Thailand: Chiang Rai loop- Chiang Saen Day 3 -Temples & the Golden Triangle
Lalitta Cafe, is an amazing place to get your morning cup of Coffee to kick start the day, add a sprinkling of Zen and you are sure to have a good day.
For the majority of the adult world our day usually starts with a cup of coffee to kickstart us off into functionality, those that don’t drink coffee well they just can’t be trusted with the finer things in life. This little black duck is no exception to the rule. Loading up the bikes we knew today was going to be a big day.
Who doesn’t lilke a garden full of fairies and angelic creatures ready to enchant you
We had stuff to see in Chiang Rai but our ultimate destination was Chaing Saen. Chaing Saen is the gateway to the golden triangle and another bucket list place for me. The infamous nature of the place was like a magnet drawing me closer. However, before that was going to happen it was coffee time. Snail has been to Chaing Rai before and one of the advantages of travelling with a local is they tend to know where all the cool stuff is. Given coffee was on the menu its was suggested the best coffee comes from the yellow food truck at the intersection of the clock tower. But it’s takeaway only. A close second with ambience galore is the Lalitta Café. So bikes packed up off we rolled.
I’m not a flower man but it’s hard not to be in a place like this.
Man made Waterfall complete with angel
Arriving Lalitta Café we were charged a small entrance fee which was put towards your coffee purchase. This I thought odd until we actually entered the café. Its got an amazing garden with a man made waterfall filled with mythical creatures. There’s artificial mist that looks like dry ice but probably a machine of sorts. The garden is filled with rare orchids (I know this because my mother the matriarch of all things gardening told me ), it’s got droplet sprinklers up in the trees that create a cool misty ambience with deep shade everywhere. In essence an oasis from the sweltering heat and the perfect place to unwind over a morning coffee
I found this picture and instantly laughed, Mum they’re onto you.
Having said that, you just have to sit out of the way of the Chinese tourists that arrive in hordes, snapping pictures and chattering loudly before disappearing to be replaced by more. They don’t linger long so I can see why there’s an entrance fee because this café does all the hard work with the gardens and creating the oasis with little return for their effort. I guess it’s become more of a tourist attraction now instead of a café. Still the coffee was pretty good and in between the carloads of people arriving one can find some Zen with their morning coffee as one should.
Chinese white buddha overlooking Chiang Rai
.Next stop was a quick detour to a giant statue of Buddha on the hillside beside a temple. This place is worth a quick look if only to take note of Chinese influence creeping into the region because the temple, the buddha statue and the new hospital were funded by the Chinese. The hospital sort of ruins any ambience the place might have because it’s pretty much plonked at the front gates of the complex. Built with Chinese money it’s supposed to be there to show the people of Chiang Rai that the Chinese are here to help. But it sits idly by from what I can see, maybe it’s not wanted or it’s so new that no one comes here yet.
The Blue Temple, worth a look but get in early to escape the crowds.
Blue Temple was next on the list. It’s a smallish temple and you guessed it - it’s predominately Blue. I actually liked it as far as temples go. It has got that old school feel about it. It’s definitely worth an explore but like everything here, one has to get in early to escape the masses. Fortunately, we missed the morning rush so it was a pleasant visit.
Our third destination for the day was Black house (what’s with the color themes in Chaing Rai), this place is like a giant art museum from predominately the one artist and is pretty out there as well. They really must grow the good stuff up in the hills around here, because all the art was really trippy.
Black House, a modern art museum with some very trippy artwork.
They even incorporated modern day technology into it by adding a QR scan code beside the paintings which directs you to the insta page and the artwork became even tripper when it changed by some sort of magical voodoo shit. Call me old fashioned but I’m of the generation where you stand there and look at the painting and admire it (or not) in the moment.
Scan the QR code beside the painting and you get another perception of the art, it transforms and comes alive through your screen.
. This place is worth several hours of your life to wander around. But if I’m honest the masses of people were really annoying me by the 3rd attraction of the day and ruined it a lot for me so I was keen to hit the road.
I wonder why they call this Artwork ‘Big J’ or was it Angry phil ?
The road to Chaing Saen is only about 60km and is on paved highway that’s good a road as any so it’s certainly not a challenge to get there. For those that don’t know Chaing Saen is the gateway to the Golden Triangle. It’s where the three countries of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand all converge at a river junction. It was once and probable still is to a lessor extent the frontier of where most of the opium in Southeast Asia was funnelled into from the jungles. It has a sketchy past and one that conjures up all sorts of mystic to a meanderthal like me. I’ve heard for years that this place is; a place where you went at your peril.
These days the Golden Triangle even has coffee shops. Not quite the shady frontier town of yester year.
I had visions of two rivers meeting in a shady backwater village on rough dusty goat tracks, filled with even shadier characters carrying AK47’s and smoking opium huddled in the shade of a ramshackle structure all lost in time. Why would you want to go there you say? Well why not I say, it’s an adventure. But alas not today, the Golden triangle was a bit of an anticlimax to the wild west of the east. It has a monument, coffee shop and of course a golden temple like every other town in Thailand. But the town of Chaing Saen is far from a frontier town. It really is quite a nice place nestled on the Mekong River with snippets of history dotting the streets in the form of crumbling ancient temples.
I found it!!! not quite the Golden Triangle i envisioned but close enough.
Across from it on the Laos side of the Mekong River you see the Chinese special economic zone. It’s basically an island that China leased from Laos for 99 years. There are city skyscrapers a plenty, and a massive casino in it. It’s been annexed off from the neighbouring countries and even the people of Laos need a passport/visa to enter the place. The whole place reeks of excess and shady business dealings. Maybe this is the new Golden Triangle of the modern era and not the one I’d come to experience, I guess I’ll never know.
The Chinese special economic zone, lights up the night in all of its splendour. Though I am not sure why the magnitude of this place even exists in the Golden Triangle.
After a long day we spent the evening sipping beers, eating fresh fish steamed inside bamboo, watching lighting crack over Laos whilst sitting on the banks of the Mekong River, a perfect day of meandering had by all.
Street food of Snake Head fish and rice washed down with Beer and Nam Keng (ice) made for a great end to an epic day exploring the wilds of Thailand.
