I had heard that the 'White temple' here was worth a look and that not too far away was a decent waterfall as well. So having had a bad experience with motorbikes and being too cheap to get a tuk tuk there and back i resolved to get a bicycle for the day. So i rented a mountain bike and hit the road towards the temple which was around 11km outside town. The road was big and wide so i didnt have any hassle with traffic and got there easily enough. I was drenched in sweat as this is the hot season so it was around 36 degrees. It was definitely worth the journey though. This place has been built by a modern thai artist out of his own pocket and he has mixed old buddhist art with newer traditions. Most temples are decked in gold and red but he decided to make this one pure white for something different. Some of the sculptures are weird too, none more so than the sea of hands rising from the depths of hell. But it is the inside that really blows me away. It has an image of buddha like all other temples but on the wall that the entrance is on they have a very modern painting. It is of buddha rising to heaven and leaving all the trappings of modern society behind him. It contains pictures of bin laden and bush fighting as well as missiles and mobile phones flying round the place. The most odd thing is the image of Keanu Reeves in full Matrix getup staring at you. I got a booklet containing a lot of the images since i wasnt allowed take pictures inside. There is also a gallery of the artists drawings and another building called the 'Golden Toilet'. I didnt use it but got a photo of the outside. All in all it was a cool spot and all free so i was pretty happy. I grabbed some lunch and jumped back on the bike to go to the waterfall.
This waterfall was supposedly less than 20km away but it felt like double that. The heat and the hills i was now cycling on took their toll and since i wasnt exactly at peak fitness i really struggled. I took plenty of water breaks and eventually made it to the waterfall, exhausted and much later than i had planned. Upon arrival i see a sign that says "waterfall 1400m", which meant i still had a lot of hiking ahead of me. I was in a foul humour by the time i got the the waterfall proper so wasnt in any mood to be impressed. I took a quick dip in the freezing water and made my way back to my bike as i was worried about how long it would take me to get the bike back to the shop. Heading back was initially easy as i just zipped down the hills that caused me such heartbreak an hour earlier and then i was back on the flat road back to the city of Chiang Rai. On the way i got my first taste of songkran as there were groups on the roadside just waiting for someone like me to come along. A farang on a bicycle? It would have been sacrilege not to soak me. So dripping wet from a mixture of sweat and buckets of water i got the bike back in time and collapsed on my bed for a while. A quick shower and a quick meal and i was pretty much ready for bed. I got an early night after a pretty good day and started to contemplate what songkran was going to be like in Chiang Mai if i was getting drowned already, a week before it was officially due to kick off. So watch out for the next post about a week of waterfighting in Chiang Mai!
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