Norther Thailand Adventure: Day 3 Chiang Rai

Wat Phra That Doi Tung

Wat Pra That Doi Tung

Waking up early on my 2nd full day in Chiang Rai I went to Doi Tung. It is a mountain reserve about 48-km from downtown Chiang Rai. Tourists go to Doi Tung for basically 4 attractions, (1) Wat Phra That Doi Tung, (2) Doi Tung Royal Villa, (3) Mae Fah Luang Gardens and (4) Mae Fah Louang Arboretum.




It must be noted that Doi Tung forms a natural border between Myanmar and Thailand.

Vista of Myanmar from Doi Tung

Wat Phra That Doi Tung is an important Buddhist pilgrimage site in Thailand. This temple houses twin chedis which is thought to contain fragments of the left collarbone of the Buddha.

Selfie with the Main Hall of the Wat

The twin chedis of Wat Phra That Doi Tung believed to contain the left collarbone of the Buddha.

Doi Tung Royal Villa

Built by HRH Princess Srinagarindra, the Princess Mother (mother of the late King Rama IX Bhumibol Adulyadej), this cabin is a curious cross between Swiss Chalet and Lanna architecture. It is said that the Princess Mother in one of her visits to the hill tribes here in Doi Tung the thought came to her to reforest the mountain. Over a few years she established the Doi Tung Royal Development Project which oversaw the rehabilitation of the mountain. To effectively manage the project, the Princess Mother established a residence, thus the Royal Villa. She first used the facility in 1988, and used it 5 more times over the next few years whenever she needed to personally oversee the royal project.

The villa is open to the public, curiously though, this is still a functioning residence as members of the Thai royal family still visits Doi Tung to oversee Princess Srinagarindra's projects.

Mae Fah Luang Garden

Just below the Royal Villa, the Princess Mother with her great love for flowers, established the temperate garden. She thought of bringing in temperate flowering plants here, for the Thai people to see, especially those who could not afford to travel to temperate countries.

Mae Fah Luang is a title the Princess Mother got over the years she constantly visited the hill tribes in Doi Tung. Mae Fah Luang means, Royal Mother from the Sky, because in the past when the roads in the North of Thailand were not yet fully developed, the Princess Mother always arrived via helicopter bringing with her food, clothing and medicine for the people.

How to get to Doi Tung

Many tourists will arrive Doi Tung via packaged tours either from Chiang Mai or from Chiang Rai. But for the independent tourist, it is quite accessible. Here's how I got there.

1. At Chiang Rai Arcade Bus Station look for any bus going to Mae Sai

2. Take the Bus and be sure to tell the driver to drop you off at Ban Huay Khrai, at the junction going to Doi Tung. The ride costs 35B

3. At the junction there are bike drivers who are willing to take you to any of the 4 attractions of Doi Tung. The going rate is 75 B per person (the bike is good for 2 passengers). Since I was solo, I had to pay the price of 2 persons, so 150 B. The driver will offer a return ride by giving you his mobile phone number, when you are done with your visit at the attractions, you will phone him, and he'll take you back to the junction, with the same rate. In other words, for the entire visit to Doi Tung, I paid him 300 B.

4. From the junction, you can either choose to go back to Chiang Rai, or continue to Mae Sai to see the Thai-Myanmar Border there, or from there go further to Sop Ruak (Golden Triangle). 

Attraction Fees Information
Wat Phra That Doi Tung - FREE
Royal Villa - 90 B
Mae Fah Luang Garden - 90 B
Hall of Inspiration - FREE
Mae Fah Luang Arboretum - 90 B
Doi Tung Package (Royal Villa, Garden and Arboretum) - 220 B

Northern Thailand Adventure: Day 2 Chiang Rai

 

The White Temple of Chiang Rai

Wat Rong Khun

A trip to the north of Thailand is not complete without the obligatory visit to Wat Rong Khun or The White Temple. Staying in Chiang Rai makes it easy to visit this modern temple, this is just about a few kilometers to the south of Chiang Rai city, and near Bus Terminal 2.

The temple is the work of a Thai national artist. He disdained the gold colour which typifies practically all Therevadin temples, not just in Thailand but also in Myanmar and Laos. So he used the colour white/silver.

