Whirlwind In A Mama's Head

After our visit to the White Temple in my last post , we continued on to Karen Long Neck Village for a visit. To be honest, I had mixed feelings about this place and I left the place with more negative feelings. It was a wet day and even though the rain already stopped when we arrived, the soil in the village was still muddy. We walked from the parking spot through several stalls selling handicrafts towards a ticket booth where we had to pay a few hundred Bahts to enter the village. Inside the village were two rows of sheds, each shed being a simple stall selling scarves and other handicrafts. Some were handmade by the villagers, some were bought elsewhere to be sold there. Every stall would have a female wearing brass neck coils that they are famous for. Girls in the village would start wearing the coils at 3 years young, and of course they are not given an option at that age. The number of coils will be added as they grow older. I understand that this is part of their culture, ...

On the day we checked out from our hotel in Chiang Mai and continued our journey to Chiang Rai, we were picked up by Jack our tour guide with a different driver and car. After our stop at Akha Ama Coffee that I mentioned in the previous post, we started our 3.5 hour drive to Chiang Rai. About halfway there, we stopped at a hot spring that we weren't that interested in but stopped anyway because it was on the way and was a bathroom break. Then we headed over to Wat Rong Kun or the White Temple, which was the main reason I had wanted to go to Chiang Rai. To see a building complex all in white was something. We even dressed to match it that day :) The temple closes at lunch time, so we made it just in time before they closed. The temple is not too old and it used to be free to enter. Now you have to pay a small amount to enter. It is privately owned by the architect himself. Soon after we entered there was a good spot for pictures. Then as we walked closer we can see t...