Road Trippin’ Thailand

October 14th, 2003

We began our road trip to Northern Thailand starting from downtown Bangkok, in search of a rumored Wat shrouded in mystery. All we really knew was that this particular temple in the Land of Wats was designed by a renowned painter, perhaps the most famous artist alive in Thailand. We had a rough idea that the Wat was somewhere between the second largest city in Thailand, Chiang Mai – and the Northern city of Chiang Rai. Off we went on the 800 km road to Chiang Mai.
The first night of our journey brought us into Sukhothai around early evening, just in time to catch splendid views of the spectacular 700 year old ruins of Thailand’s first Capital City. In the morning we headed off early in hopes of finding a lead onto our destination, which everyone had heard of but no one knew where to find.
That night brought us into Chiang Mai itself, and we enjoyed an evening that filled our bellies with local Northern cuisine and our knapsacks with various oddities and trinkets from the famous Night Bazaar located between the East moat and the river. One can truly find the same handicrafts sold in Bangkok and Pattaya for a fraction of the cost. Later that night we had a run in with Jack Daniels at a club called Bubbles, and he gave us the impression that we were good at dancing to Thai hip-hop.
Bleary eyed, we left the hotel the next morning and headed toward Chiang Rai on Hwy 118, which eventually converged onto Hwy 1, stopping at a Cabbages and Condoms on the roadside along the way for some Larb Moo and Orange Shake.
We discovered that the temple we had been searching for was called Wat Rong Khun, and was just inside the city limits of Chiang Rai off of Hwy 1. Words of illustration failed my feeble imagination as I tried to digest what was truly a unique Wat amongst all the beautiful temples in Thailand, designed in its entirety by the legendary artist Chaloem Chai. Gleaming silver and stark white contrasted each other in an elegant fusion of reflection and intricacy. The forms adorning the Wat melded into the structure with such sinew that I felt distinctly drawn into it, as I stood flabbergasted at its magnificent toe. With great effort I was finally able to inculcate myself into believing that I was gazing upon a static object, so languidly did the eyes become hypnotized by the fluidity of its curvature. My comrade had to nearly tear me away from its allure to move on further with our adventures.
Our travels brought us onto the summit of Doi Inthanon, the highest point in Thailand, at 2565 M. Though this is but a molehill where I come from (Cascade Mtns, USA), there are two impressive Chedi nestled on its flank that are worth visiting. Taking a more circuitous route heading Southwest back toward Chiang Mai, we were amazed when we stumbled upon two more spectacular Wats, heretofore unknown to the authors of our maps and guidebooks. These sat upon a mountain overlooking a town midway between Chiang Rai and Mae Hong Son called Doi Mae Salong. These wide and well-built roads took us through winding jungle and monsoon forests and added a nicely unexpected twist to the end of our quest to find the glacier-white Wat Rong Khun.
The rest of our journey back was a rainy one, and we wearily found ourselves back in the crowded traffic of Bangkok before we knew it. Looking at the odometer, we realized how quickly 2500 km had gone by, and with great approbation we parked the car and stretched our legs before finding our much yearned for slumber in our own beds.

Entry Filed under: Travel