What! from his helpless Creature be repaid; Pure Gold for what he lent him dross-allay'd. - Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam

THE Golden Triangle

Well, how could we not? We were so close to the infamous "Golden Triangle" that we just had to visit.

The Golden Triangle is where the Mae Sai River meets the Mekong River, and the countries of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos touch and is situated on the banks of the mighty Mekong river (now almost reduced to half it's previous size by the building upstream of hydro-electric dams by the Chinese government.

The Chinese finished their first dam, Manwan, in 1996 and the second at Dachaoshan in October 2002 and the problem is due to worsen.

Six more dams are planned in Yunnan province. The next, being built at Xiaowan and due for completion in 2012, will be only slightly smaller than the Three Gorges dam on the Yangtze, with a reservoir stretching back 105 miles.

Our first stop was at Sop Ruak. Sop Ruak's most enjoyable tourist pastime is its boat tours. Longtail boats are available for hire here, and cruise up and down the Mekong River allowing visitors a glimpse of village life in the many riverside settlements on both sides of the border. We didn't have time to go on the boat trip, so we settled for a sumptuous luncheon and walking tour around the town.

Gambling and in particular casino's are illegal in Thailand. On the Myanmar side of the border there is a casino which has proved itself to be very popular with Thai's.

On the (receding) banks of the Mekong, a restaurant (where we enjoyed a sumptuous luncheon)

Sop Ruak on the Thailand side of the point where the three countries meet

One of the world's supreme rivers, the Mekong runs for 3,000 miles through dramatically changing scenery, from the glaciers of Tibet, through the mountains of southern China and the plains of Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam, before emptying into the South China Sea.

This map shows the course of the Mekong through the area

The actual point where the three countries meet (on the Thai side)

The massive Buddha image at Sop Ruak

Same, same, but different

Monks visit the Shrine at the Sop Ruak

We left Sop Ruak and journeyed on to Mae Sai, the Thai border town lying on the border between Thailand and Myanmar. Crossing over the border into the Burmese town of Taichilek and back again allows visitors to renew their 30-day visa to continue their stay in Thailand.

Mai Sai Thailand

Mai Sai: The Thailand border with Myanmar (Thailand side)

The actual border (where the flags change)

There is a massive market at Mai Sai and as is our custom, we just had to spend an hour to hone our haggling skills and perhaps pick-up another bargain or two. Russell got several.

The huge Mai Sai market at the border crossing

After Mai Sai, it was time to head home. As we traveled from Mai Sai toward Chiang-Mai, we passed through several police check points where they would stop vehicles and conduct a search for illegal immigrants and drugs.

Police roadblock - checking for illegal immigrants and drugs

A last stop before arriving at Chiang-Mai was the "Cabbages and Condoms Resort". This turned out to be a surreal experience as whenever you purchased something, coffee, chocolate, etc. You would be handed a free condom along with your change!

Cabbages and Condoms Resort, Thailand

The toilets of the Cabbages and Condoms Resort had this intriguing sign in them:

Keep your cloth stockings on your feet please

Some five hours after leaving Mai Sai, we arrived back at our hotel at Chiang-Mai. A great day and a fantastic experience, although next trip we will leave more time for our visit to Northern Thailand. A single day just can't do it justice.

For only the hand of life can contain your hearts; And stand together, yet not too near together; For the pillars of the temple stand apart - K.Gibran

THE WHITE TEMPLE OF RONG KHUN

Wat Rong Khun, the White Temple near Chiang-Rai is designed by the respected Thai artist Chalermchai Kositpipat.


Words fail me in trying to describe the meanings behind the architecture of this wondrous temple, so I have borrowed the words of the artist himself from his website:

Rong Khun Temple

"MEANINGS OF THE MAIN BUILDING

It was my strong intention to build a temple in imitation of heaven. I wanted it to be a heaven on earth.

I built a main building in the Buddhist monastery. I wanted it to be like a house of the Buddha with white color representing His purity and white glass representing His wisdom shining all over the earth and the universe.

The bridge symbolizes transition from the cycle of life to the land of the Buddha. In front of the bridge is a small semicircle, representing the world. The large semicircle with the demon king’s fangs embodies passion and desire. We need to throw our passion and desire away into the mouth of the demon king to clean ourselves before going inside the main building. On each rail of the bridge are 8 monsters, totaling 16 monsters representing 16 types of passion. The middle of the bridge symbolizes Sumeru Mountain, which is the habitation of gods. The pond below stands for Sithandorn Ocean. Above the 6-layer heaven is the 16-layer Brahma’s land, represented by 16 magic lotuses surrounding the main building. The 4 biggest ones located beside the entry to the main building represent the shelters of the 4 great followers of the Buddha – Sodaban, Sakitakami, Anakami and Orahan.

The semicircular in front of the stairway to the main building symbolizes the transcendental world of wisdom. The three steps of the stairway represent impermanence, sadness and non-selfness. Next to the stairway is the land of the formless divine represented by 4 magic lotuses and 4 doors. The last door contains triangular mirrors, representing emptiness (nothingness). Next to the door is the threshold to the land of the Buddha.

