Today we travelled to Chiang Rai by boat. As the boat wasn't scheduled to leave until 12pm, we had the morning to ourselves. Before breakfast, we took a walk up to the nearby temple overlooking Thaton. We had a bit of a stand off with some angry dogs on the way up... the dogs won and we eventually found a safer route to the top.
(Following the little monks up to the temple.
Monks appear to leave their shoes at the foot of the road leading to the temple, and enter the town barefoot)
(View of Thaton from the temple)
The long boat arrived to collect us from the resort at 12.30pm. There were four of us travelling to Chiang Rai. Paul and the boat driver loaded the bikes and bags into the front of the boat and we settled in for the four hour journey. We passed a lot of people working in the fields, constructing bridges and fishing for some kind of shell fish in the river. It would have been hard work in the afternoon sun. Foremen at the various work sites could be easily spotted with their umbrellas. The water was moving fast and at times we passed over small rapids but the driver seemed very skilled and it was an incident free trip. He even got us to Chiang Rai in a little over two hours.
(Bikes and bags stored up front)
(Leaving Thaton behind)
(Muddy waters and green fields)
(An elephant training centre along the river bank)
Once the boat was unloaded, we made our way to our accommodation. The city seemed pretty as we road through. Our guidebook says it is more liveable than visitable and it certainly felt like there was a real buzz of normal daily life going on as we road past kids playing basketball and parents collecting their younger children from school.
After checking in, we headed out to the Hill Tribe Museum which was small but it had a lot of information and an interesting little video about the different tribes. Some of the costumes they have on display are incredible and we were told it can take up to one year to make one traditional outfit worn by some of the tribes! We had a good meal at the Night Bazaar and then decided to try out a massage. Nicky opted for a Thai massage and Paul chose a foot massage. The small Thai woman who looked after Nicky used hands, elbows, knees and feet to contort Nicky into all kinds of positions but the upshot was that we both walked out feeling a lot better and are ready now for a good night's sleep.
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