Viewed from a slightly different angle

A pillar on the temple grounds

Two minor chapels at the back of the main hall.

Silver details of the Main Hall

Ornate Arch on one of the sides of the temple

The two minor halls viewed directly form the main hall

He further emphasised his disdain for the colour gold by using it as the colour of the temple's toilet hall!

Gold was used as the colour for the toilet because the artist did not like this colour

Typically a Therevadin wat will have murals with imagery either form the life of the Buddha or from the Ramayana or from some important national historical event. Wat Rong Khun's wall paintings depict a more modern take on human life even depicting space exploration and Hollywood film characters!

The artist's depiction of the Buddhist hell in sculpture

The wat is home also to some exquisite but grotesque sculptures depicting scenes from the Buddhist hell, as well severed heads of some infamous characters as guess who on the photo below!

Overall visiting this wat will remind everyone that world religions, no matter how ancient are constantly seeking to update themselves, to make them more relevant to present human life and remain an integral part of the culture to which they belong.

Attraction Fee - 50B for foreigners
Time allotment - 45-min to 1-hr
Best time to go - before 9AM

Singha Park

The Singha signature lion logo at the entrance of the Singha Park

A few minutes from Wat Rong Khun is a not very popular park, for foreign tourists at least, called
Singha Park. Singha is Thailand's beer brand much like San Miguel is to the Philippines. Singha Co., the manufacturer of the brand bought this 3,000 acre land and developed it into an attraction which also is a facility to grow their own teas and other products. It has its own golf course, restaurant, zip line, tea plantation, flower garden etc. This attraction though is better known by the locals still as Bood Rawm Park, its former name prior to its development by Singha Co.

Tea plantation at the Singha Park

Singha Park flower garden

Attraction Fee - Free
Time Allotment - 1.5-hrs or more
Best time to go - before 10AM

The attraction offers an open-air lorry that tours people around the 3,000 acre property for 100B. Unfortunately this is scheduled on an hourly basis and easily fills up. They only have 1 lorry, and so this is on a first come first served basis. An alternative for the more fit tourist is to rent a bicycle which one can use to go around the property.

Northern Thailand Adventure: Day 1 Chiang Rai

Chiang Rai Clocktower at Early Morning (2016)

Darkness has already fallen when I arrived in Chiang Rai, the first city in my 2-week Northern Thailand itinerary. The climb from Chiang Mai was relatively smooth, and I was asleep the whole time because I only had a few winks the night before with my red-eye flight from Iloilo to Hong Kong.

Getting Off the Bus Station

Chiang Rai has 2 bus stations, Terminal 2 is a few kilometers to the south of downtown Chiang Rai and Terminal 1 (Arcade Terminal) which is downtown. Buses from Chiang Mai passes both terminals. Having gotten off Arcade Terminal, tuktuk drivers approached us asking where we were going. I got one who charged me B80 (US$ 2.25), I know that's a lot, but look, when you haven't had sleep the night before and you arrive a place you know nothing of, I don't think you'll still have the energy to bargain. All I wanted was to get to my hotel and sleep, which is exactly what I got!

My Room in B2 Chiang Rai Hotel

B2 Chang Rai Hotel 

Normally I peg my hotel accommodations in Southeast Asia at US$ 20/night excluding breakfast. Seriously, I don't find hotel breakfasts appetizing at all. Besides I am a foodie traveller I feel that eating breakfasts at hotels take a way the experience of eating like the locals in places where they eat. B2 provided me exactly that, a steal at US$ 16/night, the room was spacious and clean. It is centrally located and in a good neighbourhood. It actually felt sad bidding good bye to it at the end of my stay. I highly recommend this to anyone visiting Chiang Rai soon.

The study and TV in my room.

