolutely not find another one for the rest of the trip - not happening. It has also been impossible to find a book of matches anywhere to this point, though I have seen some lighters around. Veird.
Our second stop was, by far, my favorite abbreviated stop of the trip. Wat Rong Khun, known to foreigners as The White Temple, is a modern marvel and work of art. Designed by well-known Thai artist Ajarn Chalermchai Kositpipat, this Temple broke ground in the late nineties and is far from finished - the artist has plans that are projected to take 80-90 more years before completion. One of the reasons this projection is so long is that Kositpipat refuses to take large donations from outside investors and other sources, as he wants to maintain total creative control over the project for as long as he's around.. which is quite admirable.
While there remains almost a century until the projected completion date of the White Temple, the structures that have already been built are simply majestic, words really can't do them justice, and pictures barely scratch the surface.
Kositpipat wanted to combine ancient Thai art style with contemporary art and forms, which had yet to be done on a large scale. This fusion of styles is evident all throughout the temple grounds, but in no place moreso than in the main temple. The oustide of this temple is majestic (there is no better word to describe it), but the inside is also downright impressive, intriguing, and thought-provoking. The only shame is that photography is prohibited on the inside walls, where there is an incredible series of highly detailed paintings - some politically angled, some not.
One thing that makes all of these paintings more unique is that they're all done directly on the wall - no canvasses or frames. On the lighter side, there are tons of small paintings of a number of characters from movies and western pop culture such as Batman, ET, Tomb Raider, the minion character from Despicable Me, Michael Jackson, Terminator, and so many more that I can't even recall. On the heavier side, there's a large dedication to the Twin Towers as a plane crashes into them, while smoke from the towers turns into a line going out to a huge gas pump.. and along those same lines, there's a massive depiction of the devil on the back wall, with the eyes of the devil containing paintings of two distinct faces - Osama Bin Laden and George Bush.. so we can start to see what Kositpipat's views are on the west, our foreign enemies, and our dependency on the middle east for gas and oil. Whether or not one agrees with the artist's message, though, it's difficult to deny the intrigue and ingenuity in his work.
The area around the main temple is also breathtaking, lined with gleaming white finishes and surrounded by meticulously groomed grounds and ponds filled with beautiful fish. One can also see some of the ongoing construction, though it's not extremely evident unless you're looking for it - if someone told me the temple was already completed, I would believe it.
Just as there was in South Korea at the N Seoul Tower, you could buy a little piece to write your name or a message, and hang it on one of the many trees full of them outside of the temple. Also, you could throw some Thai baht into the nearby wishing well, and it's supposed to bring you good karma.. so let's keep that coming! That photo of the coin heading into the fountain is one of my favorites.
We spent only one hour at Wat Rong Kun, but it's the type of place that can easily keep one's mind busy for hours, or even days. All in all, what an incredible experience.. and one I will not soon forget.
The next activity was to visit the Hill Tribes of Chiangrai. Represented in this area are the Akha, Yao, Lanu, and Karen tribes, and each has its own way of welcoming us and showing us around its grounds.
The Hill Tribes haven't had it easy by any standards. They've been pushed out of many areas within southeast Asia, only to find a home in Thailand, where their income comes almost exclusively from tourism - at $25 per person, this was the most expensive optional activity on our trip.. so our contributions supposedly help out quite a bit, as that can easily feed a family here for at. least a week. In previous locations, their income came mostly from drug (opium) money, courtesy of the Golden Triangle, which was an opium ring spanning across Burma, Lao, and Thailand. When the Golden Triangle was shut down many years ago, the Hill Tribes were left without a dependable source of income, and after being run out of several places, they finally found a happy home in Chiangrai.
The most unique-looking tribe of all is the Karen (longneck) tribe, as they permanently wear cast iron braces around their necks, in most cases from a young age, as the belief is that longer necks are more attractive. Some of these braces, constructed from cast iron bars wrapped around in the shape of a circle, are quite long for what you'd expect to fit around a person's neck. They typically wear these braces for life, without removing them. Over time, a cast iron neck brace severely weakens the muscles in their necks, so if they were ever to remove these braces, they'd have a lot of trouble balancing their heads above their shoulders.
The other tribes were slightly different in some ways and similar in others. They each did a ritual dance for us and tried to get us to buy some of their local arts and crafts. I did end up buying a very nice little bracelet from one tribe for my sister, Melissa.. but don't mention that to her as it's a surprise. Thanks.
For our evening in Chiangrai, the plan from our tour manager, Tamara, was to have a $hit shirt party. The concept is simple - find an extremely hilarious, offensive, or hilariously offensive shirt near where we would eat dinner at the night markets that night.. and wear it out to a group night at the bar. Most of us split up after dinner to find our shirts in the 50 yard radius outside of where we had just eaten, and I made a side bet to the three Aussie girls (Lorenzo, Taurus, and Ashton) as they talked a lot of junk on the way back into the hotel, saying that nothing was going to top their shirts. Knowing that virtually nothing could top (pun intended) my shirt, I made them a friendly bet: if their shirts are found to be more outrageous by a jury of our peers, then I owe a drink of choice to all three of them. However, if my shirt is more outrageous, then each one of them owes me a drink.
Let's just say that I walked out of my room at the same time they walked out of their rooms, and they took one look at me and lost it, conceding immediately. I paid 100 baht (about $3) for the shirt, and I received a Sang Som on the rocks from each of them at 70 baht per drink. So for the mathematically challenged, that's 100 baht out, and (70 * 3) = 210 baht in.. = WINNING.
Oh, and if you're wondering what I wore that night.. to quote the late, great Brittany Murphy from that weird movie.. "iiiiiiii'll neverrrr telllllllll." But I just might show you a photo if you ask nicely.. and if you buy me some good food and drink.
After being in Asia for almost three weeks, my bartering skills are on point.. aren't they?
One more note here.. relating back to the A's hat I saw in the Seoul airport.. so.. I saw another one in Chiangrai! A lady working at a mini pineapple stand (they were delicious) in the night market spoke absolutely no English whatsoever.. but she was wearing an Oakland A's hat! .. in Chiangrai, Thailand! Are you kidding me?!
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