On the 4-sided walls and the floor inside the main building are mural paintings in gold color, representing the release from passion and desire to the world of Dharma.

I use the main apex to symbolize Buddhist Commandments. The apex comprises 4 animals representing the 4 elements of the earth; elephant representing land, naga representing water, swan representing wind and lion representing fire. All these animals are on their duty; to safeguard Buddhism. Thus, the main apex comprising the 4 elements of the earth symbolizes the 5 Commandments, the 8 Commandments, the 10 Commandments, the 227 Commandments and 84,000 codes of morality.

The apex on the second level refers to consciousness represented by 2 animals: naga and swan. While the naga’s fangs symbolize evil, the swan symbolizes virtue. With the use of Buddhist Commandments, evil (passion) is killed. When we win over passion, sonsciousness occurs thus finally leading to wisdom.

The top apex symbolizes wisdom represented by swan with garuda’s mouth crouching still. The swan seems not having any kind of passion but nothingness.

Behind the top apex are a group of 7 designs representing the 7 Elements of Enlightenment and a group of 8 designs on the foundation of the umbrella representing the 8 Paths of Buddhism. The multi-tier umbrella itself symbolizes Nirvana.The pedestal below the top roof represents the 10 Fetters.

On each pillar on the 4 corners of the main building are the flags representing respect paid to the Buddha according to the belief of the Lanna Region.

Said above is only a short description of the main building. In fact, there is a lot more information as I plan to build 9 main buildings in total, each having Buddhist meanings.

I want to create Buddhist arts on our land that are so great and splendid that the people around the world want to see them. I will dedicate all my life to this work. Also, I have at least 2 generations to continue it after my death. I estimate that it will take about 60-70 years to complete 9 main buildings."

Below are some photo's we took while visiting. The scheduled stop was for half an hour but Lidy and Russell were so intrigued that they overstayed for an hour and a half more.

The White Temple

Warning against being drunk or bringing alcohol into the temple

The Pit depicted as the mouth of 'Mara'

The Temple again, showing the intricate work

Russell inspects the Temple grounds

Another view

Lidy and Nonny inspect the intricate work on the fence

Artists apprenticed to Chalermchai Kositpipat work on the intricate carvings

Chalermchai Kositpipat's residence when he is working at the Temple.

It is the only structure on the site that is not white.

The visit to the White Temple has been a highlight of our trip and we highly recommend that you take the time visit it the next time you are in Thailand.

If he took a bath in the river, and dived beneath the surface, enough fish were caught in his beard to feed a multitude. - Book of Deborah

Feeding the Multitudes

We were lucky enough to be at a roadside market (again!) when all of a sudden a truck with the loudest, public address system pulled in to the market and started playing music. The volume had been set so loud that the music was 'clipping' and it was hard to make out the cacophony of noise as music. In between tracks, a disembodied voice would come on in Thai, extolling something or other.

This market was set off from the road in a large inverted "U" shape with the two tops of the "U" facing the road. The market itself was about 100 metres in length and about 50 metres in width.

I was standing near the back of the market, furthest from the road and as I looked down toward the truck, I saw fifty to sixty Buddhist Monks arriving in all sorts of vehicles: tip trucks, mini-vans, tray trucks, everything but a bus.

The Monks formed an orderly queue and, with begging bowls in hand, began to file silently past the market stalls where the stall keepers would each place an item of food in some of the bowls. This is the way the Monks feed themselves, through the generosity of the Thai people.

I noticed the Monks were making their way around the perimeter of the market so, I walked over to a food stall close to where the procession would come to an end. There, I purchased a load of food stuffs and biscuits and, with my purchases at the ready, awaited the arrival of the Monks.

It's not that easy trying to fit at least one item into each Monk's begging bowl as they don't pause for you but, continue on their slow march so, where I missed one, he would march on and I would have to continue with the next Monk in the line.

After the older Monks came the novices, and then the small young boys who could be no older than seven years of ago yet had already decided to dedicate their lives to the teachings of Buddha.

I fan out of things to give so, I simply grabbed more stock from the display in front of the stall and, ripping open the packaging, continued on with my task. The stallholders looked on in amazement and satisfaction as I grabbed item after item from their shelves and gave them to the Monks.

The smallest were last and, had little in their bowls while the Monks at the head of the queue had bowls overflowing with food and products.

I tried to make sure every Monk had at least something in their bowl, whether it be a packet of rice crackers, biscuits or lollies.

I was very taken by the serenity of the Monks from the eldest to the very youngest. They were very disciplined while performing this age old ritual.

We discovered later that the Monks pooled all the food and shared it out; So I needn't have worried about the smallest missing out.

Be careful how you interpret the world: It is like that. - Erich Heller

Hot Springs

On the way to Chiang-Rai, We stopped to visit a hot spring. Here, in a market setting, we found people using the hot spring for cooking as well as for bathing (different springs)

The main cooking spring

The egg cooker

Would you like your eggs soft or hard boiled, Sir?

The geyser

The baths