Distance Information of B2 Chiang Rai Hotel

To Arcade Bus Station - 5-min by songthaew / tuktuk
To Clocktower - 5-min walk, about 4-5 blocks
To Wat Phra Kaew - 5-min walk
To City navel Monument - 15-min walk
To King Mengrai Monument - 20-min walk

B2 Chiang Rai can be booked via Agoda.com (where I got it) or Booking.com

Wat Phra Kaew

Wat Phra Kaew

In my first full day in Chiang Rai I did my early morning walk and found out that my hotel was close to Wat Phra Kaew, at 8AM the temple was already open but no tourists were in sight yet except for some 10 early birdies. We basically had the temple all to ourselves.

Wat Phra Kaew is the legendary site where the Phra Kaew (Emerald Buddha) was found. This is the most revered image of the Buddha in all of Thailand and is currently housed in the temple of the same name at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. The Phra Kaew since its discovery in the 15th century has resided in various cities and has stayed its longest in Vientiane, Lao PDR (219 years). Siam invaded Vientiane sometime in 1778 and regained the image. Since then the image has stayed in its present residence in Bangkok.

A replica of the Phra Kaew in residence at the Chiang Rai Wat Phra Kaew (the original image is already at the Grand Palace in Bangkok)

The Wat in Chiang Rai is an exemplar of Lanna architecture. They bear a lot of resemblance to the the architecture of Lane Xang in Luang Prabang, after all these cultures have been interrelated and their histories have for countless times met and exchanged influences.

Ordination Chapel part of the Wat Phra Kaew complex

A guardian naga of the temple.

The chedi here is a reconstruction of the original Chedi which in 1434 was struck by lightning revealing a plaster image of the Buddha. Later the plaster began to disintegrate revealing an image of the Buddha in carved jade thus the term Emerald Buddha because of the green colour.

Information about Wat Phra Kaew

Attraction Fee - none
Attire - clothing must not reveal knees and shoulders.
Time - 30-min

There is a museum beside the temple, it also has no attraction fee.

A replica of the Phra Kaew made of Canadian green marble reposed in the Museum beside the Wat.

NAIA? No, Thank You!

Sawadee khrap from Chiang Rai!

On my way to Thailand the immigration officer at Iloilo Airport asked me whether it was really cheaper to go here through Hong Kong than via Manila. I answered, "Yes!" Of course I knew she asked that to gauge whether my purpose to travel was really for holiday and not because I would work illegally in Hong Kong.

But, I thought of writing an article about ditching NAIA when traveling abroad.

My last exit from NAIA to an international destination was April 2015, on my way to Sydney. That last exit in 2015 was horrific! I arrived from Iloilo at around 7PM, queued for TIEZA's Travel Tax for 45-min. and queued to check-in for 2-hrs! It was at the height of Philippine summer heat and NAIA's airconditioning was set to 25C to save on electricity because there was power shortage all-over Luzon. Imagine almost 3-hrs of queueing up in a poorly airconditioned airport! The boarding gate was so far and of course NAIA has no walkalators, so basically I arrived at my boarding gate just in time to board the aircraft, all sweaty at 12MN.

Months after that incident, the "Laglag Bala" Scam gripped the nation, and it was the last straw for me, since then, I have consciously made the decision to ditch NAIA altogether when traveling abroad.

But, besides my horrific experience, there is some logic behind why I choose to board international flights from our local airports. Here are my top 5 reasons.

1. Saving on Flight Costs

Living in a city a flight away from the capital - Manila, has a disadvantage. That is the ever-present domestic flight cost whenever we travel abroad. This reality is especially painful when the ultimate destination is not directly accessible from Manila. Take Yangon, Myanmar, Penang, Malaysia, Chiang Mai, Thailand or Perth, Western Australia as examples. They will all require me to travel 2 domestic flights on top of the international flight between Philippines and the destination country.

Thankfully I live in Iloilo City which has direct flights to international travel hubs, Singapore and Hong Kong. Also, I am just 4-hrs away by bus from Kalibo, Aklan which has direct flights to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Incheon.

Going straight to an international travel hub like Singapore, Hong Kong or Kuala Lumpur gives me access to more destinations than what NAIA could ever offer me. This cuts flight costs to just 2 instead of at least 3 flights if the trip were via Manila.

