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Wat Rong Suea Ten and Wat Huay Pla Kang

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On Monday, we went to Wat Rong Suea Ten and Wat Huay Pla Kang. Wat Rong Suea Ten: Wat Rong Suea Ten ( The Blue Temple) was designed by Chalermchai Kositpipat’s student, that is why it might look similar to Wat Rong Khun. Wat Rong Suea Ten translates to “Tiger Temple” because there are rumours of tigers that use to prowl the area of the temple. Wat Rong Suea Ten is all blue and it’s door is embedded in jewels making a very ornate design. All around the Temple there are mythical creatures which add a Fairy Tale element. Wat Rong Suea Ten was very cool. Wat Huay Pla Kang: Going to Wat Huay Pla Kang was a great experience. To get there we took a tuk-tuk which is a very common way to get around in Thailand. At Wat Huay Pla Kang there was a 9 tier pagoda and a 25 story Buddha that you could climb to the top of. I looked out the Buddha’s eye!! We had an amazing view of Chiang Rai from the Buddha . I would definitely go back to Wat Huay Pla Kang.

Wat Rong Khun (White Temple)

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Yesterday we went to Wat Rong Khun, ( The White Temple). The temple was designed by the the famous Thai artist, Chalermchai Kositpipat. The temple was opened in 1997. I loved how the temple showcased modern art and Buddhism. When we went, it was so busy, there were people snapping pictures and taking in the view as far as the eye could see. I felt like I was practically drowning in an ocean of people. The temple was stunning and so pulchritudinous (beautiful) . I think Chalermchai Kositpipat designed Wat Rong Khun perfectly. Then we went to Chalermchai”s Hall of Masterwork. Unfortunately, photography was not allowed but I found a picture of one of his paintings on the Internet for you. You can see it below.  Our trip to Wat Rong Khun was amazing.

Foot and Shoulder Massage

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 We just got to Pai, Thailand and we are really loving it. You can check the map to see where it is. Yesterday, we went to get massages. In Thailand, massages are very common. I do not think I have seen a block without a massage place. We got foot and shoulder massages, I liked the foot massage but the shoulder massage was a bit harsh for me. Denise loved it, she rated it a million out of a million. An hour massage was 200 baht, (8 dollars Canadian). Cheap, right?

Night Bazaar

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Yesterday night we went to the Night Bazaar. In the evening the Bazaar is crammed with people bustling around and bargaining with vendors. After we admired the many stalls with non-edible things we went for food. Me and Denise ordered some pork gyoza, it was delicious!!
For my second course, I ordered fried rice with chicken. I could not finish it, but it was still worth it. I wanted to eat all the raw vegetables but my mom said that you cannot trust all street food.
Finally for dessert we had smoothies, we were really hoping for the ice cream shown below but our parents were not going for that idea. I ordered a mango lassi and Denise ordered a mango- orange smoothie. Over all the smoothie was great.
When ordering this ice cream you could choose your ice cream flavour, two mixers, one sauce, one sprinkle flavour, and one garnish. Who could resist?

Temples, temples everywhere

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This is Buddha at Wat Inthakhin Saduemuang , people give offerings to him at his shrine. They give offerings such as fruit to show the fruition in their Buddhist practices to the Buddha, flowers because they are the most beautiful thing in the world, and candles to show the radiance in their hearts and minds to the Buddha.  The term Buddha literally means enlightened one. You must take off shoes before entering the temple and cannot be wearing shorts, tank-tops or short skirts.
The dragon statue is placed at the foot of most temples. It represents protection of the temple and the Buddha. The dragon is also associated with wisdom and longevity.
The elephant is placed at some temples. It represents good luck and royalty . It is very sacred to the Buddhist people in Thailand and Burma. These elephants are at the temple Wat Chedi Luang.  
This is the Buddha at the foot of Wat Chedi Luang. Part of the Chedi was destroyed by either a 16th century earthquake or by cannon fire during the re-capture of Chiang Mai from the Burmese in 1775, nobody knows for sure. You may not go in the Chedi but can get great views.

We’re Off!!

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To get to Chiang Mai we had to take a fifteen hour flight from Toronto to Hong Kong, then a three hour flight to Chiang Mai. We flew Cathay Pacific, (the main airline in Hong Kong). Cathay Pacific generously gave every passenger a pillow and blanket to get a comfortable sleep.
Our route was straight across the top of the globe, right over the  Arctic Ocean. We flew that way because it is way faster than going across the Pacific Ocean. We flew over Russia, Mongolia, and China. Pretty cool!!!  


      On the plane we were given dinner and breakfast, but we were so messed up with jet lag we were not even that hungry. But I have to say that the food was pretty good for an airplane.

Packing

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This is the all the stuff I am packing (not including shoes, my hoodie and my binder). Each person in our family got a designated colour of packing cubes so we do not have to search for our stuff as much. For entertainment I have a mini connect four, books, a Sudoku book, and a deck of cards. I have phrase books for a lot of the Asian countries that we are going to. I feel sad leaving most of my stuff, but mom says that I will forget all about it during our trip.


Hello World!

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Hello, we are a happy family of four going on a six month trip to Europe and Asia. We will be posting about our travels along the way on this blog. Our main blogger, Evan will be posting daily with guest posts from Denise, Dan, and Jessica.  Our tabs – Eat, Sleep, Swim, Nature and Map will be rating our recommended restaurants, hotels, pools and beaches, our favourite nature spots and wildlife sightings, and will give you a map of our route. We hope you follow us to keep up on the trip of our lifetime.