Road Trip to Chiang Rai – The White Temple เชียงราย – วัดร่องขุ่น
Four-day weekends are not common in Thailand, but are a perfect reason for a road trip. Why not Chiang Rai?
Chiang Mai is hot this time of year, so it was a good time to get away.
We were headed to the White Temple or วัดร่องขุ่น, but would stop along the way if we saw something interesting…
… and to our surprise stumbled upon Chiangraiwinery. Yes, one word. There aren’t spaces between Thai words. We couldn’t have a tour, but we did have a tasting.
It looks like red and white wine…
…but is actually made from lychee, pomegranate, mangosteen, and some Thai herbs.
Not being a fan of sweet wines, they weren’t for me, though they were better than I thought they’d be. Yuki liked the sweet Thai herbal one, Marco preferred the lychee, I enjoyed the mangosteen, and Kozue was driving so didn’t try any.
Chiang Rai Winery is in a picturesque spot, and well worth the stop.
Next stop…
The White Temple
Chalermchai Kositpipat or เฉลิมชัย โฆษิตพิพัฒน์ is the extremely prolific designer of the White Temple.
While Buddhist imagery is the main theme…
…there is also imagery dealing with death.
Part of the temple was damaged in an earthquake that struck in May 2014, though most is still completely intact.
Thai astrological animals
Tree of offerings
While most of the buildings are white and silver with tiny mirrors…
…some parts are gold, like this wishing well…
…and the elaborate golden building for the toilets.
Yuki and Marco as “Woman and Man”
Hollywood?
Life
Death
Both
Life sized Chalermchai Kositpipat and Marco
Kozue and bell
Yuki and reminders of death
I loved the anti-smoking sculpture
scary
Thai wat style no smoking sign
Not sure why umbrellas aren’t allowed
Although the outside was truly amazing, I also thoroughly enjoyed seeing Chalermchai Kositpipat’s art in the museum on the grounds. No cameras are allowed, so here are a few pictures of post cards of the paintings:
Glad we visited
See you later sparkly White Temple
Land of Infinite Possibilities 