Is it cheaper to fly to Hong Kong on this trip? I wish I could have offered the immigration officer who asked me that 2 nights ago an extended answer. Yes, it was because, I flew only 2 flights. One from Iloilo to Hong Kong and then from Hong Kong to Chiang Mai and both were on budget airlines! The trip to Chiang Mai cost me only PhP 6,000 one-way!

Three months ago, when I was buying my tickets, I did explore the Iloilo-Manila-Bangkok-Chiang Mai route, back then the estimate was, PhP 10,000 one way.

(How could you not ditch NAIA in exchange for a lay-over airport like this?) Hong Kong International Airport Terminal 1 Arrival Area

2. Faster Formalities

Anyone who has used NAIA will agree with me that queues in that airport is practically purgatory on earth! You will have to give yourself about 1.5 to 2-hrs. of queueing time, and that's during off-peak season. Purgatory become infernal when it is peak season for travel like this time! My feed got filled last week of rants from my former students going home for the holidays through NAIA.

Compare that to basically NO-queueing time in Iloilo or Kalibo Airport! Ok, maybe I am exaggerating, but in my last international travels via Iloilo or Kalibo, the queue was practically next to nothing.

Consider my experience last Sunday. I arrived 3-hrs before my flight, when I reached TIEZA counter to pay my travel tax, I was practically the only one. So I simply paid my dues, no waiting! Then at the check-in counter, again I was the only one, no waiting, got my boarding pass in a breeze. At the terminal fee counter there was a person ahead of me - yes, only one see it is in singular form. So after he was through, it was my turn already. Waiting time, 1.5 minutes! Then immigration, here I had to wait, why? I was too early, the pre-departure area hasn't been cordoned off so they could not yet accept international-bound passengers. Hahahaha, boy was I early indeed!

Gladly there were 4 of us who were early-birdies, there were seats for over 8 persons, so we were seated comfortably while waiting for the pre-departure area to be ready. When the announcement was made that we could get in already, we were already 5 waiting, but there were 4 immigration officers, so with that ratio, we all took off practically, 1 passenger 1 officer ratio. Waiting time, about 15-minutes! But that's 14.5-minutes sitting and 0.5 minutes passport stamping.

Total time from entry to the airport to pre-departure lounge, 18-minutes including the walking. I do not know if anyone will ever get something like this in NAIA at all!

Very Spacious HKIA Terminal 2 Check-in Counter Area

3. No Nightmarish Traffic

Then of course, when in NAIA, and you come from elsewhere in Manila, there is that circle in hell people nowadays call "Traffic in Manila"! I could recall TV Patrol anchors commenting some months back telling people to give it at least 6-hrs from the flight time to go to NAIA, that is longer than the flight itself from Manila to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur or Bangkok, seriously!

HKIA Pre-departure Area (I had to take train to get here from the Check-in counter!)

4. Cheaper Transportation to the Airport

I don't know the situation now, but back in 2015 there basically no way of getting into NAIA 1 or 3 on public transportation. A passenger just had to take the taxicab. That's going to cost a passenger at least PhP 250, depending on where he or she is going to come from.

In Iloilo, there are vans from SM City with going rate of PhP 70! In Kalibo, depending on your bargaining powers which I have none basically, going rate is PhP 100 from town centre to Airport.


5. Easier to Manage Airport

NAIA may have lots of facilities than our local airports yes, but that really is because they expect passenger to be hungry wild already after all the queueing that goes on in there! For the passenger on a budget like me, I don't do airport shopping, that is plain silly! I don't need to eat, drink or pee when waiting time from entry at airport to boarding is 2-hrs or below. So these facilities, no matter how good they sound are superfluous to me!

Also, though this is not a problem for me, I have heard stories of people getting lost in the airport and getting left behind by their flights because they could not find their boarding gates.

In a small airport like Iloilo which has only 4 boarding gates, or Kalibo which has 3 more of boarding doors than gates (wink wink), practically no one will ever get lost! By the way, Iloilo may have 4 boarding gates, but actually only 1 is for international, so no one will ever get lost!

I love the detail of this ceiling in HKIA!

Conclusion

Allegedly NAIA has made some improvements since the new administration came to power, cleaner facilities, better free wi-fi and less flight delays. But, I would still go for local airport whenever possible!