As you enter the White Temple you pass through “hell” where you can see many hands reaching up towards the sky. One of the most entertaining parts of the visit was a man on a loud speaker repeatedly announcing “Please continue over the bridge and do not come back to hell!” in order to keep the oneway traffic flowing.
The White Temple, outside Chiang Rai is a relatively new piece of architecture. It was the height of the day when we visited so not the best time for taking photos but worth visiting and I thought I’d share it’s splendour!
As you travel around Thailand you see lots of decorative “prayer tables” in people’s gardens and homes. They gift things to Buddha I and burn incense on them. It could be anything from a piece of fruit to a can of beer. We noticed this “truckload of prayers” in front of us whilst on the road to the Thai/Laos border and Stu captured it rather nicely.
We gave our Tuk Tuk driver some of the little crazy bears we’d won at the carnival earlier. I think he was quite bemused but happy at the same time. Obviously we paid him as well!
Tuk Tuks are quite the phenomenon in SE Asia. They are three wheeled tiny taxis with an engine somewhat similar to a lawn mover and varying degrees of crazy death defying drivers. Stu fancied his first ride in one with the lads from our group and I treated the gang to a hair raising journey through the streets of Chiang Mai to Rooftop Bar where we watched the full moon from the terrace. They are actually six of us in this photo, Joost and Rhydian can barely be seen behind me. I made a little film of our journey too of course for Stu to show the grandkids one day!
"Why do you have to put me in these positions Gavin?!"
I was really drawn back to Chiang Mai for the 10th of November for a number of reasons. The Lantern Festival was going to be on that day. It would be a full moon and most importantly my younger brother Stuart would turn 25 years old! I saw this as the perfect timing of events for an amazing day and night for him. We started celebrating at midnight on the night before with me conducting happy birthday sung in English, Dutch, Welsh, French and Japanese. All but the last language was covered by our fellow travellers and I wrangled a passing group of Japanese tourists just for the fun of it! The photo above was taken in the carnival which we had a lot of fun in after setting off our lanterns and floating blessings in the form of a turtle made from bread down the river! I found a handmade card that said “We love you to the moon and back!” which I felt was very apt and we had our first crazy tuk tuk ride (6 lads squeezed in on top of each other whizzing through the streets of Chiang Mai towards the Rooftop Bar). It was a lot of fun to say the least and I think we succeeded in giving Stu an unforgettable 25th birthday party. The portrait above was unwilling at the time but since then Stu has grown to love it! I think it captures my wonderful younger brother perfectly!
In a fast paced modern Thailand it amazes me how many young people stay faithful to Buddhist practices, lighting candles such as these at a Buddhist Shrine, praying for good luck!
It was with great interest that I observed these people wade through the river catching the “blessings” and checking them for money hidden within, I think. I have no way of telling whether these people are simply in need or just taking advantage but it was quite the scene before our eyes on the river bank. It makes quite a haunting image I think you’ll agree?
As mentioned in previous posts Stu and I met Rhydian in Chang Mai and spent over two weeks travelling with him through Thailand and across into Laos. With a similar sense of humour and relaxed personality, Rhydian made a great addition to our journey. We had many a laugh. I hope to catch up with Rhydian in Australia and have a few more laughs with our Welsh Brother!
the freeborn travelling portrait project 