Grad Trip Day 26 - Chiang Rai

I signed up for a Chiang Rai day trip package (1000 baht). The first stop was this hot spring, which was 1.5 hours away from Chiang Mai. I didn't really enjoy the whole tour because I was on a van with poor aircon, and I had a bad seat (at the back squashed with 3 others), and the rest of the tourists were a French family and domestic tourists who were so different from the friendlier, backpacking people I am so used to be meeting.

Next stop: Wat Rong Khun. popular known as the white temple. Besides its exterior, it also has very interesting murals inside (similar to the ones I saw in Wat Buddhapadipa in Wimbledon, London). The murals were done Thai-style but included depictions of events such as 9-11 and many random cartoon characters!

Next stop: Golden Triangle in Chiang Saen, where you could see Myanmar and Laos from the river bank.

We got onto a boat which got us to Laos for the sake of going to Laos. Zzzzzzz. We had 30-minutes to spend there and there were only shops selling tired products and many begging children.

After lunch, the van brought us to Mae Sai, a border town which is also then northernmost point of Thailand.  The blue building is the checkpoint and once you cross a bridge, you are in Myanmar! It's quite a sight to me, given that the previous land borders I have encountered during this trip were all quiet, uninhabited areas.

The day trip ended with a visit to a village inhabited by the Akha people. And we made our way back to Chiang Mai, reaching the city only at 2130.