5/19/15
I was not able to write yesterday because I was on an all-day tour. On Sunday I took it easy again because there was another Walking Street. So I got a foot massage, sat by the pool until it started drizzling.
I went to Sunday Walking Streets. I thought it was going to be smaller than the Saturday one. I was wrong. I’ve also been walking wrong. The street market is on a main road but then there are smaller roads off of that road and sometimes stuff going on off of those roads. I learned from Saturday that I lose my direction pretty easily. So I decided that no matter what, I would just go right- right turns, right side, just right. Problem is that people drive on the left side of the road here so pedestrian traffic tends to move on the left. (I have wondered, since I’ve been here, how this affects escalator protocol, an issue I take quite seriously.)
Anyway, this whole left/right thing is not a big deal at 5pm when the market is just setting up. At 7pm when it’s shoulder-to-shoulder, it becomes an issue. But because I didn’t want to lose my bearings, I kept right. And I didn’t get lost. And I wanted to hang myself by the end of it.
On this main road there is a bar-restaurant called ‘The Writer’s Club and Wine Bar.’ It’s owned by an ex-pat, serves Thai food and I suppose has something to do with writers. I have wanted to go. I passed it on my way and foolishly thought I’d get back to it. But there was no way I was putting myself through that crowd again. It’s okay because this is all in Old City, which is where I move to today. As for Sunday, by time I got back to my hotel, I just order room service.
On Monday, I took the tour to Chiang Rai to see the ‘White Temple.’ There were a few ‘attractions’ (as our tour guide called them) on the trip, but I was mostly concerned with the Temple, and Golden Triangle, the place where Thailand, Laos and Myanmar meet. There were some other stops, I could have done without them, especially considering it was a really long day and the driver, while very skilled, was obviously trying to get us everywhere as quickly as possible. Everywhere we stopped was a bit of a tourist trap with markets set up, which helped me feel less awkward about the last stop… most on that in a bit.
The first stop was a hot springs, which was very pretty.
The next stop was the Wat Rong Khun (the ‘White Temple’). It’s relatively new, built in the 90’s. It is the most beautiful human-made thing I can remember ever having seen (I have no idea if that sentence is grammatically correct). The pictures don’t do it justice (don’t we always say that). There were some, what I might call, tone issues. You can’t take pictures inside. But if I could, I could show you that they are working on the art and that there is a really beautiful mural (is it a mural if it’s inside?) of… I don’t remember of what because I was distracted by the depiction of Michael Jackson. The temple is modeled after concepts of heaven and hell and since MJ is shown in a rather orangey/warm looking location, I figured maybe the artist was showing him in hell for being a child molester. But then I realize that Kung-Fu Panda was about a three feet to his left. 
There were some others. And then there are the scary heads hanging from trees outside- and then you realize that Wolverine’s head is also hanging. The big gold building is the ‘Golden Toilet.’ I peed in there. The toilet part is unremarkable but the building is obviously beautiful. There were other white buildings there too, also really pretty.
Then we had lunch at a buffet. By that time I was so hungry I wanted to start chewing on the seats.
Next we took a boat around the Golden Triangle and stopped in Laos for a half-hour. There was a market there where, among other things, they sold whiskey with reptiles in the bottles. I don’t know why. It was really creepy looking. The tour guide told us about the opium trade that used to go on with Thailand and that still goes on in other countries. Honestly, I was only half paying attention. It was a long hot day. The tour guide did talk about opium and pot a lot during the tour. 
Next we went to Mae Sai, the northern most place in Thailand. Again, more markets.
The last stop was visiting the Akha Hilltribe Village. These are people who migrated from China and live in hut-like dwellings. The tour guide was pointing to an old woman’s headdress as she just stood there looking at us. It was odd how we just walked into these people’s village. And unlike the other stops, we were the only tourists there. But then the people there tried to sell us stuff too. Those headdresses were for sale.
So that was it. It was an over three hour drive home. I got back in time to have that salad buffet at the hotel restaurant. The chef sent me some frozen chocolate covered ice-cream balls that I think were on top of a glass filled with dry ice. I don’t know if everyone got those because by this time, I was occupying one of two occupied tables.
I just stuffed my face at the Kantary Hills breakfast buffet for the last time. I’m pretty sure the calorie count in the strawberry jelly I consumed alone exceeds my usual breakfast. Check out time is at noon. I’ll be packing up my stuff and going to my next hotel. I don’t remember the name but it’s in Old City.
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